THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINLANA 

PRESENTED  BY 

laughters  of  American  Colonists 
in  honor  of  Lena  ^ke  Williams 


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THE  REPUBLIC: 


OR, 


A  HISTORY 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


THE  ADMINISTRATIONS, 


From   thk    NIonarchic    Colonial   Days 

TO   THE   PRESENX  TIIvIKS. 


JOHN  ROBERT  IRELAN,  IVE.  D. 


IN    EIGHTEEN   VOLUIVIES. 

Volume  VII. 


CHICAGO: 
Fairbanks  and  Palivier  Publishing  Co. 

Boston  :  Martin  Garrison  &  Co.    New  York  :  John  Cummings. 

Washington,  D.  C:  W.  F.  Morse.      Cincinnati  :  The  Cincinnati  Publishing  Co. 

St.  Louis:   E.  Holdoway.      Minneapolis:   Buckeye  Publishing  Co. 

San  Francisco  :  J.  Dewing  &  Co. 

1887. 


COPYRIGHTED 
BY  L.   T.    F-ALIvlER, 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


HISTORY 


LIFE,  ADMINISTRATION, 
AND  TIMES 

OF 

Andrew  Jackson. 

Seventh  ^reeibent  of  the  WLniteii  ^tate». 


Indian  Wars  of  the  South,  War  of  1812, 

AND 

First  Decade  of  the  New  Political  Era. 


JOHN  ROBERT  IRELAN,  IVI.  D. 


CHICAGO: 

Ra-irbanks  and  F*alivier  Publishing  Co. 

1887. 


COPYRIGHTED 
BY  li.  T.   PALIvIER, 

1887. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


PRKKACK. 


MORE  has  been  written,  perhaps,  in  one  way  or 
another,  about  General  Jackson  than  any  other 
President  of  the  United  States ;  and  his  name  and 
character  still  remain  fruitful  sources  of  speculation 
and  profit  among  political  speakers  and  writers.  Many 
voluminous  works  which,  by  their  titles,  would  indi- 
cate wide  fields  of  historic  research,  are  largely  taken 
up  with  his  good  and  evil  deeds,  and  their  relation  to 
national  affairs  and  political  organizations. 

The  newspapers  and  magazines  of  the  country  for 
many  years  teemed  with  praises  or  abuses  of  him. 
Scarcely  a  book  of  travels  or  reminiscences  can  be 
found  which  does  not  contain  something  of  this  won- 
derful person,  who  was  said,  by  William  Cobbett,  to  be 
the  greatest  and  bravest  man  who  had  ever  lived  in 
this  world,  so  far  as  he  knew. 

Many  "  lives "  of  General  Jackson  were  written 
during  his  three  Presidential  campaigns ;  and  most  of 
these  were  unreliable  panegyrics.  In  later  days  more 
able  hands  have  written  of  this  meaty  subject  with 
great  interest  and  fairness  in  respect  to  history  and 
fact  without   consulting  party   tendencies    and   preju- 


6  PREFACE. 

dices.  Between  them  and  the  General's  early  biogra- 
phers and  eulogists  lies  a  very  considerable  chasm, 
which  can  not  be  obliterated.  And,  after  all  that  has 
been  written  by  careful  and  careless  hands,  the  di- 
versity of  opinion  as  to  many  of  Jackson's  acts  remains 
now  nearly  where  it  was  at  the  end  of  his  life.  Even 
about  the  place  of  his  birth  there  is  still  some  doubt. 

There  appear  among  historians  and  biographers 
two  quite  opposite  dispositions  as  to  the  birthplaces  and 
parentage  of  heroes.  With  one  class  the  character 
worthy  of  biographic  distinction  must  be  well  born, 
with  fine,  consequential,  old,  and  wealthy  ancestry. 
With  the  other  there  is  an  equally  determined  effort 
to  make  the  greatest  possible  display  of  a  "poor  but 
honest  parentage,"  and  the  wonder,  admiration,  and 
respect  which  should  be  attached  to  results  so  phe- 
nomenal under  circumstances  so  unlikely.  Even  among 
the  most  democratic  of  these  writers  nationality  cuts 
no  small  figure.  With  an  air  of  apology  it  may  often 
be  found  said  that  General  Jackson  came  of  "  Irish " 
parents,  but  who  were  themselves  of  "  Scottish  "  origin, 
as  if  this  were  the  way  out  of  a  social  and  physical 
misfortune. 

In  a  political  sense  these  capers  are  ludicrous  and 
contemptible  enough,  however  vast,  grand,  potential, 
and  unavoidable  to  the  scientist  may  be  the  question 
of  heredity.  In  poverty  and  wealth,  of  themselves, 
there  should  be  no  honor  or  offense  in  the  Republic. 
And   too   great   and  uncertain  have   been  the  vicissi- 


PREFACE.  7 

tudes  in  the  families  of  men  who  were  themselves 
distinguished  for  wisdom  and  virtue  for  an  American 
historian  to  intrench  himself  behind  a  position  so 
assailable. 

Of  this  extraordinary  character,  his  work,  the  party 
he  remodeled  or  organized,  his  times,  his  administra- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  the  Government,  and  of  the 
remains  of  his  posthumous  influence,  I  have  written 
without  reference  to  the  preferences  or  inclinations 
of  his  political  friends  or  enemies.  Drawing  from 
every  possible  source,  I  have  given  credit  where  it  was 
feasible  and  proper,  for  what  I  have  appropriated. 
And  whether  the  picture  here  drawn  may  or  may  not 
be  found  everywhere  acceptable,  no  effort  or  desire 
has  been  spared  to  render  it  true  to  life. 


CONTKNTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Page. 

Parentage,  Relatives,  and  Ancestors  of  General 
Jackson 15 

CHAPTER  II. 

General  Jackson's  Birth  and  Education — Qui,  Qu.t-:, 
■    Quod — Labeled  for  a  Preacher     ....       23 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Young  Whig  Soldier — AVas   General  Jackson  a 

Schoolmaster  ? — Now  and  Then — A  Picture  .       32 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Jackson  becomes  Attorney  for  the  Western  District — 
Emigrates  to  Nashville — Marriage — The  Duel- 
ist— The  State  Constitution — A  New  Figure  in 
Congress 38 

CHAPTER  V. 

Andrew  Jackson  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Century — 
Superior  Judge — General  of  Militia — Trader  and 
Horse-racer 5-4 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Jackson  and  the  Bentons — Fights  and  Duels — A  Na- 
tional Disgrace — Wounded  for  Life  at  Last  .       65 

(9) 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Page. 

General  Jackson  and  Aaron  Burr        ....       82 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Creek  War — General  Jackson  steps  into  Public  Es- 
teem— Expedition  to  Natchez — "Old  Hickory" — 
Jesse  Benton,  His  Mark — Fort  Mims — Coffee  at 
Talluschatches — The  Story  of  Lincoyer     .         .       97 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Battle  of  Talladega — General  Cocke — Jackson  con- 
quers A  Mutinous  Army 122 

CHAPTER  X. 

Creek  War — Settling  Mutiny  with  the  Pistol — Gen- 
eral Jackson  gathers  Doubtful  Laurels  at  Emuck- 

FAU    AND    EnOTACHOPCO FlOYD    AND   WeATHERSFORD 

AT    Calibee — Who    was    First,    the   Red    or    the 
White  Man? 136 

CHAPTER  XI. 

End  of  the  Creek  War — Battle  of  Tohopeka — John 
Woods — Red  Eagle — The  Conqueror  becomes  a 
Major-General — Treaty  of  Fort  Jackson    .         .166 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Governor  of  Florida  hears  from  the  New  Rep- 
resentative OF  THE  United  States — Battle  of 
Fort  Bowyer — Barataria  —  Jean  Lafitte,  the 
Pirate  and  Patriot 190 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

General  Jackson  visits  Pensacola  with  Three  Thou- 
sand Men — Drives  the  British  out  of  Florida — 
The  One  Man  at  New  Orleans — The  British  on 
the  Mississippi — Preparations  for  the  Conflict        207 


CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Page. 

Battle  of  the  Night  of  the  23d— British  Reconnois- 
SANCE  of  the  28th— The  Brave  Baratarians  — The 
Story  of  the  Cotton-bales 234 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Battle  of  New  Orleans— 8th  of  January,  1814  .     249 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

General  Jackson's  Crown  of  Laurel — Judge  Hall  and 
THE  Fine  of  One  Thousand  Dollars — The  Hero  of 
New  Orleans  at  Home 268 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Execution  of  the  Militia-men  —  The  8th  of  Jan- 
uary AND  THE  Presidency— The  Administration  Ig- 
nored— General  Scott  and  Governor  Adair  .     282 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Seminole  War— General  Jackson  and   Governor 

Rabun— Negro  Fort— The   Chief  McIntosh  .     309 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

First  Seminole  War— General  Jackson  Visits  Flor- 
id ^ —  A  Wonderful  Tragedy  —  Trial  and  Tri- 
umph—On THE  Way  to  the  White  House    .  .     324 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The   First   Governor   of   Florida— Judge   Fromentin 

AND  THE  Dons—'  '  Aunt  Rachel  "     .         .         .         .348 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

General  Jackson's  New  Dream— The  White  House  in 
the  Distance  —  "Ways  that  are  Dark" — The 
Race— The   Means— The  Thwarted  Wn.L   of  the 


People 


364 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Page. 

"Bargain  and  Corruption" — Bitter  Contest  for  the 
Presidency — Successful  this  Time — Inauguration 
OF  General  Jackson — Mr.  Adams's  Opinion — Gram- 
mar NOT  Counted 887 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Cabinet — Work  of  Reform — Reign  of  Terror — 
The  Scandal — All  about  Nothing — The  Country 
PUT  TO  Shame 405 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

President  Jackson's  First  Annual  Message — Acts  of 
Congress — The  Veto  breaks  the  Dream  of  Inter- 
nal Improvements — Nullification  Sanctioned  in 
Georgia 419 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

General  Jackson  makes  the  First  Thrust  at  Nullifi- 
cation— "  The  Federal  Union  :  It  must  be  Pre- 
served"— Bank  of  the  United  States — Mr.  Cal- 
houn— Plans  FOR  "Matty" — "The  Globe"  .         .     454 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

President  Jackson's  Second  Annual  Message — Con- 
gress EN  THE  Winter  of  1830  —  The  President's 
Legal  Advisers — The  Kitchen  Cabinet         .         .     476 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Third  Annual  Message — Mr.  Van  Buren  and  the 
Senate — The  Giant  and  the  Bank — Disgraceful 
Scenes  at  the  National  Capital    ....     521 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Presidential  Election  of  1832 — Cholera  Ravages — 
Fourth  Annual  Message — Black  Hawk — Nullifi- 
cation       .........     549 


CONTENTS.  13 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Page 

General  Jackson  and  the  Nullifiers— Nullification 
Proclamation— A  Compromise— Who  triumphs  ?     . 


580 


616 


626 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Electoral  Count— President  Jackson's  Fourth  Inau- 
gural Address— Harvard  makes  another  LL.  D. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
The  Two  Gdlnts,  the  Man  and  the  Bank— Willl^m  J. 

DUANE  ALSO  FALLS— A  WoNDERFUL  CONTEST      . 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

President  Jackson's  Fifth  Annual  Message  — War 
WITH  THE  Senate 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

The  Bank  Conflict  goes  on— Fierce  Struggle  be- 
tween THE  President  and  the  Senate— Sixth  An- 
nual Message— Quarrel  with  France— Public  Debt 
liquidated         ....•••• 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

President  Jackson's  Seventh  Annual  Message— Presi- 

723 
dential  Election 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Preshjent    Jackson's    Last    Annual    Message  — Last  ^ 
Pocket  Veto — Final  Triumphs       .         .         •         .      <65 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

End  of  General  Jackson's  Administration— Farewell 
Address- Lshtates  Washington— Reception  by  the 

T>                                                                     ...     799 
People       


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Page. 

The  Little  Church  at  the  Hermitage — The  End — 
Last  Words  —  Death  —  The  Grave  of  General 
Jackson 821 

CHAPTER  XXXVm. 

Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man — His  Character  and  Serv- 
ices     834 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Rachel  Jackson — The  Hermitage — The  White  House — 
Graves  of  the  Happy  Family — General  Jackson 
AND  Swedenborg 845 


LIFE,  ADMINISTRATION.  AND  TIMES 


OF 


Andrew  Jackson, 

SEVENTH    F»RESIDENX  OE  THE    UNITED    STATES, 
March   4,  1829,   to  March  4,   1837. 


CHARTER    I. 

PARENTAGE,   RELATIVES,  AND  ANCESTORS  OF      • 
GENERAL  JACKSON. 

THE  ancestors  of  General  Jackson,  on  both  sides, 
were  doubtlessly  of  Scotch  origin.  At  a  time 
when  Great  Britain  gave  a  few  privileges  to  settlers 
in  Ireland,  some  of  these  ancestors  took  up  their 
residence  in  the  Province  of  Ulster.  But  there  is  not 
the  slightest  evidence  that  any  of  them  rose  to  special 
note.  The  annals  of  Carrickfergus,  where  the  Jack- 
sons  and  the  Hutchinsons  lived,  make  little  or  no 
mention  of  them. 

The  Jacksons,  especially,  seemed,  like  most  of  their 
neighbors,  to  be  improAddent  and  worthless.  Hugh 
Jackson,  the  grandfather  of  the  General,  was  said  to 
have  been  a  linen-draper ;  and  an  apparent  attempt 
has  been  made  to  let   this    signify    that  he   was  the 

15 


16  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

owner  of  looms,  factory,  and  a  business  of  consid- 
erable extent.  However  much  or  little  truth  there  is 
in  this,  one  thing  is  certain ;  that  is,  that  the  great 
masses  of  men  and  women,  married  and  single,  around 
Belfast  were  engaged  in  the  linen  factories ;  or  the 
women  in  these  and  the  men  on  the  farms  at  days'  work, 
or  were  living  under  the  system  of  lordly  tenantry. 

Two  of  the  sons  of  this  Hugh,  Samuel  and  Andrew, 
came  to  America,  the  former  settling  in  Philadelphia. 
A  daughter  of  another  son  of  Hugh  settled  in  New 
York.  Andrew,  with  his  wife  and  two  sons,  born  at 
Carrickfergus  (the  Crag  of  Fergus),  landed,  with  a 
company  of  relatives  and  neighbors,  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  Five  sisters  of  Elizabeth  Hutchinson, 
wife  of  this  Andrew,  also  came  over.  Three  Craw- 
ford families  were  in  this  Charleston  company,  and 
one  of  these  Crawfords  was  married  to  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson.  George  McCamie  (or  Mc- 
Kemey)  was  also  married  to  one  of  these  Hutchinson 
sisters,  and  a  Mr.  Leslie  to  another,  and  these,  at 
least,  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  relatives  were  among  her 
neighbors  in  Carolina.  There  were  also  other  rela- 
tives ;  and  these  emigrants  already  had  relatives  in  what 
was  then  knowm  as  the  Waxhaws  or  Waxhaw  settle- 
ment about  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  Camden,  and  near 
the  boundary  line  of  North  Carolina,  or  partly  in  both 
States.  To  these  settlements  Andrew  Jackson  and 
the  Crawfords  went.  The  Crawfords  bought  land  on 
the  Waxhaw  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Catawba.  But 
Andrew  Jackson  located  on  Twelve-Mile  Creek, 
another  tributary  of  the  Catawba,  several  miles  away 
in  North  Carolina,  and  not  far  from  Monroe,  the 
present  seat  of  Union  County. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  17 

While  it  seems  that  Andrew  Jackson  was  not  so 
thrifty  as  his  wife's  relatives,  and  that  he  had  lived  like 
most  of  the  wretched  people  of  Ireland,  perhaps,  the 
facts  concerning  his  conduct  in  America  do  not 
strengthen  or  establish  the  theory  of  his  utter  shift- 
lessness,  or  that  he  came  over  here  without  any 
"  visible  means  of  support."  While  the  carelessly 
kept  old  Carolina  records  do  not  show  that  he  owned 
the  land  on  which  he  settled,  or  any  other,  indeed,  it 
is  generally  conceded  that  he  treated  it  much  as  if  it 
had  been  his  own.  The  value  of  the  land  was  then 
trifling,  and  the  outlay  to  acquire  the  title  would  not 
have  been  great.  At  any  rate,  he  built  the  cabin  in 
which  he  lived,  and  went  to  work  to  clear  and  improve 
the  land.  While  he  might  have  been  a  very  poor 
man,  he  was  evidently  not  destitute  of  spirit  or  pur- 
pose, and  whether  he  was  able  to  own  the  land  or 
not,  it  was  the  opinion  of  Amos  Kendall,  who  had 
more  information  from  General  Jackson  than  any 
other  man  who^  has  written  about  him,  that  Jackson 
did  own  the  land.  But  whether  this  is  of  any  im- 
portance or  not,  it  is  a  question  involved  in  some 
uncertainty. 

It  was  in  1765  that  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  rela- 
tives came  to  America,  and  in  the  spring  of  1767,  he 
died.  His  body  was  carried  by  his  family  over  to  the 
church-yard  of  the  Waxhaw  settlement,  and  there 
buried.  Mrs.  Jackson  did  not  return  at  once  to  her 
cabin  home,  and,  may  be,  never  did  return  to  it. 
With  George  McCamie  (or  McKemey)  she  stayed  for 
a  few  weeks  until  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  whom 
she  named  Andrew,  in  honor  of  his  father.  McCamie, 
this  relative,  lived  in  North   Carolina,   also   in   a   log 

2— G 


18  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

cabin,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  South  Caro- 
lina line. 

In  due  time  after  this  event  Mrs.  Jackson  went  to 
her  sister's,  Mrs.  James  Crawford's,  in  Lancaster  Dis- 
trict, South  Carolina,  where  she  made  her  home,  at 
least  for  a  time,  and  probably  for  the  rest  of  her  life  ; 
although  it  seems  quite  likely  that  Mrs.  Jackson  held 
some  interest  in  the  land  on  which  she  had  lived,  and 
derived  some  benefit  from  that  interest.  She  may 
have  returned  to  the  place  and  lived  on  it  for  a  time, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  most  writers,  who  have 
examined  the  subject,  but  this  is  extremely  doubtful. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War  she  changed  about 
among  her  relatives  and  friends,  as  her  condition 
seemed  to  require.  But  this  wandering  period  was 
temporary,  and  was  owing  mainly  to  the  character  of 
the  warfare  carried  on  in  that  region.  The  readiness 
with  which  she  made  these  trips  and  visited  different 
parts  of  the  Waxhaw  settlement,  even  at  times  going 
to  Camden  and  Charleston,  would,  perhaps,  go  far 
towards  proving  that  she  was  not  wholly  dependent 
on  her  relatives.  She  was  possessed  of  a  sound, 
strong  body,  not  only  fitting  her  for  these  rough  trips, 
however  they  were  made,  but  also  rendering  her  serv- 
iceable in  such  trying  times,  among  her  relatives  and 
friends.  She,  at  least,  belonged  to  the  useful  class  of 
"  poor  kin."  She  hated  a  "  red-coat,"  and  was  warmly 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  her  adopted  country.  She 
urged  forward  her  children  to  engage  in  the  great 
struggle,  which  was  brought  to  every  door,  and  in 
which  all  were  alike  concerned.  Her  eldest  son, 
Hugh,  was  in  the  engagement  at  Stono  on  June  20, 
1779,   under   the   patriotic   and    subsequently    distin- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  19 

guished  William  Richardson  Davie,  and  soon  after- 
wards died  from  the  effects  of  his  exertions  in  the 
unsuccessful  rencounter. 

Mrs.  Jackson  traveled  over  to  Camden,  forty-five 
miles,  to  become  nurse  to  her  two  other  sons  in  the 
British  small-pox  prison;  and  by  her  exertions  they 
and  some  of  their  relatives  were  exchanged.  But  her 
elder  son,  Robert,  died  of  the  disease.  Andrew  she 
nursed  safely  through,  and  then  hearing  of  the  suffer- 
ing of  relatives  and  friends  in  the  prison  ships  at 
Charleston,  she  traveled  down  there  in  1781,  on  foot, 
perhaps,  a  hundred  and  sixty  miles,  to  do  what  she 
could  to  relieve  their  sufferings  and  hardships.  While 
thus  engaged,  she  "  took  ship  fever,"  and  died  at  the 
house  of  William  Barton,  a  relative,  two  or  three 
miles  from  Charleston.  Barton  buried  her  remains,  but 
nobody  now  knows  where.  Nor  did  her  son  ever  dis- 
cover the  place  of  her  interment.  All  she  had  in  the 
world,  her  worthless  clothes,  it  is  said,  were  sent  to 
her  remaining  child,  Andrew.  Thus  ended  the  career 
of  this  unlettered,  hardy,  patriotic,  persevering,  and, 
no  doubt,  worthy  woman,  one  of  the  virtuous  and  best 
of  the  Irish  pioneers  of  Carolina. 

All  of  these  Hutchinson  sisters  were  more  than 
ordinary  among  the  uneducated  of  their  country- 
women. The  Crawfords,  McCamies,  Bartons,  Leslies, 
and  others  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  relatives  were  thrifty, 
enterprising  people,  and  of  course,  in  the  Revolution 
were  all  good  Whigs.  A  race  of  independent,  free- 
spirited  people  in  Ireland,  they  could  not  have  been 
less  here.  For  generations  they  had  been  Protestants 
in  religion,  as  had  been  the  Jacksons,  and  the  trials 
through  which  they  had  passed  for  conscience'  sake 


20  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

had  invigorated  their  minds,  improved  their  characters, 
and  made  them  a  stirring,  progressive,  thinking,  intel- 
ligent race.  Few  of  the  early  Irish  emigrants  to  this 
country  surpassed  them  in  the  qualities  and  virtues 
which  are  at  once  the  great  supports  of  human 
liberty,  and  of  just  and  stable  government. 

Of  the  Christian  parents  of  Andrew  Jackson  about 
all  that  is  known  has  now  been  said  here ;  and  prob- 
ably as  much  that  is  favorable  as  the  case  will  calmly 
sustain.  Yet  the  evidence  is  as  clear  and  gratifying 
that  nothing  worse  can  be  said  of  them  than  has  been 
written  in  these  lines. 

Of  the  funeral  of  Andrew  Jackson,  Sen.,  and  the 
old  grave-yard  where  his  earthly  body  was  deposited, 
James  Parton  thus  writes  : — 

"  In  a  rude  farm-wagon  the  corpse,  accompanied,  as  it  seems, 
in  the  same  vehicle  by  all  the  little  family,  was  conveyed  to  the 
old  Waxhaw  church-yard,  and  interred.  No  stone  marks  the 
spot  beneath  which  the  bones  have  moldered ;  but  tradition  points 
it  out.  In  thiat  ancient  place  of  burial,  families  sleep  together, 
and  the  place  where  Andrew  Jackson  lies  is  known  by  the  grave- 
stones which  record  the  names  of  his  wife's  relations,  the  Craw- 
fords,  the  McKemeys,  and  others. 

"A  strange  and  lonely  place  is  that  old  grave-yard  to  this 
day.  A  little  church  (the  third  that  has  stood  near  that  spot) 
having  nothing  whatever  of  the  ecclesiastical  in  its  appearance, 
resembling  rather  a  neat  farm-house,  stands,  not  in  the  church- 
yard, but  a  short  distance  from  it.  Huge  trees,  with  smaller 
pines  among  them,  rise  singly  and  in  clumps,  as  they  were 
originally  left  by  those  who  first  subdued  the  wilderness  there. 
Great  roots  of  trees  roughen  the  red  clay  roads.  The  church  is 
not  now  used,  because  of  some  schism  respecting  psalmody  and 
close  communion  ;  and  the  interior,  unpainted,  unceiled,  and 
uncushioned,  with  straight-backed  pews,  and  rough  Sunday- 
school  benches,  looks  grimly  wooden  and  desolate  as  the  traveler 
removes  the  chip  that  keeps  the  door  from  blowing  open,  and 
peeps  in.     Old  as  the  settlement  is,  the  country   is  but  thinly 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  21 

inhabited,  and  the  few  houses  near  look  like  those  of  a  just-peopled 
country  in  the  northern  States.  Miles  and  miles  and  miles,  you 
may  ride  in  the  pine  woods  and  ' '  old  fields "  of  that  country, 
without  meeting  a  vehicle  or  seeing  a  living  creature.  So  that 
when  the  stranger  stands  in  that  church-yard  among  the  old 
graves,  though  there  is  a  house  or  two  not  far  off,  but  not  in 
sight,  he  has  the  feeling  of  one  who  comes  upon  the  ancient 
burial-place  of  a  race  extinct.  Rude  old  stones  are  there  that 
were  placed  over  graves  when  as  yet  a  stone-cutter  was  not  in  the 
Province  ;  stones  upon  which  coats-of-arms  were  once  engraved, 
still  partly  decipherable ;  stones  which  are  modern  compared  with 
these,  yet  record  the  exploits  of  revolutionary  soldiers ;  stones  so 
old  that  every  trace  of  inscription  is  lost,  and  stones  as  new  as 
the  new  year.  The  inscriptions  on  the  grave-stones  are  unusu- 
ally simple  and  direct,  and  free  from  sniveling  and  cant." 

Mr.  Frost,  one  of  General  Jackson's  biographers 
says,  in  speaking  of  the  death  of  Andrew,  Sen.: 
"  By  this  sudden  bereavement,  the  care  of  educating 
the  three  boys  devolved  upon  Mrs.  Jackson,  a  lady 
who  appears  to  have  been  eminently  qualified  for  the 
task." 

Just  how  Mr.  Frost  ascertained  that  Mrs.  Jackson 
was  eminently  qualified  for  such  a  task,  or  what  the 
evidences  of  the  qualifications  were,  it  is  not  easy  to 
say.  It  appears  that  she  was  called  "  good  Aunt  Betty," 
and  "Aunt  Betty"  among  her  acquaintances.  But 
this  could  hardly  be  taken  as  a  qualification  for  rear- 
ing and  educating  boys.  Most  women  who  have  been 
unfortunate  enough  to  be  called  "  good  Aunt  Betty," 
"good  Aunt  Phyllis,"  etc.,  have  been  proverbially  good 
for  no  such  thing.  They  have  mainly  been  ignorant 
old  persons  good  for  looking  after  stone-bruises,  leg- 
aches,  small  whims,  tittle-tattle,  patches  and  rents,  and 
preventing  the  growth  of  self-reliant,  strong,  manly 
fellows. 


22  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

There  is  not  the  remotest  evidence  that  Mrs.  Jack- 
son was  endowed  with  many  of  the  ordinarily  highly 
esteemed  valuable  traits  as  an  educator  of  wise  and 
great  children.  The  simple  woman  hardly  knew 
enough  to  tell  her  sons  in  what  State  they  lived. 
Nobody  could,  with  truth  or  certainty,  make  any  claims 
for  her  accomplishments,  or  the  many-sided  culture 
and  wisdom  that  would  peculiarly  fit  a  mother  to  care 
for  the  education  of  her  children. 

Still  the  mother  of  Jackson  deserved  the  eulogy  of 
James  Parton,  who  speaks,  in  the  following  style  of 
her  and  the  place  where  her  distinguished  son  was 
born : — 

"In  a  large  field,  near  the  edge  of  a  wide,  shallow  ravine, 
on  the  plantation  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Cureton,  there  is  to  be  seen  a 
great  clump,  or  natural  summer-house,  of  Catawba  grape-vines. 
Some  remains  of  old  fruit-trees  near  by,  and  a  spring  a  little 
way  down  the  ravine,  indicate  that  a  human  habitation  once  stood 
near  this  spot.  It  is  a  still  and  solitary  place,  away  from  the 
road,  in  a  red,  level  region,  where  the  young  pines  are  in  haste 
to  cover  the  well-worn  cotton  fields,  and  man  seems  half  inclined 
to  let  them  do  it,  and  move  to  Texas,  Upon  looking  under  the 
masses  of  grape-vine,  a  heap  of  large  stones  showing  traces  of 
fire  is  discovered.  These  stones  once  formed  the  chimney  and 
fire-place  of  the  log  house  wherein  George  McKemey  lived  and 
Andrew  Jackson  was  born.  On  that  old  yellow  hearth-stone 
Mrs.  Jackson  lulled  her  infant  to  sleep,  and  brooded  over  her 
sad  bereavement,  and  thought  anxiously  respecting  the  future  of 
her  fatherless  boys.  Sacred  spot !  not  so  much  because  there  a 
hero  was  born,  as  because  there  a  noble  mother  suflTered,  sorrowed, 
and  accepted  her  new  lot,  and  bravely  bent  herself  to  her  more 
than  doubled  weight  of  care  and  toil." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  23 


CHAPTER   II. 

GENERAL  JACKSON'S   BIRTH    AND    EDUCATION— QUI,    QUM, 
QUOD— LABELED  FOR  A  PREACHER. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  was  born  March  15,  1767, 
in  what  is  now  Union  County,  North  Carolina, 
at  the  house  of  his  uncle,  George  McKemey  ;  and  a 
few  weeks  subsequently  was  taken  by  his  mother  to 
live  at  James  Crawford's,  in  Lancaster  District 
(County),  South  Carolina.  Here  he  liA'^ed,  mainly, 
until  after  the  death  of  his  mother.  It  must,  how- 
eA^er,  be  said  that  Jackson  appeared  to  entertain  the 
belief  that  his  native  place  was  in  South  Carolina. 
"With  some  degree  of  confidence  he  mentioned  the 
matter  as  a  fact,  and  Mr.  Kendall  who  got  all  his 
information  from  the  General,  so  believed. 

It  is  said  that  Andrew  was  his  mother's  "  darling 
child."  If  Andrew  was  her  darling,  if  mothers  will 
have  special  favorites  in  their  flocks,  what  must  have 
been  the  other  boys  ?  A  more  forbidding,  dirty- 
mouthed,  freckled-faced,  ill-tempered,  ungainly  little 
fellow  than  Andrew  Jackson  it  certainly  would  have 
been  difficult  to  find  ;  a  careless,  coarse,  and  reckless 
boy.  Mr.  Parton  tells  that  he  found  one  of  the  old 
Crawford  negroes  down  in  Carolina  who  helped  doctor 
Andrew  for  the  "  big-itch."  This  \yas  the  regular 
"  seven-years'  itch,"  and  everybody  ought  to  know  that 
dirt,  filthiness,  is  the  main  cause  of  this  vile  skin  disease. 


24  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

What  parents  have  not  some  early  plans  for  their 
children,  careers  usually  mapped  out  without  reference 
to  qualities  ?  Merely  fancy  schemes  they  are,  espe- 
cially for  boys  ;  and  seldom  to  be  realized.  As  to 
girls  the  case  is  much  more  simple  and  regular  in 
solution.  They  are  to  be  nothing,  and  then  to  be 
married  and  settle  down  to  a  routine,  having  as  a 
considerable  part  of  its  ingredients,  dress  and  gossip, 
if  these  grand  objects  of  life  have  been  even  so  long 
neglected. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Jackson  was  moderate  in  her  am- 
bition as  to  her  three  sons.  Hugh  and  Robert  were 
to  be  tillers  of  the  soil.  But  there  must  always  be 
one  great  man  in  every  family ;  at  least,  one  in  some 
learned  profession,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing 
with  many  simple  people.  So  Mrs.  Jackson  decided 
that  Andrew  should  be  a  Presbyterian  preacher.  But 
this  summary  disposition  of  him  never  could  have  been 
to  Andrew's  taste. 

"Andy  "  was  a  really  naughty  boy,  a  bad  boy,  and 
carried  with  him  throughout  life,  the  qualities  that 
made  him  so.  One  of  his  bad  traits  was  swearing. 
At  a  very  early  age  he  was  wont  to  strengthen  his 
choice  and  refined  speech  with  oaths  ;  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  this  senseless  and  villainous 
habit  stuck  to  him.  But  many  a  very  respectable 
preacher  has  at  some  period  of  his  life  been  a  "  pro- 
fane "  swearer. 

However,  Andrew  was  sent  to  the  country  school, 
beginning  quite  early,  too,  where,  in  the  course  of 
time,  he  learned  to  "  calculate,"  to  write,  and  to  read 
or  "  say,"  but  not  to  pronounce.  Still,  in  this  de- 
ficiency was  he  much  worse  off'  than  children  who  attend 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  25 

schools  at  this  day  ?  Spelling  was  never  an  accom- 
plishment with  him;  and  during  his  races  for  a  dis- 
tinguished office,  in  after  times,  much  sport  was  made 
of  his  inability  to  manage  this  mysterious  science. 

Mrs.  Jackson  and  her  son  were  not  pleased  with 
his  advantages  in  the  "  old-field  schools,"  a  name  once 
employed  in  a  great  part  of  the  South,  and  derived, 
properly  enough,  from  the  locality  of  the  school-house 
in  fields  found  to  be  worthless,  or  worn  out  and 
thrown  out  to  the  sassafras,  oak,  and  pine.  Accord- 
ingly he  was  sent  to  a  higher  school,  called  an  acad- 
emy, and  kept  in  the  Waxhaw  Church,  by  a  Mr. 
Humphries.  There,  it  is  said,  he  was  introduced  to 
the  classics.  With  Mr.  Humphries,  it  is  claimed  by 
some,  he  acquired  the  rudiments  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  Mr.  Frost  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  he  pursued 
these  studies  for  some  time  "  with  ardor  and  success," 
all  of  which  is  doubtful,  if  not  wholly  unfounded  in  fact. 

After  stating  that  nothing  whatever  can  now  be 
found  concerning  the  school  of  this  Presbyterian 
preacher,  Humphries,  or  of  the  character  of  the  teacher, 
Mr.  Parton  in  his  part  of  the  education  "  boom "  de- 
liberately calls  him  "  Dr."  Humphries ;  a  ridiculous 
performance,  if  not  meant  to  be  so.  Mr.  Parton  evi- 
dently forgot  that  Harvard  College  had  not  yet  set 
the  doubtful  example  of  conferring  undeserved  degrees 
and  titles,  as  she  did  long  subsequently  in  the  person 
of  Andrew  Jackson.  General  Jackson,  LL.  D.,  or 
Major-General  Doctor  Andrew  Jackson,  the  Hero  of 
New  Orleans  ! 

Among  some  Christian  denominations  it  is  common 
in  these  days  to  call  their  preacher  "  Doctor."  Every 
new   preacher  who  comes    to  town  is  at  once  dubbed 


26  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"  Doctor,"  although  he  may  possess  unexemplary  hab- 
its, and  be  a  novice  or  an  old  granny  in  theologic  wis- 
dom ;  without  his  having  passed  a  college  door,  and 
even  when  his  speech  presents  an  open  certificate  to 
any  man  of  his  .inability  to  speak  correctly  even  his 
mother  tongue.  The  whole  practice,  besides  being 
unrepublican,  unmanly,  and  disgusting,  is  insincere, 
immodest,  and  unchristian.  This  preacher,  Humphries, 
a  teacher  of  General  Jackson,  might  have  been  a  very 
deserving  man,  and  a  wise  theologian,  but  every  thing 
concerning  him  is  now  as  much  a  matter  of  fable  as 
is  the  education  of  Jackson. 

All  this  wonderful  book-training  occurred  before 
the  Carolinas  became  seriously  involved  in  the  War  of 
the  Revolution.  After  the  peace,  it  is  claimed  that  young 
Andy  attended  other  schools,  that  he  "  completed  his 
classical  education  "  under  a  Mr.  McCuUoch,  who  had 
a  school  at  Hill's  Iron  Works,  and  that  he  spent  some 
time  in  what  was  termed  Queen's  College,  at  Char- 
lotte, North  Carolina,  or  that  he  would  have  done  so, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  his  squandering  a  patrimony 
which  never  existed  except  in  the  imagination  of  a 
fiction-liking  people. 

There  seems  to  have  been  an  impression  pervading 
the  minds  of  most  of  General  Jackson's  earlier  biog- 
raphers that  there  could  be  little  chance  for  him  ever 
to  rise  to  eminence  without  classic  lore,  which  meant 
some  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek ;  and  since  he  did 
become  greatly  distinguished,  of  course  he  was  a  clas- 
sical scholar.  If  General  Jackson  did  any  way  get  a 
knowledge  of  these  dead  languages,  "  preliminary  to 
entering  the  University,"  as  Goodwin  says,  it  never 
made  much  impression  for  the  better  in  his  use  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  27 

English,  nor  did  it  crop  out  throughout  his  life  as  one 
of  his  erudite  acquisitions.  But  from  his  want  of  this 
so-called  ancient  lore,  or  from  the  great  practical  bear- 
ing of  his  mind,  he  was  saved  in  his  old  age  from 
making  foolish  displays  of  what  some  of  his  predeces- 
sors were  unable  to  recognize  as  in  bad  taste,  if  not 
extremely  vulgar. 

Still,  General  Jackson,  at  times,  like  some  of  his 
biographers  and   many  other   people,  seemed  to  labor 
under  the  conviction  that  a  little  Latin  and  Greek  now 
and  then  were  very  good   and   essential  things,  if  not 
really  significative  of  stupendous   learning  and   over- 
shadowing greatness.     There  is  nothing  that  ignorant 
and  uneducated  people  dislike  more  than  to  be  unable  to 
appear  wise,  or   to  know  well,  to  all  outward  appear- 
ances, the  most  recondite  things,  or  to  see  an  idol  fall 
below    their    standard  of  noncomprehensibility.     Gen- 
eral Jackson  read  poor  human  nature,  and  knew  this 
defect  well;   and  often  acted  upon  the  knowledge  in 
the  beautiful  letters  which  gave  him  fame,  and  which 
were,  unfortunately  for  the  old  hero,  written  by  Henry 
Lee,  William  B.  Lewis,  and  other  friends.     The  story 
is  told  that  knowing  how  prone  unlettered  people  are 
to   Latin,  and   grand,  sounding,  meaningless,  and   un- 
fathomable speech,  in  closing  one  of  his  addresses  to 
a  vast  crowd,  the  General  took  occasion  with  powerful 
tone  and   gesture,  to   sum  up  in  overwhelming  argu- 
ment with  about  all  the  Latin  he  ever  knew  :     ''Mulr 
tum  in  parvo,  vade  mecum,  sine  qua  non,  ne  plus^  ultra, 
sine  die,  ad  captandum  vulgus,  e  plurihus  unum."     The 
effect  was  astounding,  and  cheer  after  cheer  indicated 
how  thoroughly  convinced  the  people  were  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all. 


28  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  even  yet  the  greatest  stress 
is  placed  upon  the  least  valuable  things  in  the  educa- 
tion of  public  men.  When  Latin  and  Greek  are  men- 
tioned they  are  taken  for  everything  else.  How  little 
true  this  ever  was,  especially  under  the  old  regime 
where  pupils  were  required  to  commit  to  memory  the 
Latin  grammar,  when  they  could  not  correctly  write  a 
sentence  in  their  own  tongue !  Of  the  great  mass  of 
men,  and  even  of  scholars,  so-called,  few  know  the 
names  and  character  of  the  grasses  or  plants  in  their 
own  yards  and  fields,  or  of  the  thousands  of  living 
creatures,  great  and  small,  that  surround  them,  or  the 
history  of  the  earth  and  man,  or  of  the  State  or  coun- 
try in  which  they  were  born,  or  have  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  their  own  bodies,  or  any  of  their  organs, 
or  have  but  the  vaguest  knowledge  of  the  food 
which  sustains,  or  the  foods  and  poisons  which  kill 
them. 

Yet  many  of  these  unknowing  people,  even  in  their 
old  age,  when  better  things  might  well  occupy  their 
minds,  spend  hours  and  days  of  precious  life  piddling 
over  the  tongues  of  nations  long  extinct,  and  whose 
examples  have  in  them  nothing  of  benefit  to  the  living 
world.  There  has  ever  been  a  charm  about  qui,  quce, 
quod,  TtTUfcoQ,  TETUfuTia,  T^xbipoz,  which  may  not  soon  dis- 
appear, however  ill  we  speak  of  them. 

Without  questioning  a  limited  and  proper  use  to 
the  Latin  and  Greek,  it  may  be  confidently  claimed, 
on  general,  practical  principles,  that  an  intimate  history 
of  one  of  the  least  of  God's  living  creatures,  a  plant,  a 
weed,  a  bacterium,  an  insignificant  insect,  a  bee,  an 
ant,  a  flea,  is  of  more  interest  and  worth  than  that  of 
dead  Greece  and  Rome. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  29 

But  to  end  this  matter  as  to  General  Jackson's  lit- 
erary acquirements.  Most  people  in  this  country 
knew  long  ago  that  Andrew  Jackson  was  not  a  pro- 
found scholar.  He  was  never  a  reader.  He  was  not 
a  correct  writer  or  speaker.  But  he  could  often  write 
rapidly,  and  most  frequently  wrote  with  much  force, 
as  he  talked.  Every  one  of  his  public  papers  was  re- 
vised by  somebody  before  it  was  given  to  the  world; 
and  few  of  his  letters  and  speeches  ever  reached  the 
public  without  this  supervision.  Many  of  his  letters 
and  public  documents  were  the  productions  of  other 
men  in  grammar,  language,  and  sentiment.  But  most 
of  his  best  letters,  and  most  fiery  and  able  public  pa- 
pers, were  of  his  own  dictation.  Indeed,  he  was  never 
at  a  loss  for  ideas,  good  ideas,  for  every  occasion  ;  nor 
did  he  need  to  borrow  force  and  appropriateness  of 
speech  from  any  man.  A  great  outcry  was  made 
about  Jackson's  bad  spelling ;  but  that  was  a  less  serious 
matter  at  his  day  than  it  might  possibly  or  well  be 
now.  While  many  public  characters  were  poor  spell- 
ers, it  would,  perhaps,  be  difficult  to  believe  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  as  well  up  in  this  abstruse  science 
as  so  fastidious  a  person  as  George  Washington,  al- 
though one  of  his  biographers  makes  this  extravagant 
claim  in  his  behalf.  But  all  of  this  amounts  to  little, 
especially  considering  the  period  in  which  these  men 
lived. 

General  Jackson  was  not  what  is  usually  termed 
an  educated  man  at  all,  and  perhaps,  no  intelligent 
person  ever  believed  that  he  was.  The  particulars  in 
which  he  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  able 
men,  as  well  as  the  points  from  which  he  may  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  educated  of  his 


30  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

countrymen,  may  be  seen,  to  some  extent,  in  the  course 
of  this  work. 

The  following  letter,  among  the  last  written  by  the 
General  to  his  friend,  Amos  Kendall,  and  found  in  the 
"  Cincinnati  Commercial,"  long  since  the  foregoing 
views  were  placed  in  form,  is  supposed  to  be  in  word 
and  letter  as  it  came  from  the  pen  of  its  author,  and 
is  meant  to  illustrate  his  style  as  it  would  appear 
without  the  polish  of  a  master  : — 

"  Hermitage.  Jan'ry  15th,  1845 
"My  Dear  Sir:  Your  confidential  letter  of  the  5tli  instant 
is   received,    and  reaches   me   almost  prostrate,    so   that  I  have 
scarcely  strength  to  wield  my  pen. 

"I  sincerely  thank  you  for  the  date  of  Mr  Munroe's  letter  to 
me  on  the  subject  of  the  Florida  treaty — his  pacific  course  towards 
Spain,  and  the  extract  of  my  reply.  It  proves  one  thing  at  least 
that  Mr  J.  Q,.  Adams'  diary  is  false,  for  if  he  had  requested 
Mr  A.  in  February  1819  to  consult  me  on  the  subject  of  the 
treaty,  Mr  Munroe  would  not  have  wrote  me  on  the  subject  in 
1825.  The  truth  is  I  never  heard  of  the  Treaty  until  whilst 
under  negotiation,  or  until  long  after  I  left  the  city  in  March 
1819.  The  first  I  heard  of  it  as  I  positively  believe,  was  from 
Mr  Munroe,  in  the  fall  of  1819,  as  I  was  escorting  him  thro  In- 
diana &  to  Lexington  Ky.,  when  he  applied  to  me  to  accept  the 
Government  of  Florida,  which  I  positively  refused,  altho  on  a 
third  application  and  on  condition  that  as  soon  as  the  country  was 
received  &  the  Govt,  organized,  I  should  be  permitted  to  resign 
my  military  &  civil  oflSce.  This  was  the  way  I  got  clear  of  my 
military  office,  as  the  rules  &  regulations  of  the  War  Dept.  pre- 
vented an  officer  whilst  under  orders  to  resign,  and  from  the  close 
of  the  war  until  this  arrangement  I  was  kept  constantly  under 
orders.  My  answer  was  written  before  any  information  that  a 
larger  boundary  than  the  Sabine  could  be  obtained.  Whilst  Mr 
Munroe  was  under  the  abuse  of  Clay  &  others  about  this  treaty, 
and  the  country  in  the  hands  of  Spain  no  danger  could  be  ex- 
pected from  that  quarter,  whilst  I  knew  from  the  projected  inva- 
sion of  Britain,  thro  the  Floridas  as  long  as  our  Southern  Coast 
was  open  to  British  influence  over  our  Indians,  &c.  &c.,  we  were 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  31 

vulnerable  from  that  quarter.  The  Indians  removed  west  Great 
Britain  gains  an  ascendancy  in  Texas,  [&]  the  same  danger  arises, 
as  I  apprehend  from  Florida.  The  moment  I  got  hold  of  Mr 
Erving's  papers,  and  found  that  we  could  have  got  Texas  as  far 
as  the  Colorado,  or  Rio  grand,  I  was  truly  astounded,  and  at 
once  tried  to  obtain  a  retrocession  &  believed  that  Mr  Munroe 
had  been  imposed  upon  by  Mr  Adams  witholding  Erving's  Com- 
munication from  him,  &c.  &c.  Thus  was  my  approval  iu  1820 
drew  from  me  by  Mr  Muuroe's  letter,  which,  if  my  recollection 
don't  fail  me,  will  be  found  the  only  approval  I  ever  gave  to  that 
unfortunate  &  ill-advised  treaty,  under  the  circumstances  it  was 
entered  into.  At  that  time  Devries  had  alarmed  the  Executive 
&  the  heads  of  Departments,  until  Mr  Jefferson  wrote  Mr  Mun- 
roe that  all  my  acts  in  Florida  were  Justifiable  on  the  broad  basis 
of  well  acknowledged  international  law,  and  all  he  had  to  do  to 
satisfy  all  Europe  on  this  point  was  to  address  a  circular  to  our 
Diplomatic  Corps  at  all  the  Courts  in  Europe,  that  his  command- 
ing .  General  had  done  no  act  but  those  well  warranted  by  the 
laws  of  nations  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  This  was 
done  ;  all  clamour  ceased  ;  the  Executive  got  calm,  and  hence  his 
letter  to  me  of  the  23d  of  May,  &c.,  this  letter  of  Mr  Jefferson's, 
Mr  Munroe  shew  me  in  '23  when  I  went  to  Congress  as  Senator. 

"1  have  wrote  Major  Lewis  to  apply  to  Mr  Governeur  for 
copies  of  all  Mr  Munroes  private  letters  to  me  &  my  answers,  as 
it  is  probable  several  of  them  got  burnt  with  my  House.  I  think 
the  one  you  have  is  the  only  one  that  treats  upon  the  subject  of 
the  Floridas  and  Texas. 

"My  family  all  Join  me  in  kind  salutations  to  you  &  yr 
amiable  family.  Yr  friend  sincerely 

"Andrew  Jackson. 

"P.  S.  I  write  from  memory  &  only  pretend  to  give  the  sub- 
stance of  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter. 

"Amos  Kendall,  Esq." 


32  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    YOUNG   WHIG   SOLDIER— WAS  GENERAL  JACKSON   A 
SCHOOLMASTER  ?— NOW  AND  THEN— A  PICTURE. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  any  statement  touching 
General  Jackson's  professional  education,  a  very 
important  subject  deserves  some  attention,  the  honor- 
able part  he  took  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  a  more 
congenial  field  for  his  talents.  His  mother  and  her 
relatives  stood  firmly  on  the  side  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  were  staunch  Whigs  and  patriots.  They 
remained  in  comparative  peace,  however,  until  1779, 
when  the  British  began  to  turn  their  attention  to  the 
South.  In  the  winter  of  1778  Savannah  fell  into 
their  hands,  and  early  in  the  following  spring  they 
invaded  South  Carolina.  On  the  20th  of  June  an 
assault  was  made  upon  the  British  at  Stono.  Hugh 
Jackson,  the  oldest  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  sons,  was  in  this 
engagement,  and  died  soon  after  from  heat  and  fatigue. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  1780,  Charleston  and  Gen- 
eral Lincoln's  army  were  captured,  and  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina  came  under  the  authority  of  the  British. 
Over  all  this  subjugated  territory  there  was  soon 
inaugurated  a  dreadful  partisan  warfare.  Many  of  the 
supporters  of  the  royal  cause  entered  the  British 
service  or  banded  themselves  together  to  murder  or 
prey  upon  their  patriot  neighbors. 

Opposed  to  these  on  the  American  side  were  such 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  33 

leaders  as  Francis  Marion,  Thomas  Sumter,  Peter 
Horry,  John  A.  Washington,  William  Richardson 
Davie,  and  others.  Besides  becoming  a  terror  to  the 
Tories  throughout  the  country,  these  men  and  their 
determined  Whig  followers  distinguished  themselves  in 
many  a  deadly  conflict  with  the  "  Red  Coats."  But  a 
match  for  any  of  them  was  Banaster  Tarleton,  the 
renegade  son  of  an  English  preacher.  Tarleton  and 
his  men  were  as  remorseless  as  were  the  Johnsons  and 
their  Indians  at  the  north.  He  hoisted  the  black  flag, 
and  wherever  he  appeared,  it  came  to  be  understood, 
there  would  be  no  quarter.  A  similar  spirit  was 
kindled  in  the  Americans,  and  the  result  was  a  bloody 
guerrilla  warfare.  The  flames  devoured  what  escaped 
the  sword. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1780,  a  body  of  four  or  five 
hundred  men  under  Colonel  Buford,  who  had  failed  in 
their  attempts  to  join  General  Lincoln  at  Charleston, 
was  attacked  by  Tarleton  at  the  Waxhaw  Settlement, 
and  two-thirds  of  them  killed  or  wounded.  One  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  of  the  Americans  were  actually  killed 
in  this  engagement,  and  here  Andrew  Jackson  took  his 
first  lesson  in  war.  Soon  after  this  aff'air,  he  and  his 
brother  Robert  entered  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Davie, 
or  accompanied  it,  and  were  present  at  the  battle  of 
Hanging  Rock,  on  the  6th  of  August. 

Andy  was  then  certainly  a  very  young  soldier,  and, 
perhaps,  did  not  participate  in  this  engagement,  al- 
though he  was  present;  nor  does  it  appear  that  he 
was  at  any  time  connected  with  any  of  the  Whig  par- 
tisan organizations.  Yet  he  had  his  gun  and  horse, 
and  was  either  traveling  up  and  down  the  country  with 
his  mother  and  other  Waxhaw  people,  or  was  following 

3— G 


34  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Colonel  Davie,  who  was  his  model  soldier.  Between 
this  course  and  that  of  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  British  Crown  there  was  no  alternative.  But 
the  conquest  was  not  effectual.  The  patriots  fought 
and  fled,  and  returned  to  strike,  when  least  expected. 
Those  who  were  not  for  them  were  against  them. 
Every  man's  hand  was  against  his  neighbor.  Whigs 
and  Tories  were  bitter  foes.  No  opportunity  passed 
without  deadly  conflict  between  them,  or  a  race  for  life. 
In  this  school  young  Andy  was  taking  his  first  most 
lasting  and  valuable  lessons. 

In  several  of  these  partisan  conflicts  he  was  directly 
concerned,  and  in  two  or  three  instances  was  instru- 
mental in  saving  the  lives  of  Whigs,  who  only  visited 
their  homes  in  the  night,  or  under  watchful  escorts. 
Some  time  in  1781,  forty  good  Whigs,  among  whom 
were  Robert  and  Andrew  Jackson,  were  surprised  by  a 
squad  of  British  at  the  Waxhaw  meeting-house ;  but 
the  Jackson  boys  managing  to  escape,  were  the  next 
day  captured  while  getting  food  at  a  friendly  house. 
Soon  after  this  event  Andy  was  ordered  by  the  officer 
of  the  squad  to  clean  his  boots,  but  this  service  he 
declined,  pleading  that  he  was  a  prisoner  of  war  and 
should  be  treated  as  such.  This  enraged  the  officer 
who  made  a  stroke  with  his  sword,  which  the  soldier 
boy  caught  on  his  hand,  leaving  a  mark  that  he  always 
carried.  For  a  similar  offense  Andy  received  a  slight 
sword  gash  on  his  head. 

The  Jackson  boys  now  spent  some  time  in  prison 
at  Camden,  from  which  they  were  released  finally, 
partly  by  the  interference  of  their  mother.  Here  they 
had  the  small-pox,  through  which  Andrew  was  safely 
nursed,   but  the    scars    of  this    disease    remained   to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  35 

remind  him  throughout  life  of  the  British  prison  pens  at 
Camden ;  and,  perhaps,  his  experiences  at  this  time  were 
not  forgotten  in  his  dealings  with  the  British  many 
years  subsequently. 

Although  there  is  some  diversity  of  opinion  as  to 
incidents  in  General  Jackson's  Revolutionary  War 
record,  the  facts  here  given  rest  substantially  upon 
his  own  statements.  The  war  had  not  benefited  young 
Jackson,  nor  advanced  him  in  the  estimation  of  his 
mother's  kindred.  If  he  had  exhibited  spirit,  bravery, 
and  patriotism,  he  had  also  been  developing  into  an 
ungovernable  man  of  undesirable  and  evil  habits. 

For  a  time  he  lived  with  Thomas  Crawford,  but 
having  a  quarrel  with  an  officer  stopping  with  the 
family  he  was  compelled  to  take  up  his  residence  with 
Joseph  White,  another  relative.  He  had  now  fallen 
into  gaming,  cock-fighting,  and  other  disgusting  and 
debasing  practices,  and  to  help  him  on  in  these  accom- 
plishments he  spent  a  part  of  1782,  with  "fine"  war- 
made  acquaintances  in  Charleston. 

Although  greatly  concerned,  it  is  said,  years  after- 
wards, about  the  burial-place  of  his  mother,  the  subject 
evidently  did  not  occupy  his  mind  at  this  time.  Fool- 
ish and  immoral  society  was  then  of  more  importance. 
He  remained  in  Charleston  until  his  money  was  gone, 
and  until  he  was  in  debt  for  his  boarding,  when  he 
staked  his  horse  against  two  hundred  dollars  at  a 
gambling  den ;  won,  got  the  money,  played  no  more  at 
the  time,  Daid  his  debts,  returned  to  the  Waxhaws,, 
and  began  to  mend  his  ways. 

While  living  at  Joseph  White's  he  had  worked  at 
the  saddler's  trade,  but  apparently  with  no  other  object 
than  to  be  doing  something.     He  now  went  to  work 


36  LIFE  AND  TIMES'  OF 

with  some  evidence  of  purpose,  and,  as  unreasonable 
as  it  may  seem,  probably  spent  a  part  of  a  year  or  two 
in  "  teaching  school."  He  had  at  least  learned  arith- 
metic, and  reading  and  writing,  to  some  extent.  But 
not  half  a  century  ago  in  country  schools  and  little 
towns,  grammar  and  geography  and  still  more  mysteri- 
ous and  far-fetched  things  were  not  requisite  always 
for  schools.  To  the  "  Rule  of  Three "  was  absolute 
greatness ;  and  even  at  this  day,  it  is  not  impossible  to 
find  windowless  log  school-houses  where  the  only  ac- 
complishments of  teacher  and  pupils  are  "  spell'n, 
read'n,  writ'n,  and  cypher'n." 

I  have  been  on  the  spot  on  the  bank  of  a  certain 
river  where  had  stood  a  log  school-house  in  which  the 
"  master "  and  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  the 
neighborhood  had  assembled  for  the  last  "  spelling  bee," 
and  after  spelling,  drinking  whisky,  and  having  all  the 
"  fun"  they  could  think  of  otherwise,  sagely  concluded 
that  since  they  were  all  educated  and  needed  no  more 
schooling,  the  temple  of  learning  would  henceforth  be 
useless,  and  therefore  putting  their  shoulders  together 
threw  it  into  the  river.  In  1859,  in  the  same  region, 
I  visited  a  school  in  session.  The  children  ran  to  the 
door  and  the  cracks  between  the  logs  to  see  us  hitch 
our  horses  to  the  saplings.  We  entered  and  took  seats 
on  a  bench  by  the  "  master."  On  long,  high  b'enches, 
sat  the  children,  of  all  ages,  from  five  to  sixteen,  with 
dirty, .bare  feet  and  legs  dangling  above  the  floor.  The 
"  master's  "  tongue  was  loose.  While  he  talked  to  us, 
the  children  looked  and  listened.  He  finally  said  to  a 
big  girl :  "  Caroline,  you  hear  some  of  them  little  ones 
say."  Caroline  was  an  assistant  pupil  for  such  press- 
ing occasions,  and  doubtlessly  became  a  teacher  herself. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  37 

She  immediately  began  the  work,  with  her  finger 
motioning  one  little  one  after  another  to  her  side,  and 
having  with  great  expedition,  heard  them  all  "  say," 
she  modestly  resumed  her  occupation  of  looking  and 
listening.  The  "  master  "  suddenly  bethinking  himself 
called  out :  "  Come,  some  of  you,  and  say  to  me  ! 
Have  you  all  said  ?"  The  general  response  was  that 
all  had  "said."  The  "master"  appeared  relieved,  and 
turning  to  us,  made  the  following  announcement  and 
proposition  :  "  I  '11  turn  them  out  awhile,  and  if  you 
have  some  marbles  with  you  we  '11  take  a  game.  I 
do  n't  feel  a  bit  well  anyhow.  I  got  drunk  Sunday, 
and  have  n't  got  over  it  yet." 

They  were  turned  out,  but  the  game  was  not 
played,  as  none  of  us  had  ever  engaged  in  so  groveling 
and  detestable  a  game.  Examples  of  this  kind,  as 
extreme  as  they  may  seem,  are  by  no  means  confined 
to  the  mountain  regions  of  certain  States. 

While  it  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  here  to  show 
that  Andrew  Jackson  was  really  a  "  master "  of  this 
type,  or  that  he  "  kept  a  school "  of  this  kind,  yet  to 
those  who  have  not  been  blessed  with  opportunities  to 
see  these  things,  the  illustration  may  serve  to  show 
what  it  was  to  "teach  school"  ninety  years  ago  in 
the  backwoods  of  the  Carolinas. 

General  Jackson,  as  boy  or  man,  in  the  capacity 
of  a  school-teacher,  could  not  possibly  be  looked  upon 
with  any  other  sentiments  that  those  of  curiosity  and 
ridicule,  if  not  disgust. 


38  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTKR  IV. 

JACKSON  BECOMES  ATTORNEY  FOR  THE  WESTERN  DIS- 
TRICT—EMIGRATES TO  NASHVILLE— MARRIAGE— 
THE  DUELIST— THE  STATE  CONSTITUTION— 
A  NEW  FIGURE  IN  CONGRESS. 

IN  the  winter  of  1784  Jackson  began  the  study  of 
the  law.  The  opportunities  for  this  profession  had 
never  been  so  great  in  the  history  of  the  American 
Colonies.  The  close  of  the  war  created  a  new  order 
of  things,  and  of  necessity,  opened  a  large  field  for 
legal  processes.  It  did  two  things  especially  beneficial 
to  good  Whig  lawyers,  who  had  been  tried  in  the  fiery 
ordeal,  it  threw  the  Tories  out  of  practice  mainly,  and 
laid  the  foundation  for  innumerable  disputes  which 
could  not  be  adjusted  outside  of  the  courts.  Jackson 
and  his  friends  saw  the  rare  opportunity,  and  of  his 
qualifications,  fitness,  and  ability  there  never  was  a 
period  in  his  life,  when  he  entertained  any  serious 
doubts.  Of  his  mother's  design  he  lost  sight,  if  he 
had  ever  entertained  a  sober  thought  about  it.  As  a 
Presbyterian  or  Hardshell  Baptist  preacher,  the  figure 
would  have  been  still  more  ludicrous. 

He  decided  to  be  a  lawyer,  and  that  was  what 
Andrew  Jackson  was  going  to  be.  Waightstill  Avery, 
of  Burke  County,  North  Carolina,  was  a  lawyer  of 
repute  at  that  day,  and  under  his  guidance,  if  possible, 
Andy  determined  to  gain  the  necessary  knowledge  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  39 

set  him  up  in  the  world  as  Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney 
at  Law.  That  would  sound  well  enough !  It  was 
the  way  to  a  grand  and  entertaining  future. 

Accordingly,  mounted  on  his  horse,  and  carrying 
with  him  all  he  owned  in  the  world,  he  set  out  for 
Burke  County.  To  the  Waxhaw  Settlement  he  never 
again  returned  ;  nor  did  he  ever  afterwards  visit  the 
numerous  relatives  of  his  mother  in  the  Carolinas ; 
nor,  indeed,  in  any  way,  have  any  connection  or  asso- 
ciation with  them.  In  mutually  ill-feelings  they  had 
parted.  They  deemed  themselves  fortunately  rid  of  a 
"  hard  customer,"  and,  perhaps,  the  most  surprised 
people  on  earth  at  his  extraordinary  successes  through- 
out life,  were  these  Carolina  relatives. 

Not  being  able  to  make  the  arrangements  he  de- 
sired with  Mr.  Avery,  Jackson  took  up  his  residence 
at  Salisbury,  an  interesting  old  North  Carolina  town ; 
and  here  in  the  office  of  Spruce  McCay,  with  two 
other  young  men,  he  read  law  for  a  time.  But  he  fin- 
ished his  preparation  for  this  learned  profession  at  the 
end  of  about  two  years,  under  John  Stokes,  who  had 
been  a  brave  Whig  soldier,  and  subsequently  became 
eminent  as  a  lawyer.  During  this  time  he  had  sup- 
ported himself  by  such  means  as  came  in  his  way,  not 
always,  perhaps,  to  the  advantage  of  his  reputation. 

Early  in  1787,  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law  in 
North  Carolina,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  set  out 
to  try  his  luck.  His  change  of  pursuit  had  not  im- 
proved his  manners  and  reputation,  and  like  the  Wax- 
haw  people,  the  good  citizens  of  Salisbury  were  glad 
to  get  rid  of  a  young  man  whose  loose  moral  and 
social  practices  were  not  beneficial  to  their  community. 
He  was  still  a  whisky-drinker,  and  had  not  abandoned 


40  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

cock-fighting  and  cards ;  although,  after  winning  the 
two  hundred  dollars  at  Charleston  in  1782,  General 
Jackson  said  that  he  never  again  played  for  stakes. 
The  exact  facts  about  this  matter  he  may  have  for- 
gotten, as  it  is  believed  that  he  did  not  give  up 
betting,    especially  on  horse-racing,  until  late  in  life. 

At  Salisbury  he  was  distinguished,  not  as  a  hard 
and  successful  student  of  law,  but  as  a  judge  of 
horses,  a  patron  and  agitator  of  racing,  and  a 
leader  in  mischief  of  every  kind.  Indeed,  he  stood 
at  the  head  in  these  things.  Although  he  had  not  a 
free  passport  to  good  society,  he  was,  for  all  that,  a 
great  beau.  He  was  then  over  six  feet  tall,  and 
almost  as  thin  as  a  rail  from  head  to  foot,  and  was 
unfortunate  enough  to  have  expressionless  blue  eyes. 
But  he  was  singularly  graceful,  dignified,  and  attractive 
in  his  movements,  and  besides  this  actually  had  the 
reputation  of  uncommon  attainments  for  his  neighbor- 
hood and  times.  Many  stories  told  about  his  doings 
while  "  studying  law  "  at  Salisbury,  are  naughty  in 
the  extreme,  but  even  in  these  stories  there  runs 
evidence  of  the  strong  traits  which  marked  his  char- 
acter in  after  years. 

He  did  not  enter  the  law  profession  with  profound 
knowledge  of  any  kind,  but  his  other  attainments 
were  more  in  harmony  with  the  demands  of  the  times. 
Some  of  his  qualities  were  in  an  eminent  degree 
suited  to  the  period,  if  not  to  the  law  profession. 
Vast  or  reliable  legal  lore  is  not  absolutely  essential 
to  superficial  eminence  among  lawyers  even  at  this 
day.  Jackson's  bearing  was  magnificent  and  over- 
powering. He  was  honorable  in  a  high  degree,  as 
honor  went;  was  brave  and  adventurous;  and  always 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  41 

had  the  unspeakable  advantage  and  faculty  of  passing 
for  more  than  he  was  really  worth.  Yet  few  of  his 
■old  Carolina  friends  were  wise  enough,  and  at  heart 
able,  to  say  that  this  bad,  daring,  unlearned,  attract- 
ive, powerful,  and  worldly  young  limb  of  the  law 
would  ever  make  his  mark,  and  place  his  name  among 
the  most  distinguished  and  interesting  in  the  history 
of  man. 

After  leaving  Salisbury  Jackson  remained  for  some 
time,  it  is  believed,  at  Martinsville  in  Guilford  County, 
North  Carolina,  but  made  no  headway  in  the  law 
practice,  probably  engaging  in  clerking  in  the  store  of 
an  acquaintance,  or  in  other  pursuits.  North  Carolina 
then  extended  to  the  Mississippi  River,  and  embraced 
all  of  what  is  now  Tennessee.  The  part  west  of  the 
mountains  was  called  the  Western  District,  and  was 
made  of  Washington  County. 

In  the  spring  of  1788,  John  McNairy  was  ap- 
pointed a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  for  this  Western 
District,  and  his  friend,  Andrew  Jackson,  was  ap- 
pointed attorney  or  solicitor  for  the  same  wild  region. 
There  were  few  lawyers  in  all  that  region  then,  and 
there  had  been  little  need  for  them.  The  position  of 
District  Attorney  for  it  was  not  only  of  little  im- 
portance, but  few  men  could  be  found  willing  to  risk 
its  dangers  and  privations.  This  was  doubtless  one 
reason  for  the  selection  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

But  there  must  have  been  other  reasons.  Jack- 
son's honorable  Revolutionary  record,  the  sufferings 
and  patriotism  of  his  family,  his  known  daring  char- 
acter, his  high  sense  of  honor,  his  unyielding  and 
positive  nature,  his  fitness  for  hardship,  his  natural 
adaptation    to    a    stirring,    active    life,    and    his   great 


42  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

natural  ability  to  judge  and  control  men,  already  well 
understood  traits  in  the  character  of  Jackson,  these 
must  have  been  the  main  causes  for  his  appointment.- 
Be  this  as  it  may,  this  appointment  was  the  intro- 
duction to  his  long  and  eventful  career.  It  was  the 
very  step  he  should  have  made  had  he  been  given  his 
choice  among  millions.  He  was  no  great  lawyer,  nor 
did  he  ever  become  much  of  a  lawyer,  nor  could  he 
ever  have  become  such  in  any  old  community.  His 
was  the  character  for  a  pioneer  under  rough  circum- 
stances, and  few  men  could  have  been  more  useful  as 
such,  and  probably  no  other  could  so  well  have  repre- 
sented the  times,  the  people,  and  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  rose. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1788,  Attorney  Jackson 
started  from  Morgantown  in  the  company  of  Judge 
McNairy  and  others  to  hold  court  at  Jonesborough 
across  the  mountains,  a  settlement  then  eight  or  ten 
years  old,  and  the  principal  one  in  East  Tennessee, 
and  also  at  Nashville.  Jonesboro  (or  Jonesborough) 
was  then  a  town  of  more  than  half  a  hundred  log 
cabins,  and  was  the  great  starting  point  from  the  west 
side  of  the  Alleghanies  to  the  settlements  on  the 
Cumberland. 

They  remained  at  Jonesboro  but  a  few  weeks,  when 
with  a  company  of  emigrants  they  were  escorted  by  a 
military  guard,  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  to  Nash- 
ville. This  beautiful  region  was  then  inhabited  by 
Indians  who  considered  every  step  made  by  the  white 
race  as  aggressions  on  their  ancient  God-given  domain. 
On  this  perilous  journey  Attorney  Jackson  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  of  more  than  ordinary  service. 

One  night  after  the  camp  had  been   placed  under 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  43 

guard  and  most  of  the  women,  children,  and  men  had 
gone   to  sleep,  Jackson  sat  long  alone,    until  having 
fallen  half  asleep  he  was  aroused  by  an  incessant  and 
not  unfamiliar  hooting  of  the  owls  in  all  directions  not 
far  from  the  camp.     The  sounds  differed  greatly,  and 
some  of  them,  it  struck  him,  were  not  exactly  in  keep- 
ing with  the  regular  sound  he   had   often  listened   to 
from  these  birds.     At  once  his  suspicion  was  aroused. 
He  believed  these  owls  were  Indians  and  that  they  had 
one  object  in  view.     The  guards  had  not   been   sharp 
enough  to  detect  this,  but  they  were  ready  enough  in 
recognizing  something  wrong  about  the  hooting  when 
their  attention  was  called.     At  the  suggestion  of  Jack- 
son, the  camp  was  at  once  broken  up  and  the  march  re- 
sumed at  midnight.     Shortly  after  a  party  of  hunters 
came  upon  their  camp-fires,  and  while  stretched  out  at 
rest  around  them,  were  fallen  upon  by  these  owls  and 
all  murdered  but  one.     This  was  a  valuable  beginning, 
and  showed  what  kind  of  man  the  Indian  was  destined 
to  have  mixed  up  in  his  affairs.     The  company  reached 
Nashville  without  accident,  and  Mr.  Frost  gives   the 
following  view  of  Attorney  Jackson's  immediate  pros- 
pects and  successes  : — 

"  After  having  experienced  considerable  detention  upon  their 
journey  they  arrived  iu  Nashville  in  October.  He  found  the 
community  in  a  situation  which  .endered  his  arrival  a  most  for- 
tunate event.  Many  of  the  younger  and  more  dissipated  of  the 
settlers  had  become  deeply  indebted  to  the  merchants  and  trades- 
men, who  were  unable  to  obtain  legal  redress,  because  thedebtcjrs 
had  secured  the  only  lawyer  in  the  county  to  their  interest.  Ihe 
defrauded  ci  editors  hailed  Jackson  as  a  deliverer.  They  imme- 
diately beset  him  with  applications  for  his  services;  and  on  the 
next  morning  after  his  arrival  seventy  writs  were  issued  against 
defaulters.  His  professional  career,  thus  auspiciously  commenced, 
continued   to  be   prosperous.     The   scoundrels,  who  had  so  long 


44  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

gone  unpunished,  attempted  to  intimidate  him,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose. Shortly  after  hia  emigration  to  the  West  he  was  appointed 
by  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina  attorney-general  for  the 
western  district.  In  this  capacity  he  continued  the  same  course 
of  practice  which  he  had  commenced.  He  executed  the  laws 
with  so  much  faithfulness  that  his  life  was  more  than  once  endan- 
gered; by  his  firmness  and  fearless  conduct,  however,  he  awed 
the  cowardly  ruffians  who  threatened  to  attack  him,  and  brought 
them  to  justice.  His  duties  as  prosecuting  attorney  obliged  him 
frequently  to  cross  the  wilderness  between  Jonesborough  and 
Nashville,  a  distance  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  infested 
with  hostile  Indians.  Twenty-two  times  did  he  perform  this  haz- 
ardous journey,  with  no  other  companion  than  his  horse  and  rifle. 
His  eflbrts  were  rewarded  by  a  lucrative  practice,  and  an  almost 
unbounded  popularity,  which  was  evinced  at  every  opportunity 
by  his  elevation  to  offices  of  honorable  trust." 

Seventy  writs  issued  the  next  morning  !  This  was 
a  wonderful  leap  into  business,  and  may  be  taken  as 
Mr.  Frost's  way  of  saying  that  Jackson  was  soon 
actively  employed.  Land  claims,  debts,  and  injuries 
done  in  one  way  or  another  by  men  to  one  another 
were  the  leading  themes  in  the  courts.  With  these 
Solicitor  Jackson  had  his  hands  full.  His  business 
became  extensive.  Many  times  all,  and  always  a  large 
proportion  of  the  causes  were  given  to  him.  His  serv- 
ices were  soon  called  into  requisition  in  every  settle- 
ment in  the  district.  He  was  the  first  licensed  lawyer 
who  practiced  in  Sumner  County,  and  many  were  his 
long  dangerous  journeys  to  the  different  parts  of  this 
savage  court  circle.  But  he  was  the  man  for  the  occa- 
sion. Everybody  confided  in  him.  Everybody  wanted 
him.  Nothing  turned  up  in  which  he  was  not  in  de- 
mand. Everything  was  thrust  upon  him.  And  he 
was  equal  to  the  emergency.  Some  ready  resource 
for  every  occasion  he  never  lacked,  nor  did  he  lose 
this  faculty  throughout  his  life. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  45 

No  man  has  ever  been  more  fortunate.  The  wild 
active  scene  in  which  he  was  placed  suited  him  so  well, 
he  became  immensely  popular.  Greatness  began  to 
be  thrust  upon  him,  and  it  held  to  him.  He  rejected 
nothing.     This  was  early  and  always  his  principle. 

Soon  after  reaching  Nashville  Jackson  went  to 
board  and  live  in  the  family  of  the  Widow  Donelson. 
In  her  house  were  also  her  daughter  Rachel  Robards 
and  her  husband.  Robards  left  his  wife,  and,  to 
escape  his  persecutions,  in  the  spring  of  1791  she  went 
down  to  Natchez  to  live  with  friends  for  a  time.  Ro- 
bards obtained  a  divorce,  it  was  announced,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  everybody  believed  that  he  had 
done  so.  Upon  this  information  Solicitor  Jackson,  who 
had  become  greatly  attached  to  Mrs.  Robards,  and  who 
considered  himself  as  the  innocent  cause  of  her  trouble, 
went  to  Natchez  and  asked  her  to  marry  him  ;  and, 
accordingly,  in  the  summer  of  1791,  they  were  mar- 
ried, soon  afterwards  returning  to  Nashville,  where  they 
lived  justly  respected  and  in  great  happiness.  Yet 
this  marriage  was  the  source  of  Jackson's  most  violent 
spasms  of  temper  and  deepest  feelings  of  pain,  as  may 
appear  in  another  chapter  of  this  volume. 

The  country  in  which  lawyer  Jackson  had  settled 
was  now  constantly  involved  in  wars  with  the  Indians. 
In  many  of  these  conflicts  Jackson  took  part,  often  as 
a  leader.  This  position  he  took  naturally,  and,  as  in 
every  thing  else  which  he  undertook,  he  made  him- 
self felt.  He  acquired  a  reputation  even  among  the 
Indians,  at  this  time,  which  they  never  forgot.  They 
called  him  "  Sharp  Knife,"  "  Long  Arrow,"  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind;  and  came  to  know  and- dread  him 
as  did  his  white  enemies.    He  had  many  narrow  escapes, 


46  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

but  was  foremost  in  the  risk  of  danger.  The  Indians 
had  no  more  dangerous  and  desperate  foe  in  all  Ten- 
nessee. The  most  considerable  expedition  organized  at 
Nashville  against  the  Indians  was  known  as  the  Nick- 
ajack  expedition  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1793. 

Against  the  will  of  the  General  Government,  in 
the  summer  of  that  year,  the  Governor  of  Tennessee 
and  his  general  of  militia  undertook  to  punish  the 
Indians,  whose  main  towns  were  along  the  south  side 
of  the  Tennessee  River  about  the  northern  border  of 
Georgia  and  Alabama.  Colonel  William  Whitley,  of 
Kentucky,  was  really  the  leader  of  this  expedition, 
but  the  command  was  ostensibly  under  Major  Ore, 
whose  troops  were  embodied  with  the  semblance  of 
regular  authority. 

William  Brown,  who  owed  these  Indians  a  great 
deal  of  ill-will,  led  the  army  across  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  by  routes  well  known  to  him.  Less  than 
three  hundred  of  the  men  got  across  the  Tennessee  on 
the  night  planned  for  the  attack.  But  these  surprised 
the  savages  at  day-break,  and  slaughtered  many  of 
them,  women  and  children  being  among  the  slain. 
Two  or  three  hundred  of  the  helpless  were  taken  pris- 
oners, and  Nickajack  and  other  towns  destroyed. 

Ramsay,  in  his  "  Annals  of  Tennessee,"  says  that 
Jackson  was  a  private  in  this  expedition,  and  that  he 
really  planned  the  attack  on  Nickajack.  It  is  rare 
that  a  "  high  private  "  even  is  called  upon  to  lay  plans 
for  the  commander  of  an  army.  One  thing  Jackson 
certainly  did,  he  had  the  expedition  recognized  and 
paid  by  the  General  Government,  a  thing  which  never 
should  hav'e  been  done.  Although  it  has  usually  been 
believed  that  Jackson  was  a  private  in  this  expedition, 


ANDEEW  JACKSON.  47 

it  is  quite  probable  that  this  is  an  error.  He  had 
acquired  too  much  distinction  as  an  Indian  fighter  to 
be  allowed  to  go  in  that  capacity  among  his  neighbors 
and  clients;  and  besides  recognizing  this  fact  himself, 
he  was  Territorial  Attorney,  and,  perhaps,  for  once  in 
his  life,  felt  indisposed  to  be  concerned  directly  in  so 
important  an  undertaking  when  it  was  without  the 
authority  of  the  Government. 

At  this  period  Jackson  began  his  duel-fighting 
career.  While  it  is  the  purpose  to  avoid  in  this  work 
any  systematic  display  of  this  most  reprehensible  and 
indefensible  phase  in  the  life  of  General  Jackson,  the 
facts  concerning  it  will  be  presented  with  that  stint 
which  the  moral  bearing  of  the  case  seems   to   merit. 

His  first  duel  was  fought  with  Waightstill  Avery, 
the  old  lawyer  of  Morgantown  with  whom  he  had 
greatly  desired  to  study  law.  They  were  both  attend- 
ing court  at  Jonesboro,  and  Avery  happening  to  make 
some  remark  about  Jackson's  course  which  was  taken 
as  an  insult,  Jackson  immediately  wrote  a  challenge 
to  fight  and  sent  it  over  to  Avery  in  the  court-room. 
Although  opposed  to  dueling  Avery  considered  himself 
forced  to  accept,  and  just  after  sundown  on  the  same 
evening,  near  Jonesboro,  they  exchanged  shots  with- 
out effect,  then  shook  hands  and  were  friends  ever 
afterwards. 

Jackson  was  always  ready  to  fight  in  any  way,  at 
a  moment's  notice,  and  notwithstanding  the  general 
cut-throat  character  of  the  times,  the  worst  of  men 
were  afraid  of  him.  This  fact  is  well  illustrated  in 
one  of  his  extraordinary  feats  while  sitting  as  judge 
in  court  at  Jonesboro.  The  constable  had  a  writ  for 
the  arrest  of  Russell  Bean,  one  of  the  roughest  but  most 


48  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

physically  powerful  men  in  the  country,  and  although 
Bean  was  stalking  about  the  town  the  officer  reported 
that  he  would  not  be  arrested,  and  he  was  unable  to 
make  the  arrest  by  force.  Judge  Jackson  was  not  the 
man  to  submit  long  to  such  a  state  of  affairs  as  that, 
and  at  once  causing  himself  to  be  summoned  to  make 
the  arrest,  he  quit  the  bench  and  started  in  search  of 
his  man.  At  first  sight  of  him  Bean  changed  his 
mind,  and  surrendered  without  a   sign    of   resistance. 

Lewis  Robards  had  had  Jackson  arrested  at  Nash- 
ville for  threats  upon  his  "peace  and  life,  and  he  after- 
wards chased  Robards  with  a  butcher-knife,  and  ran 
him  out  of  the  settlement  because  Robards  persisted 
in  regarding  his  conduct  as  dishonorable  towards  Mrs. 
Robards. 

After  a  few  unsuccessful  attacks  upon  Jackson  by 
the  rough  characters  who  were  pushe'd  by  him  in  the 
Courts,  he  was  mainly  allowed  to  pursue  his  course 
without  disturbance.  Yet  his  professional  troubles 
were  of  great  variety  and  almost  constant  occurrence. 

Among  other  such  marks  of  civilization  introduced 
in  the  West  in  the  early  settlements,  was  that  of 
cock-fighting.  In  this  delightful  and  manly  pastime, 
Andrew  Jackson,  the  future  hero  of  New  Orleans,  led 
the  way,  if  he  was  not  the  originator  of  the  business. 
As  late  as  the  4th  of  July,  1809,  in  a  celebrated 
chicken-fight  at  Nashville,  he  i«  said  to  have  won  a 
section  of  land  in  a  bet.  The  young  men  of  the  set- 
tlement, especially,  followed  him  with  great  confidence, 
but  it  was  many  a  day  after  this  chicken-fight  before 
he  set  many  good  examples  for  their  imitation. 

At  the  beginning  of  1796,  Tennessee,  or  the  terri- 
tory of  which  it  was  afterwards  made,  was  found   to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  49 

contain  over  seventy  thousand  people.  A  convention 
for  framing  a  State  constitution  was  convened  at 
Knoxville,  January  11,  1796.  It  was  composed  of 
fifty-five  members,  five  from  each  of  the  eleven 
counties.  From  Davidson  County  Andrew  Jackson 
was  one  of  the  delegates. 

In  twenty-seven  day§  a  convention  made  what  was 
then  considered  an  extremely  republican  constitution; 
and  after  allowing  each  member  a  dollar  and  a  half  a 
day,  one  dollar  less  than  had  been  appropriated  for 
the  purpose,  and  paying  the  secretary,  door-keeper,  and 
other  officers  two  dollars  a  day,  nothing  having  been 
provided  for  that  purpose,  the   convention  adjourned. 

This  was  Attorney  Jackson's  first  experience  in  a 
legislative  body.  He  and  Judge  John  McNairy  were 
the  two  members  from  Davidson  County  on  the  com- 
mittee for  drafting  the  constitution.  Jackson  favored 
the  division  of  the  Legislature  into  two  bodies,  and 
supported  the  declaration  as  to  the  equal  share  to  this 
country  in  the  navigation,  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  he  never  did  cease  to  be  an  enemy  to  Spain.  He 
was  certainly  an  important  and  influential  member  of 
the  convention,  although  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
took  a  leading  part  in  its  deliberations.  On  the  first 
of  the  following  June,  Tennessee  was  admitted  to  the 
Union  as  the  sixteenth  State.  The  new  State  had  but 
one  Representative  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress, 
and  in  the  fall  of  179G,  Andrew  Jackson  was  chosen 
to  fill  that  place.  On  the  assembling,  of  Congress, 
December  5th,  at  Philadelphia,  he  took  his  seat. 

No  man,  perhaps,  more  honestly  felt  his  unfitness 
for  this  position  than  did  General  Jackson,  and,  to  a 
great    extent,  he    avoided    a    display  of   his    defects. 

4— G 


50  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

During  his  short  service  in  the  National  House  of 
Representatives  he  was  mainly  a  silent  member.  His 
votes  on  measures  before  the  House  very  fully  attest 
his  character,  and  his  readiness  at  any  time  to  oppose 
what  he  thought  wrong,  no  matter  from  what  source 
it  came.  The  small  minority  which  operated  without 
union,  and  with  which  he  mg,inly  v.oted,  indicated  his 
natural  independency.  He  had  the  pleasure  or  mor- 
tification of  hearing  General  Wfishington  deliver  his 
last  annual  speech  to  Congress,  and  of  seeing  the 
pompous  ceremonies  of  that  day  on  the  retirement  and 
inauguration  of  a  President.  He  was  one  of  the 
twelve  who  voted  in  the  House  against  the  eulogistic 
response  of  that  body  to  the  President's  speech,  im- 
plying a  censure  of  his  Administration.  Although 
this  act  denoted  Mr.  Jackson's  independence  of  judg- 
ment and  feeling,  probably,  it  was  hardly  commendable 
or  necessary  to  make  the  display  of  the  quality  on 
that  occasion.  There  were  men  all  through  the  Revo- 
lution, like  Charles  Lee  and  Aaron  Burr,  afterwards  a 
friend  of  Jackson,  who  pretended  that  they  never  saw 
much  to  admire  in  General  Washington,  and  some  of 
them,  perhaps,  unwhimsically  opposed  him  on  general 
principles.  Andrew  Jackson,  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  man,  could  never  have  been  a  warm  admirer  of 
George  Washington. 

During  the  winter  the  subject  of  paying  the  men 
who  served  in  the  Nickajack  expedition  came  up  by 
Hugh  L.  White's  sending  his  claim  to  Congress  as  a 
test  case.  It  now  became  necessary  for  Jackson,  as 
the  only  Representative  from  Tennessee,  to  present 
and  defend  the  claim.  The  troops  had  been  called  out 
and  the  expedition  undertaken  without  the  consent  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  51 

the  Government,  and  upon  the  necessity  of  the  expe- 
dition there  was  a  division  of  opinion. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  when  White's  petition 
was  introduced,  Jackson  made  his  first  speech  in  Con- 
gress ;  and  on  the  following  day,  when  the  question 
was  up,  on  his  own  resolution  he  offered  some  addi- 
tional remarks  to  the  point,  which  were  characteristic 
of  the  man,  but  in  a  limited  sense. 

The  appropriation  was  made,  but  not  without  the 
aid  of  such  men  as  James  Madison.  Jackson  voted 
against  buying  peace  or  paying  tribute  to  Algiers; 
against  an  appropriation  to  re-furnish  the  President's 
house ;  in  favor  of  restricting  carefully  all  public  ap- 
propriations ;  and  in  favor  of  completing  the  vessels 
of  war  in  process  of  construction.  But  the  brief 
speeches  named  here  were  about  the  extent  of  his 
speaking  during  his  service  in  the  House,  as  with  the 
close  of  the  session,  March  3,  1797,  he  withdrew  from 
that  body,  with  the  approval  of  his  constituents  upon 
the  course  he  had  taken.  Tennessee  was  so  republican 
that  the  first  governor  was  called  "  Citizen  John  Se- 
vier," and  Jackson  had  well  maintained  her  republican 
character.  While  she  aped  France  in  some  respects 
in  her  extreme  democracy,  in  other  respects  she  was 
far  too  despotic  for  the  straitest  descendants  of  the 
Federalists  in  1876. 

If  Jackson  had  done  nothing  else  while  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  than  secure  the  payment  of 
the  Tennesseeans  for  the  expedition  of  1793,  it  would 
have  been  enough  to  make  him  immensely  popular. 
Whether  this  affair  was  right  in  itself,  and  whether 
the  Government  "should  have  paid  the  soldiers  for 
their  time,  and   defrayed   the   expenses  and  losses  of 


52  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  expedition,  or  whether  it  was  not  enough  that  the 
country  at  large  should  have  provisioned  the  expedi- 
tion, are   questions   not  necessary  to  be  decided  here. 

A  vacancy  now  occurring  in  the  representation  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  from  Tennessee,  and 
notwithstanding  the  incongeniality  of  such  employ- 
ments to  Jackson,  and  his  unfitness  for  them,  he  was 
elected  to  fill  the  place,  and  on  the  assembling  of  Con- 
gress in  the  fall  of  1797  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate. 
Little  is  recorded  of  his  actions  in  this  body.  He  was 
mainly  a  voter,  and  a  discontented  looker-on.  He  was 
one  of  the  straight  Jeffersonian  opponents  of  the  Ad- 
ministration. Law-making  never  could  have  been  to 
his  taste.  He  had  neither  the  ability  nor  the  inclina- 
tion to  exercise  the  patience  and  undergo  the  slow 
processes  of  discussion  and  circumlocution  in  a  legis- 
lative assembly. 

At  the  time  of  this  visit  to  Philadelphia,  Jackson 
met  Edward  Livingston,  with  whom  he  remained  on 
intimate  terms  ever  afterwards.  He  greatly  admired 
Livingston,  who  possessed  none  of  his  own  qualities, 
and  Mr.  Livingston  fully  and  freely  returned  the 
friendly  feeling,  affording  one  of  the  rare  instances  of 
accommodation  in  very  diverse  characters. 

At  this  time  it  was  that  Mr.  Jefferson  saw  the  dis- 
plays of  temper  and  want  of  reason  in  Jackson  which, 
in  part,  caused  him  to  regard  the  General's  elevation 
to  the  Presidency  with  great  concern.  Mr.  Jefferson 
admired  Jackson's  soldierly  qualities  and  republican 
politics,  and  supported  his  course  in  the  Indian  and 
Spanish  difficulties  in  1818 ;  but  the  general  make-up 
of  such  a  nature  could  not  have  much  in  it  to  the 
taste  of  Mr.  Jefferson.     General  Jackson,  on  his  part, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  53 

was  never  a  warm  admirer  of  any  of  his  predecessors 
in  the  Presidency. 

Tired  of  Congress,  and  impatient  to  be  engaged  in 
matters  more  to  his  taste,  in  April,  1798,  Jackson  re- 
turned to  Nashville,  and  soon  afterwards  resigned  his 
seat  in  Congress.  The  great  object  he  had,  doubtlessly, 
in  quitting  a  position  in  which  he  very  well  knew  he 
could  not  shine,  was  the  advancement  of  his  pecuniary 
interests.  He  was  bent  on  making  a  fortune.  He 
knew  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  then 
so  golden  in  Tennessee.  His  professional  services 
brought  him  large  returns  in  land,  especially.  "A 
mere  song"  obtained  him  the  title  to  many  a  section 
and  quarter-section  of  land.  After  the  Nickajack  ex- 
pedition Tennessee  had  little  more  serious  trouble  from 
the  Indians.  The  country  improved  rapidly  and  emi- 
grants came  in  a  continuous  stream.  Land  advanced 
in  price,  and  Jackson's  fortune  expanded  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity.  ^ 


54  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  V. 

ANDREW  JACKSON  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THIS  CENTURY- 
SUPERIOR  JUDGE— GENERAL  OF   MILITIA— TRADER 
AND  HORSE-RACER. 

ALTHOUGH  Andrew  Jackson  had  now  reached  a 
certain  degree  and  kind  of  popularity  in  Tennes- 
see, he  had  not  held  any  important  office  in  the  new 
State ;  and  it  would  be  somewhat  difficult  to  estimate 
the  good  he  had  done  it,  or  to  strike  a  balance  between 
his  good  and  bad.  He  was  still  Andrew  Jackson,  At- 
torney at  Law,  trader,  merchant,  and  farmer.  In  the 
law  itself  he  had  made  no  reputation.  Nor  did  he 
ever  do  so.  He  was  never  a  lawyer.  His  mind  and 
tastes  were  unsuited  to  the  law  or  any  other  profes- 
sion. What  of  law  he  knew,  which  was  little,  he 
gathered  from  necessity,  not  from  preference,  and  his 
legal  learning  and  pursuits  had  little  influence  on  his 
character.  These  were  mere  instruments  in  the  hands 
of  a  nature  which  they  could  not  materially  affect. 

In  his  "  History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  Mr.  Putnam 
says  that  as  Prosecuting  Attorney  Jackson  had  the 
reputation  of  doing  things  thoroughly.  He  was  the 
man  to  correct  a  wrong  that  lay  in  his  way.  The  evil- 
doer had  little  chance  for  escape  if  Mr.  Jackson  con- 
sidered himself  responsible  for  his  punishment.  For 
such  a  community  the  office  of  District  or  Territorial 
Attorney  was  in  efficient  hands.     It  was  a  position  in 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  55 

which  personal  force  was  often  more  eflTective  than  legal 
lore.  It  had  qualities  which  appealed  to  the  nature 
and  tastes  of  the  Prosecutor. 

Jackson  had  helped,  to  some  extent,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  constitution  for  the  new  State.  He  was  then 
honored  by  being  made  the  first  Representative  of  his 
State  in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  and  his  two 
brief  speeches  in  that  body  seemed  to  be  of  benefit  in 
throwing  the  expenses  of  the  Nickajack  expedition 
from  the  State  to  the  General  Government.  Of  this 
position  he  became  weary  before  the  expiration  of  his 
term.  When  one  of  the  first  United  States  Senators 
from  the  State  had  been  expelled  from  his  seat,  Mr. 
Jackson  was  given  a  trial  as  his  successor;  but  this 
still  more  important  trust  was  .not  to  his  liking,  and 
even  before  the  end  of  the  first  session  he  returned 
home,  and  never  again  resumed  his  seat.  In  this  double 
Congressional  "  service  "  or  employment,  he  did  nothing 
to  distinguish  himself,  but  something  to  be  remembered 
against  him  in  after  times. 

He  first  arrayed  himself  with  the  small  faction 
against  the  Administration  of  General  Washington,  and 
voted  against  the  kindly  address,  the  last  one  to  be 
made,  to  the  first  President,  who  weary  of  the  turmoil 
which  surrounded  him,  was  about  to  withdraw  forever 
from  public  station,  willing  to  intrust  the  Government 
he  had  done  so  much  to  establish  to  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  his  countrymen.  Most  of  the  twelve 
men  who  voted  against  this  address  in  the  House,  tried 
then 'and  afterwards  to  justify  their  course  in  an  at- 
tempt to  distinguish  between  General  Washington  and 
his  Administration  ;  but  in  this  they  were  not  success- 
ful, as  time  and  history  have  not  sanctioned  the  apology 


56  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

or  the  distinction.  The  stubborn  William  B.  Giles,  one 
of  the  twelve,  was  perfectly  willing  to  have  it  known 
that  he  was  opposed  to  General  Washington  in  person, 
and  believed  that  the  country  could  get  on  very  well 
without  him,  and  that  it  would  have  been  greatly 
blessed  by  his  earlier  retirement. 

The  Administration  was  not  a  thing  by  itself,  with- 
out the  President,  to  be  opposed ;  and  if  it  had  been, 
time  has  not  justified  the  wisdom  of  the  opposition. 
Even  Mr.  Hamilton's  funding  system  and  the  assump- 
tion of  the  State  war  debts,  long,  long  ago  ceased  to 
be  regarded  as  doubtful  measures.  The  financial  policy 
and  the  entire  work  of  the  Administration,  excepting 
the  Bank,  have,  by  the  progress  of  events,  been  placed 
beyond  the  domain  of  dispute  among  all  grades  of 
statesmen  and  patriots.  The  verdict  of  history  is 
against  the  factious  opponents  to  the  Administration 
of  Washington,  whether  they  were  in  Congress  or  in 
the  Jacobinic  clubs. 

In  the  Senate  under  a  new,  but  still  a  Federal  Ad- 
ministration, Mr.  Jackson  was  not  more  successful  in 
his  course.  Here,  according  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  who 
watched  him  from  the  chair  of  the  Vice-President,  he  ap- 
peared to  sit  in  a  constant  state  of  wrath,  so  much  so 
that  if  he  attempted  to  speak  he  was  choked  by  anger. 
But  he  was  an  unyielding  Jeffersonian  opponent  to  the 
Administration,  and  usually  voted  with  the  opposition. 
The  Bank  of  the  United  States  in  the  first,  and  the 
Alien  nnd  Sedition  Laws,  in  the  second  Administration 
have  always  been  debatable  themes,  and  beyond  these 
the  judgment  of  time  has  been,  in  the  main,  against 
the  Republican  (Democratic)  opposition.  But  both  of 
these    measures    seemed   to    be    well   founded    on    the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  57 . 

necessities  of  the  times.  These  necessities  arose  again, 
and  Mr.  Madison  deemed  it  well  to  re-charter  the  Bank. 
Nothing  better  had  been  devised,  and  its  sudden  death 
was  one  of  its  greatest  evils.  Extraordinary  emer- 
gencies occurred  under  a  Republican  Administration  for 
the  use  of  the  Sedition  Law,  and  such  emergencies  may 
ever  be  possible. 

At  this  date  Attorney  Jackson  had  done  one  other 
thing  which  was  of  great  benefit  to  him,  while  it  never 
ceased  to  be  the  source  of  most  of  his  troubles  ;  he  had 
married  the  wife  of  Lewis  Robards.  That  Jackson's  skirts 
were  entirely  clear  in  the  circumstances  which  made 
this  marriage  desirable,  it  may  not  be  easy  to  demon- 
strate ;  but  that  his  conduct  was  that  of  a  lawyer,  or 
even  of  a  person  ordinarily  considerate  of  consequences, 
it  would  be  useless  to  maintain.  General  Jackson's 
mode  of  defense  was  not  painstaking  and  fair  argu- 
ment, not  a  careful  and  wise  provision  against  future 
chances  and  evils  ;  it  was  fight  and  physical  force,  and 
in  this  way  he  attempted  throughout  his  life  to  correct 
the  misstep  he  had  taken  and  to  defend  his  wife's 
character,  which  was  all  he  represented  it  to  be,  from 
the  villainous  tongue  of  slander,  that  reason  and  truth 
could  not  silence.  The  provocation  was  very  great, 
and  the  case-  was  so  peculiar  that  the  slander  always 
started  out  with  a  truth,  against  which  Jackson's  flame 
and  character  did  not  permit  him  to  secure  himself  and 
his  wife  from  the  evils  to  come.  But  a  clear  presen- 
tation of  this  subject  is  reserved  for  another  chapter. 
One  of  Jackson's  strange  friendships,  formed  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  winter  of  1797,  was  that  with 
Aaron  Burr.  Burr  was  one  of  the  most  fastidious 
men  in  his  tastes  and  habits  who  ever  gained  public 


58  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

recognition  in  this  country.  But  his  loose  morals 
enabled  him  to  find  something  agreeable  in  the  ways 
of  Jackson,  and  his  attachment  was  increased  by  the 
kind  of  heroic  and  dignified  chivalry  Jackson  cast 
around  his  own  crookedness.  Burr's  friendship  was 
far-reaching.  He  rightly  saw  that  this  roughly  hewn 
stick  was  destined  to  be  a  power  in  the  West.  He 
was  always  looking  to  the  future,  and  this  new  acquaint- 
ance was  to  serve  him  in  a  scheme  about  which  he  was 
even  then  dreaming.  But  the  selection  of  such  a 
character  to  be  a  tool  was  Burr's  mistake,  and  this  he 
learned  in  the  days  when  all  men  had  deserted  him. 

Soon  after  resigning  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  Governor  Sevier  appointed  Jackson  to  be 
a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  the  Legislature  con- 
firmed the  appointment.  Notwithstanding  the  miser- 
able salary  of  six  hundred  a  year  paid  to  this  office, 
he  accepted  it,  and  continued  to  discharge  its  duties 
for  six  years. 

In  1801,  he  was  also  elected  commander  of  the 
district  militia,  with  the  rank  of  major-general,  a  posi- 
tion for  which  he  was  suited,  and  which  he  strongly 
coveted.  For  this  office  his  competitor  was  John 
Sevier,  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  famous  battle  of 
King's  Mountain,  and  one  of  the  most  woithy,  as  well 
as  brave,  among  all  the  early  settlers  of  Tennessee ;  a 
man  who  had  filled  more  public  positions  successfully, 
and  led  more  expeditions  successfully  against  the 
Indians  than  any  other  man  in  Tennessee  ;  physically, 
socially,  and  morally,  a  model  Western  man.  The 
election  for  this  position  was  made  by  the  militia 
officers.  The  vote  was  a  tie  between  the  two  candi- 
dates, and,  strangely  enough,  the  Governor  was  allowed 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  59 

to   cast    a  vote   in  the    case,  which   he   did  in  favor 
of  Jackson. 

This  incensed  Governor  Sevier,  and  presented  a  new 
cause  for  the  ill-feeling  that  existed  between  them.  But 
Jackson  had  been  the  means  of  exposing  the  extensive 
frauds  in  land  titles  in  Tennessee,  and  Sevier  was  rep- 
resented as  being  concerned  in  these  speculations. 

As  judge,  some  of  these  cases  came  before  Jackson, 
and  here  all  the  old  troubles  with  Sevier  were  revived, 
and  an  almost  incessant  war  was  waged  between  them. 
They  were  ready  to  fight  whenever  they  met,  on 
horse  or  in  any  condition. 

Jackson,  while  holding  court  in  East  Tennessee, 
where  Sevier  lived,  challenged  Sevier  to  fight  a  duel, 
and  then,  because  Sevier  delayed  making  the  arrange- 
ments for  it,  advertised  him  as  a  coward,  an  act  which 
showed  his  foolhardy  and  inconsiderate  way  of  doing 
things,  as  everybody',  including  himself,  very  well 
knew  that  what  he  had  done  was  untrue. 

This  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  ex-Governor, 
Citizen  John  Sevier,  then  arranged  to  meet  near 
Knoxville  and  fight  like  cocks,  the  best  they  could 
with  their  fists.  Jackson  went  over  to  the  spot  near 
the  border  of  the  State,  and  actually  waited  there  two 
days,  it  is  said,  for  Sevier.  He  then  set  out  on  >is 
return  to  Knoxville,  at  that  time  the  Capital  of  the 
State,  determined  to  bring  Sevier  to  a  fight  wherever 
they  should  meet.  He  had  not  gone  far  until  he  dis- 
covered Sevier  approaching  with  a  retinue  of  the 
friends  of  both. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  made  a  statement  in 
writing  touching  the  nature  of  the  quarrel  between 
himself  and  the  Governor,  and  this  he  sent   forward, 


60  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

but  Sevier  declined  to  receive  it.  Smarting  under 
this  new  wound,  Judge  Jackson  fixing  himself  in  his 
saddle  and  using  his  cane  for  a  spear  spurred  forward 
his  horse  with  great  impetuosity  to  the  assault.  The 
Governor,  unwilling  to  withstand  the  furious  knight 
on  horseback,  sprang  to  the  ground,  but  in  doing  so 
entangled  himself  in  his  military  trappings.  Friends 
rushed  in  at  this  juncture  and  arrested  further  hos- 
tility. They  now  became  partly  reconciled,  and  rode 
in  company  back  to  Knoxville.  This  was  the  last 
time  these  two  belligerent  spirits  met  in  a  hostile 
manner,  but  no  great  degree  of  friendship  was  ever 
restored  between  them.  The  mischief  began  in  this 
case  by  Jackson's  revealing,  about  the  close  of  his 
"service"  in  the  Senate,  to  the  Governor  of»  North 
Carolina,  some  fraudulent  transactions  in  land  titles  in 
which  it  was  held  that  Sevier  had  been  concerned. 
The  ill-feeling  had  been  greatly  aggravated  by  the* 
race  for  the  command  of  the  militia  in  1801,  when 
Sevier  was  temporarily  out  of  office.  Then  Sevier 
had  committed  the  unpardonable  sin  of  mouthing  the 
sacred  name  of  Rachel.  But  a  more  disgraceful  affair 
never  occurred,  perhaps,  in  this  country  between  men 
occupying  public  stations,  and  possessing  any  right  to 
demand  respectable  consideration. 

About  this  time  Judge  Jackson  also  fell  out  with 
his  old  friend,  John  McNairy,  from  a  trifling  cause, 
and  this,  like  most  of  his  quarrels,  was  never  settled. 
Weary  of  his  legal  pursuits  he  resigned  his  judgeship, 
July  24,  1804,  for  the  purpose  of  devoting  his  attention 
to  business,  and  the  quiet  of  his  home.  He  was,  no 
doubt,  urged  to  this  course  by  the  incessant  turmoil 
in  which  he  lived.     It  was  impossible  for  such  a  man 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  61 

were 


to  get  along  without  trouble.  His  enemies 
numerous,  and  of  the  most  desperate  kind.  He  had 
made  them  by  his  impetuous  and  evil  temper,  and  by 
his  honest  and  just  rendering  of  the  law  in  the  cases 
that  came  before  him.  In  his  time  no  record  was 
kept  of  the  decisions  of  his  Court,  and  consequently 
none  of  his  judgments  are  known  now.  He  himself 
kept  no  record  of  his  own  acts,  or  those  of  any  other 
man.  It  was  not  to  his  taste  to  do  anything  of  the 
kind,  and  he  had  serious  doubts  as  to  the  use  to  which 
such  records  could  sometime  be  put.  He  once  said 
that  J.  Q.  Adams's  Diary  would  be  the  death  of  him. 
But  he  was  mistaken.  Missiles  false  or  true  seemed 
to  strengthen  him  with  the  masses,  some  of  whom  vote 
and  swear  by  him  even  yet. 

Judge  Jackson  was  now  without  incumbrance  by 
public  positions.  The  military  office  he  held,  besides 
being  to  his  taste  exactly,  did  not,  in  the  least,  stand 
in  the  way  of  his  other  pursuits.  It  was  little  more, 
for  years,  than  a  matter  of  occasional  parades  and 
displays  of  horsemanship  and  soldier's  tinsel,  of  which 
General  Jackson,  or  as  he  still  called  himself,  at  times. 
Judge  Jackson,  was  as  fond  as  he  was  of  chicken- 
fighting.  He  was  now  not  Lawyer  Jackson,  he  was 
free  from  all  his  incongenial  occupations.  But  he  had 
left  the  "  Bench  "  and  all  his  former  pursuits,  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  his  attention  without  dis- 
turbance to  money-getting. 

From  the  time  of  his  settlement  at  Nashville  he 
had  steadily  had  this  object  in  view,  and  had  not 
hesitated  to  go  outside  of  his  "profession"  m  any 
direction  which  promised  success.  In  one  way  and 
another  at  the  time  of  his  resignation  of  the  judges 


62  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

position  he  owned  between  twenty-five  and  fifty  thou- 
sand acres  of  Tennessee  land,  a  considerable  portion 
of  which  was  near  Nashville,  and  a  part  of  which 
afterwards  became  the  "Hermitage."  While  in  the 
Senate  he  had  sold  some  lands  to  David  Allison,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  with  the  notes  he  bought  a  large 
stock  of  dry-goods  suited  to  his  market.  He  followed 
this  to  Nashville,  and  established  a  trading-post  on  his 
own  lands  at  Hunter's  Hill,  ten  or  twelve  miles  from 
home.  But  Allison  failed,  and  Jackson  had  to  pay  the 
notes  which  he  had  exchanged  for  goods.  This  piece 
of  ill-fortune  greatly  embarrassed  him,  and  was  one 
cause  of  his  quitting  the  "  Bench  "  in  1804,  a  posi- 
tion for  which  he  was,  in  most  respects,  totally  unfit. 

From  this  time  forward  he  did  not  concern  himself 
about  learned  offices.  He  was  general  of  the  militia, 
and  that  was  enough.  Farming,  trading,  selling  goods, 
raising  and  dealing  in  horses,  etc.,  were  his  occupa- 
tions. With  him,  in  the  mercantile  branch  of  his 
business  was  John  Hutchings,  and  later  both  Hutch- 
ings  and  John  Coffee.  Hutchings  was  a  relative  of 
Mrs.  Jackson's,  and  John  Coffee,  after  this  partnership 
was  formed,  married  her  niece.  Jackson  now  found 
it  necessary  to  sell  a  part  of  his  land  to  pay  his 
Philadelphia  debts,  and  in  1804  or  the  next  year 
moved  onto  that  tract  which  became  his  permanent 
home  and  which  he  called  the  "  Hermitage." 

Here  for  a  long  time,  day  after  day,  he  sold  goods 
in  a  log  store.  Jackson,  Coffee,  and  Hutchings  for  a 
time  engaged  in  flat-boat  making,  and  themselves  traded 
largely  down  the  Cumberland,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi. 
In  this  appendage  to  their  main  business,  as  in  every- 
thing else,  they  got  little  ready  cash.     They   merely 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  63 

took  in  exchange  for  their  commodities,  cotton,  furs, 
grain,  meat-,  whisky,  produce,  everything  that  could 
be  turned  into  money,  an  exchange  they  made  in  New 
Orleans.  But  their  river  traffic  was  difficult  and  not 
very  successful. 

On  his  farm  Jackson,  in  a  way,  kept  fairly  up  with 
the  times,  if  such  an  expression  may  be  deemed 
applicable  to  that  period  and  state  of  society,  but  he 
did  not  make  the  remotest  attempt  to  farm  on  scien- 
tific principles.  He  simply  kept  up  as  well  as  he 
could,  with  the  condition  of  affairs  as  made  by  others. 
When  there  were  but  a  few  cotton-gins  in  the  State, 
he  owned  one  of  them,  and  on  it  ginned  his  own 
cotton,  and  that  of  his  neighbors,  and  the  unginned 
material  for  which  he  traded  in  his  store.  He  also 
raised  fine  horses.  During  all  this  time  he  seldom 
took  a  law  case,  and  finally  ceased  to  do  so  entirely. 
He  studied  very  little,  and  never  did  at  any  time 
know  or  care  a  great  deal  about  law. 

Although  living  quietly  and  happily  at  home  with 
a  wife  whom  he  adored,  and  who,  to  a  great  extent, 
managed  the  large  number  of  negroes  he  collected 
about  him,  his  life  at  this  time  was  reckless,  dissi- 
pated, and  far  from  exemplary  in  most  things.  He 
drank  a  great  deal,  even  to  the  verge  of  booziness  ; 
played  cards  for  money;  engaged  in  horse-racing  and 
cock-fighting,  and,  in  fact,  in  every  wild,  vulgar,  or 
disgusting  practice  of  the  locality.  Considering  the 
positions  he  had  held,  and  his  age  and  business  sur- 
roundings, his  course  of  life  was  remarkable,  and  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812,  a  strange  medley 
of  good  and  evil. 

Although  withdrawn  from  pursuits   for   which    he 


64  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

was  not  adapted,  and  holding  no  public  position  except 
that  of  district  commander  of  militia,  yet  in  this  blank 
period  of  eight  or  nine  years  his  career  was  not  with- 
out interest  and  example.  In  the  main  the  example 
was  evil,  and  had  these  years  been  blotted  out  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  reputation  would  be  more  deserving  to- 
day, and,  at  least,  less  shameful  to  his  countrymen. 
There  can  be  few  palliating  circumstances  discovered 
in  this  disgraceful  period. 

General  Jackson  usually  carried  a  sword  by  his 
side  when  in  public,  and  this  was  deemed  useful  as 
well  as  ornamental.  But  the  great  mass  of  Western 
and  Southern  men  stalked  about  armed  at  that  enlight- 
ened era.  It  was  a  rude,  savage  age,  and  on  the  bor- 
der, especially,  the  men  partook  of  the  customs  and 
nature  of  the  savages  with  whom  they  traded  or 
fought.  To  the  savages  they  gave  their  evils,  seldom 
their  virtues.  Nashville  was  then  one  of  those  centers 
of  Western  civilization  which  would  have  compared 
in  kind  with  Spain  at  any  time  since  the  days  of  Don 
Quixote.  Cock-fighting  and  man-fighting  were  as  no- 
table as  bull-fighting  in  Spain,  and  often  with  worse 
results.  Unfortunately  this  kind  of  civilization  has 
always,  in  some  degree,  marred  the  border  history  of 
the  Nation. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  65 


CHAPTER  VI. 

JACKSON  AND  THE  BENTONS— FIGHTS  AND  DUELS— A  NA- 
TIONAL DISGRACE— WOUNDED  FOR  LIFE  AT  LAST. 


I 


N    one    of   his   last   panegyrics    on   Jackson,  Amos 

Kendall  wrote  as  follows  : — 

"The  event  which  established  Jackson's  reputation  in  Ten- 
nessee was  his  duel  with  Dickinson.  At  the  time  of  his  advent 
at  Nashville  there  was  in  that  place  a  club  of  profligate  young 
lawyers,  who  had  entered  into  an  agreement  not  to  bring  suits 
against  each  other.  The  consequence  was  that  other  citizens  were 
without  remedy  when  a  lawyer  was  the  debtor  or  offender.  The 
aggrieved  citizens  went  to  the  new-comer,  who  did  not  hesitate 
to  take  their  cases.  The  conspirators  found  they  were  no  longer 
to  contract  debts  and  commit  outrages  with  impunity,  unless  this 
intruder  were  put  out  of  the  way.  Their  best  shot  was,  there- 
fore, put  forward  to  insult  and  then  shoot  him  in  a  duel.  Jack- 
son knew  that  he  must  kill  or  die.  By  the  rules  of  this  horrible 
game,  either  party  may  reserve  his  fire  for  a  definite  period  after 
the  word  is  given.  Jackson  reserved  his  fire,  and  Dickinson's 
ball  cut  a  furrow  across  his  breast,  nearly  burying  itself  in  its 
passage.  Without  the  change  of  a  muscle  Jackson  buttoned  up 
his  coat,  leveled  his  pistol,  and  Dickinson  was  a  corpse,  being 
shot  through  the  head.  Jackson's  friend,  afterwards  Judge  White, 
did  not  know  that  he  was  wounded  until  they  had  ridden  some  miles 
from  the  field,  when  he  observed  blood  at  the  top  of  Jackson's 
boot,  where  it  had  run  down  under  his  clothes  from  his  breast. 
These  particulars  I  had  from  Judge  White  himself.  After  that 
wonderful  exhibition  of  nerve,  no  one  ventured  to  insult  the 
young  lawyer  or  doubted  his  courage." 

A   duel   established   his   reputation!     Perhaps   no 
man,  friend  or  foe,  savage  or  civilized,  now  living  in 

5— G 


66  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  State  of  Tennessee,  would  attempt  to  justify  this 
duel  with  Dickinson.  It  is  wonderful,  too,  that  this 
old  defender  of  General  Jackson  would  so  misrepresent 
the  facts  in  the  case,  and  at  that  late  date  contra- 
dict his  own  former  statements,  as  there  are  really 
but  two  truths  in  the  foregoing  quotation,  and  those 
are  as  to  the  mere  occurrence  of  the  duel,  and  the 
spirit  and  character  of  the  times. 

General  Jackson's  most  heinous  and  cold-blooded 
duel  was  that  in  which  he  murdered  Charles  Dick- 
inson, but  his  most  ridiculous  and  disgusting  "  affairs  " 
were  with  John  Sevier,  a  few  additional  remarks  con- 
cerning which  may  not  be  deemed  amiss  at  this  point. 

In  the  fall  of  1798  John  Sevier,  then  Governor  of 
Tennessee,  wrote  to  Jackson  offering  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  Judge  of  the  "  Superior  Court  of  Law  and 
Equity,"  "  with  much  respect  and  esteem."  Hence,  so 
far  as  Governor  Sevier  was  concerned,  these  two  men 
were  friends  at  that  time.  Jackson  subsequently  de- 
nounced Sevier  as  interested  in  the  land  frauds.  How- 
ever this  may  have  been  in  fact,  Sevier  was  again 
elected  Governor  in  1803,  and  was  subsequently  a 
member  of  Congress,  so  that  the  majority  of  his  con- 
stituents either  did  not  believe  this  charge  against  him, 
or  did  not  regard  it  of  consequence.  Other  causes  of 
their  quarrel  have  been  mentioned.  Whatever  the 
causes  were  they  were  hostile  as  savages  at  the  time 
Sevier  was  making  the  race  for  Governor  in  1803. 

Judge  Jackson  was  in  Knoxville  on  official  business 
when  Sevier  happened  to  be  there  making  a  speech 
in  his  own  behalf,  a  practice  pretty  much  always  in 
vogue  in  the  South  and  West.  The  Judge  entered 
the  crowd  of  listeners,  and  soon  found  himself  receiving 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  67 

a  tongue-lashing  from  the  speaker.  He  answered 
back,  and  the  Governor  retorted ;  and,  finally,  making 
some  reference  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  the  Judge  at  once 
rushed  furiously  through  the  crowd  with  drawn  cane. 
The  Governor  flourished  his  sword,  and  friends  drew 
their  pistols,  things  these  gentle  Christian  ancestors 
always  had  about  them ;  but  the  future  hero  of  many 
battles  was  carried  away,  while  the  old  soldier  of 
King's  Mountain  hurled  defiances  and  challenges  after 
him  with  more  pretension  than  he  really  felt  disposed 
to  make  good. 

General  Jackson's  next  "  affair  "  of  note  was  that 
with  the  young  lawyers,  Thomas  Swann  and  Charles 
Dickinson. 

The  Dickinson  duel  created  a  deep  and  lasting 
feeling  in  the  community,  and  involved  many  other 
persons.  Its  origin  was  laid  in  a  proposed  horse-race, 
in  which  General  Jackson  was  a  principal  actor.  The 
race  was  to  be  run  by  his  horse,  "  Truxton,"  on  a 
wager  of  two  thousand  dollars,  and  a  forfeit  of  eight 
hundred.  The  other  horse  was  owned  by  Dickinson's 
father-in-law,  Joseph  Ervin.  This  horse  was  with- 
drawn and  the  forfeit  paid  in  notes.  But  Thomas 
Swann,  a  reputable  young  lawyer  whom  General  Jack- 
son was  disposed  to  call  "  no  gentleman,"  a  meaning- 
less thing  often  coming  from  excited,  foolish,  and 
thoughtless  persons,  put  out  the  impression,  as  if  from 
Dickinson,  that  Jackson  had  said  that  the  notes  were 
drawn  in  a  form  contrary  to  the  original  agreement. 
This,  of  course,  incensed  Jackson  with  both  men.  But 
it  is  usually  believed  that  Dickinson  had  spoken  with 
disrespect  of  the  "sacred  name"  of  Mrs.  Jackson. 
This,   however,   he    denied   when    accused    of   it    by 


68  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Jackson.  There  is  some  evidence  of  Jackson's  having 
visited  Mr.  Ervin  on  this  delicate  theme,  and  urged  him 
to  check  his  son-in-law,  and  of  having  otherwise  shown 
a  disposition  to  avoid  extreme  measures.  At  all  events, 
step  by  step,  matters  moved  on  to  the  fatal  result. 

This  species  of  murder,  "  honorable  "  murder,  was 
by  no  means  universally  sanctioned  in  Tennessee  even 
at  that  day ;  as  it  never  has  been  over  the  South, 
contrary  to  the  wide-spread  opinion.  Some  of  General 
Jackson's  friends  urged  him  to  drop  the  practice,  and 
especially  not  to  notice  the  indiscretions  of  these  young 
lawyers.  But  nothing  materially  affected  him.  Nor 
does  it  appear  that  his  conscience  was  ever  disturbed 
as  this  old  friend  knew  his  should  be.  Even  when 
President,  General  Jackson  mentioned  his  duel  with 
Dickinson,  as  if  he  took  a  savage  comfort  in  it.  And 
on  several  occasions  he  emphasized  the  act  with  a  sort 
of  vicious  delight.  Still  he  made  no  parade  of  any  of 
these  affairs,  and  probably  did  not  often  refer  to  them 
unless  when  they  were  mentioned  in  a  way  to  excite 
his  resentment.  Nor  did  he  until  old  age,  when  the 
religious  principles  of  his  wife  and  mother  had  in  some 
degree  taken  control  of  his  nature,  change  his  opinion 
as  to  dueling.  While  he  was  President  he  exhibited 
to  others  the  methods  of  seeking  "  honor  and  satisfac- 
tion," and,  it  is  said,  would  have  been  glad  to  fight 
Mr.  Clay.  Strictly  speaking,  he  had  only  two  set 
duels,  but  scores  of  rough-and-tumble  and  bloody 
figbts.  He  was  a  dangerous  man,  and  by  nature  pos- 
sessed most  of  the  elements  of  a  bully.  But  when 
undisturbed,  and  the  acts  of  others  harmonized  with  his 
feelings  and  pride,  he  was  one  of  the  most  dignified,  gra- 
cious, courtly,  accommodating,  and  genial  "  gentlemen." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  69 

"  Nashville,  January  3,  1806. 

"General  Andrew  Jackson, — Sir,  I  was  last  evening  in- 
formed by  Mr.  Dickinson  that,  when  called  on  by  Captain  Eryin 
and  himself  at  Mr.  Winn's  tavern,  on  Saturday  last,  to  say 
whether  the  notes  offered  by  them,  or  either  of  them,  at  the  time 
the  forfeit  was  paid  in  the  race  between  Truxton  and  Plow  Boy, 
were  the  same  received  at  the  time  of  making  the  race,  you 
acknowledged  they  were,  and  further  asserted  that  whoever  was 
the  author  of  a  report  that  you  had  stated  them  to  be  different, 
was  a  damned  liar !  The  harshness  of  this  expression  has  deeply 
wounded  my  feelings ;  it  is  language  to  which  I  am  a  stranger, 
which  no  man,  acquainted  with  my  character,  would  venture  to 
apply  to  me,  and  which,  should  the  information  of  Mr.  Dickin- 
son be  correct,  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity  of  taking  proper 
notice  of.  I  shall  be  at  Rutherford  court  before  you  will  receive 
this,  from  whence  I  shall  not  return  to  Nashville  before  Thursday 
or  Friday,  at  which  time  I  shall  expect  an  answer.  I  am,  sir, 
your  obedient  servant,  "Thomas  Swann." 

"  Hermitage,  January  7,  1806. 

"Thomas  Swann,  Esq., — Sir,  late  last  evening  was  handed 
me,  among  my  returns  from  Haysborough,  a  letter  from  you,  of 
the  3d  inst.,  stating  information  from  Dickinson,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 
Was  it  not  for  the  attention  due  to  a  stranger,  taking  into  view 
its  tenor  and  style,  I  should  not  notice  its  receipt.  Had  the  in- 
formation, stated  to  have  been  received  from  jNIr.  Dickinson, 
stated  a  direct  application  of  harsh  language  to  you;  had  you 
not  known  that  the  statement,  as  stated  in  your  letter,  was  not 
correct;  had  it  not  taken  place  in  the  same  house  where  you 
then  were ;  had  not  Mr.  Dickinson  been  applied  to  by  me  to 
bring  you  forward  when  your  name  was  mentioned,  and  he  de- 
clined ;  had  I  not  the  next  morning  had  a  conversation  with  you 
on  the  same  subject,  and,  lastly,  did  not  your  letter  hold  forth  a 
threat  of  '  proper  notice,'  I  should  give  your  letter  a  direct  an- 
swer. Let  me,  sir,  observe  one  thing:  that  I  never  wantonly 
sport  with  the  feelings  of  innocence,  nor  am  I  ever  awed  into 
measures.  If  incautiously  I  inflict  a  Avound,  I  always  hasten  to 
remove  it ;  if  offense  is  taken  where  none  is  offered  or  intended, 
it  gives  me  no  pain.  If  a  tale  is  listened  to  many  days  after  the 
discourse  should  have  taken  place,  when  all  parties  are  under 
the  same  roof,  I  always  leave  the  person  to  judge  of  the  motives 
that  induced  the  information,  and  leave  them  to  draw  their  own 


70  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

conclusions,  and  act  accordingly.  There  are  certain  traits  that 
alwavs  accompany  the  gentleman  and  man  of  truth.  The  mo- 
ment he  hears  harsh  expressions  applied  to  a  friend,  he  wiU  im- 
mediately communicate  it,  that  explanation  may  take  place ; 
when  the  base  poltroon  and  cowardly  tale-bearer  will  always  act  in  the 
background.  You  can  apply  the  latter  to  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  see 
which  best  fits  him.  I  write  it  for  his  eye,  and  the  latter  I  em- 
phatically intend  for  him.  But,  sir,  it  is  for  you  to  judge  for 
yourself;  draw  your  own  conclusions,  and,  when  your  judgment 
is  matured,  act  accordingly.  When  the  conversation  dropt  be- 
tween Mr.  Dickinson  and  myself,  I  thought  it  was  at  an  end. 
As  he  wishes  to  blow  the  coal,  I  am  ready  to  light  it  to  a  blaze, 
that  it  may  be  consumed  at  once,  and  finally  extinguished.  Mr. 
Dickinson  has  given  you  the  information,  the  subject  of  your 
letter.  In  return,  and  in  justice  to  him,  I  request  you  to  show 
him  this.  I  set  out  this  morning  for  South-west  Point.  I  will 
return  at  a  short  day,  and,  at  all  times,  be  assured  I  hold  myself 
answerable  for  any  of  my  conduct,  and  should  anything  herein 
contained  give  Mr.  Dickinson  the  spleen,  I  will  furnish  him  with  an 
anodine  as  soon  as  I  return.     I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

"  P.  S. — There  were  no  notes  delivered  at  the  time  of  making 
the  race,  as  stated  in  your  letter;  nor  was  the  meeting  between 
me  and  Mr.  Dickinson  at  Mr.  Winn's  tavern  on  that  subject. 
The  subject  of  the  notes  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Dickinson  as  an 
apology  for  his  conduct,  the  subject  of  conversation." 

Swann  now  proceeded  to  handle  General  Jackson 
very  severely  in  the  newspapers,  and  putting  himself 
into  a  great  rage,  wanted  "  satisfaction  "  at  once.  One 
of  his  first  objects  was  to  prove  that  he  was  a  "  gen- 
tleman," a  point  on  which  the  General  very  positively 
declared  his  doubts.  This  was,  perhaps,  not  a  difficult 
task  for  Mr.  Swann,  but  General  Jackson  adhered  to 
his  original  opinion,  and  treated  him  as  if  he  did  not 
regard  the  proofs  of  the  least  value ;  and  accordingly 
meeting  him  one  day  at  a  Nashville  hotel,  fell  upon 
him  with   his   cane  and   gave  .him  a  "  good "    beating. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  71 

and  ever  afterwards,  in  spite  of  all  Swann's  persistence, 
refused  to  afford  him  the  "  satisfaction  of  a  gentleman." 

But  Jackson  also  went  to  the  "  Impartial  Review  " 
newspaper  with  his  explanation,  and  in  doing  so,  in 
bringing  in  the  affidavits  of  his  friends,  stirred  up  diffi- 
culties among  other  men,  resulting  in  at  least  one  duel, 
between  Nathaniel  A.  McNairy  and  John  Coffee,  who 
was  the  life-long  friend  of  Jackson. 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1806,  Dickinson  first 
wrote  to  Jackson,  reviewing  their  relation  at  that 
time,  and  intimating  that  on  his  return  from  New 
Orleans  to  which  he  was  then  starting,  he  would  hear 
from  him  again.  On  the  21st  of  May  another  letter 
appeared  from  him,  to  which  the  General  replied. 

This  letter  was  carried  by  Overton,  who,  after 
having  advised  Jackson  to  pay  no  attention  to  these 
boys,  as  he  termed  them,  now  told  him  that  he  must 
fight,  and  whose  moral  sense  was  as  blunt  as  that  of 
.his  principal. 

Finally  the  answer  came,  and  the  time  and  place 
were  arranged  upon.  In  Kentucky,  a  day's  ride  from 
Nashville,  near  the  Red  River,  near  Harrison's  Mills, 
in  Logan  County,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1806,  this 
duel  was  fought. 

In  the  whole  history  of  the  progress  of  civilization 
few  more  cold-blooded  and  barbarous  enactments  can 
be  found  than  the  terms  of  this  rencounter  : — 

"It  is  agreed  that  the  distance  shall  be  twenty-four  feet; 
the  parties  to  stand  facing  each  other,  Avith  their  pistols  down 
perpendicularly-  When  they  are  ready,  the  single  word,  fire,  to 
be  given  ;  at  which  they  are  to  fire  as  soon  as  they  please.  Should 
either  fire  before  the  word  is  given,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  shoot 
him  down  instantly.  The  person  to  give  the  word  to  be  deter- 
mined by  lot,  as  also  the  choice  of  position." 


72  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  day  before  the  duel,  Dickinson  left  his  young 
wife  with  the  assurance  that  he  would  return  on  the 
following  day,  and  without  her  suspecting  the  object 
which  called  him  away.  That  night  he  and  his 
friends  slept  in  the  house  of  William  Harrison  on  the 
Red  River,  and  General  Jackson  with  Thomas  Over- 
ton, his  second,  and  a  few  friends,  at  the  tavern  of 
David  Miller,  two  miles  up  the  river,  and  near  the 
fatal  spot.  The  next  morning,  said  to  have  been  as 
beautiful  as  nature  ever  bestowed  on  a  delicious 
climate,  and  one  on  which  good,  wise,  honorable,  and 
true  men  would  have  found  better  work  to  do,  these 
men  met.  The  following  graphic  account  is  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Parton : — 

"  About  the  same  hour  the  overseer  and  his  gang  of  negroes 
went  to  the  fields  to  begin  their  daily  toil ;  he  longing  to  venture 
within  sight  of  what  he  knew  was  about  to  take  place. 

"The  horsemen  rode  about  a  mile  along  the  river;  then 
turned  down  toward  the  river  to  a  point  on  the  bank  where  they 
had  expected  to  find  a  ferryman.  No  ferryman  appearing,  Jack- 
son spurred  his  horse  into  the  stream  and  dashed  across,  followed 
by  all  his  party.  They  rode  into  the  poplar  forest,  two  hundred 
yards  or  less,  to  a  spot  near  the  center  of  a  level  platform  or 
river  bottom,  then  covered  with  forest,  now  smiling  with  culti- 
vated fields.  The  horsemen  halted  and  dismounted  just  before 
reaching  the  appointed  place.  Jackson,  Overton,  and  a  surgeon 
who  had  come  with  them  from  home,  walked  on  together,  and 
the  rest  led  their  horses  a  short  distance  in  an  opposite  direction. 

"  'How  do  you  feel  about  it  now.  General?'  asked  one  of 
the  party  as  Jackson  turned  to  go. 

"  '  O,  all  right,'  replied  Jackson,  gayly ;  'I  shall  wing  him, 
never  fear.' 

"  Dickinson's  second  won  the  choice  of  position,  and  Jack- 
son's the  office  of  giving  the  word.  The  astute  Overton  con- 
sidered this  giving  of  the  word  a  matter  of  great  importance, 
and  he  had  already  determined  how  he  would  give  it,  if  the  lot 
fell  to  him.     The  eight  paces  were  measured  off',   and   the   men 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  •  73 

placed.  Both  were  perfectly  collected.  All  the  politenesses  of 
such  occasions  were  very  strictly  and  elegantly  performed.  Jack- 
son was  dressed  in  a  loose  frock-coat,  buttoned  carelessly  over 
his  chest,  and  concealing  in  some  degree  the  extreme  slenderness 
of  his  figure.  Dickinson  was  the  younger  and  handsomer  man 
of  the  two.  But  Jackson's  tall,  erect  figure,  and  the  still  inten- 
sity of  his  demeanor,  it  is  said,  gave  him  a  most  superior  and 
commanding  air,  as  he  stood  under  the  tall  poplars  on  this  bright 
May  morning,  silently  awaiting  the  moment  of  doom. 

"  '  Are  you  ready  !'  said  Overton. 

"  '  I  am  ready,'  replied  Dickinson. 

"  '  I  am  ready,'  said  Jackson. 

"The  words  were  no  sooner  pronounced  than  Overton,  with  a 
sudden  shout,  cried,  using  his  old-country  pronunciation,  '  Fere  !' 

"  Dickinson  raised  his  pistol  quickly  and  fired.  Overton,  who 
was  looking  with  anxiety  and  dread  at  Jackson,  saw  a  pufi*  of 
dust  fly  from  the  breast  of  his  coat,  and  saw  him  raise  his  left 
arm  and  place  it  tightly  across  his  chest.  He  is  surely  hit, 
thought  Overton,  and  in  a  bad  place  too;  but  no;  he  does  not 
fall.  Erect  and  grim  as  fate  he  stood,  his  teeth  clinched,  raising 
his  pistol.  Overton  glanced  at  Dickinson.  Amazed  at  the  un- 
wonted failure  of  his  aim,  and  apparently  appalled  at  the  awful 
figure  and  face  before  him,  Dickinson  had  unconsciously  recoiled 
a  pace  or  two. 

"  '  Great  God  !'  he  faltered,  '  have  I  missed  him  ?' 

"'Back  to  the  mark,  sir!'  shrieked  Overton,  with  his  hand 
upon  his  pistol. 

"Dickinson  recovered  his  composure,  stepped  forward  to  the 
peg,  and  stood  with  his  eyes  averted  from  his  antagonist.  All 
this  was  the  work  of  a  moment,  though  it  requires  many  words 
to  tell  it. 

"  General  Jackson  took  deliberate  aim,  and  pulled  the  trigger. 
The  pistol  neither  snapped  nor  went  oflT.  He  looked  at  the  trigger 
and  discovered  that  it  had  stopped  at  half-cock.  He  drew  it 
back  to  its  place,  and  took  aim  a  second  time.  He  fired.  Dick- 
inson's face  blanched  ;  he  reeled  ;  his  friends  rushed  toward  him, 
caught  him  in  their  arms,  and  gently  seated  him  on  the  ground, 
leaning  against  a  bush.  His  trousers  reddened.  They  stripped 
off  his  clothes.  The  blood  was  gushing  from  his  side  in  a  tor- 
rent. And  alas  !  here  is  the  ball,  not  near  the  wound,  but  above 
the   opposite  hip,  just   under    the    skin.     The  ball    had    passed 


74  XIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

through  the  body  below  the  ribs.  Such  a  wound  could  not  but 
be  fatal. 

"Overton  went  forward  and  learned  the  condition  of  the 
wounded  man.  Rejoining  his  principal,  he  said,  '  He  won't  want 
anything  more  of  you.  General,'  and  conducted  him  from  the 
ground.  They  had  gone  a  hundred  yards,  Overton  walking  on 
one  side  of  Jackson,  the  surgeon  on  the  other,  and  neither  speak- 
ing a  word,  when  the  surgeon  observed  that  one  of  Jackson's 
shoes  was  full  of  blood. 

"  'My  God!  General  Jackson,  are  you  hit?'  he  exclaimed, 
pointing  to  the  blood. 

"  '  O,  I  believe,'  replied  Jackson,  '  that  he  has  pinked  me  a 
little.  Let  's  look  at  it.  But  say  nothing  about  it  there,'  point- 
ing to  the  house. 

"  He  opened  his  coat.  Dickinson's  aim  had  been  perfect. 
He  had  sent  the  ball  precisely  where  he  supposed  Jackson's  heart 
was  beating.  But  the  thinness  of  his  body  and  the  looseness  of 
his  coat,  combining  to  deceive  Dickinson,  the  ball  had  only 
broken  a  rib  or  two,  and  raked  the  breast-bone.  It  was  a  some- 
what painful,  bad-looking  wound,  but  neither  severe  nor  danger- 
ous, and  he  was  able  to  ride  to  the  tavern  without  much  incon- 
venience. Upon  approaching  the  house  he  went  up  to  one  of  the 
negro  women  who  was  churning,  and  asked  her  if  the  butter 
had  come.  She  said  it  was  just  coming.  He  asked  for  some 
buttermilk.  While  she  was  getting  it  for  him,  she  observed  him 
furtively  open  his  coat  and  look  within  it.  She  saw  that  his  shirt 
was  soaked  with  blood,  and  she  stood  gazing  in  blank  horror  at 
the  sight,  dipper  in  band.  He  caught  her  eye  and  hastily  but- 
toned his  coat  again.  She  dipped  out  a  quart  measure  full  of 
buttermilk,  and  gave  it  to  him.  He  drank  it  off  at  a  draught ; 
then  went  in,  took  off  his  coat,  and  had  his  wound  carefully 
examined  and  dressed.  That  done,  he  dispatched  one  of  his  ret- 
inue to  Dr.  Catlett,  to  inquire  respecting  the  condition  of  Dick- 
inson, and  to  say  that  the  surgeon  attending  himself  would  be 
glad  to  contribute  his  aid  toward  Mr.  Dickinson's  relief.  Polite 
reply  was  returned  that  Mr.  Dickinson's  case  was  past  surgery. 
In  the  course  of  the  day,  General  Jackson  sent  a  bottle  of  wine 
to  Dr.  Catlett  for  the  use  of  his  patient. 

"  But  there  was  one  gratification  which  Jackson  could  not, 
even  in  such  circumstances,  grant  him.  A  very  old  friend  of 
General  Jackson  writes  to  me  thus :   '  Although  the  General  hud 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  75 

been  wounded,  he  did  not  desire  it  should  be  known  until  he 
had  left  the  neighborhood,  and  had  therefore  concealed  it  at  first 
from  his  own  friends.  His  reason  for  this,  as  he  once  stated  to 
me  was,  that  as  Dickinson  considered  himself  the  best  shot  in  the 
world,  and  was  certain  of  killing  him  at  the  first  fire,  he  did  not 
want  him  to  have  the  gratification  even  of  knowing  that  he  had 

touched  him.' 

"Poor  Dickinson  bled  to  death.  The  flowing  of  blood  was 
stanched,  but  could  not  be  stopped.  He  was  conveyed  to  the 
house  in  which  he  had  passed  the  night,  and  placed  upon  a  mat- 
tress, which  was  soon  drenched  with  blood.  He  suffered  extreme 
agony,  and  uttered  horrible  cries  all  that  long  day.  At  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  he  suddenly  asked  why  they  had  put  out 
the  light.  The  doctor  knew  then  that  the  end  was  at  hand ;  that 
the  wife,  who  had  been  sent  for  in  the  morning,  would  not  arrive 
in  time  to  close  her  husband's  eyes.  He  died  five  minutes  after, 
cursing,  it  is  said,  with  his  last  breath,  the  ball  that  had  entered 
his  body.  The  poor  wife  hurried  away  on  hearing  that  her  hus- 
band was  '  dangerously  wounded,'  and  met,  as  she  rode  toward 
the  scene  of  the  duel,  a  procession  of  silent  horsemen  escorting  a 
rough  emigrant  wagon  that  contained  her  husband's  remains." 

Jackson  remained  a  month  or  two  inactive  from  the 
effect  of  his  wound,  and  never  did  recover  from  its 
moral  injury.  Many  men  even  at  that  day  in  Tennes- 
see deplored  this  event,  and  the  reputation  of  Jackson 
suffered  justly  no  little. 

James  Parton  says  that  at  no  time  between  1806 
and  1812  could  Jackson  have  been  elected  to  any 
office  in  Tennessee  where  a  majority  of  the  votes  of 
the  people  would  have  been  required. 

As  disgusting  and  detestable  as  was  this  whole  af- 
fair, efforts  were  made  then  and  at  different  periods 
afterwards,  to  turn  it  to  General  Jackson's  advantage 
among  the  people. 

While  no  great  sympathy  could  ever  be  felt  for  the 
fate  of  poor  Dickinson  by  reason  of  his  high  moral 
virtues,  for  like  Jackson,  he  had  few,  or  none,  yet  that 


76  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

he  fell  thus  by  the  hand  of  a  man  who  was  made  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  that,  too,  when  he  was  still 
ready  on  similar  pretexts,  to  imbrue  his  hands  in  the 
blood  of  his  fellow-men,  can  never  be  forgotten,  and 
must  always  be  a  source  of  regret  among  refined  and 
intelligent  Americans,  no  matter  what  their  school  of 
politics  or  philosophy. 

Although  Jackson  was  often  in  difficulty  with  some- 
body, and  was  always    ready   to    "  knock   any   m5,n's ' 
head  off  who  says  pshaw  at  me,"  yet  his  next  and  last 
most  serious  fight  occurred  in  1813  with  the  Benton 
brothers. 

That  this  was  the  last,  however,  was  not  a  fact  for 
which  General  Jackson  deserved  any  credit.  He  could 
not  keep  pace  with  the  moral  force  of  the  country. 

The  Bentons,  like  Jackson,  were  natives  of  North 
Carolina.  Thomas  Hart  Benton  settled  in  Franklin, 
Tennessee,  where  he  practiced  law  for  some  time,  and 
there  he  lived  when  the  feud  began  with  Jackson. 
W.  W.  Carroll,  a  friend  of  Jackson,  and  Jesse  Benton, 
quarreled  and  attempted  to  kill  each  other  with  pistols. 
In  this  "affair,"  politely  termed  a  duel,  General  Jack- 
son acted  as  a  second  in  all  the  negotiations  and  in  the 
shooting. 

During  this  time  Thomas  H.  Benton  was  at  Wash- 
ington City  attempting  to  induce  the  Administration  to 
refund  to  Jackson  the  money  he  had  expended  for 
transporting  the  Tennessee  troops  home  from  Natchez 
at  the  end  of  the  fruitless  expedition  in  1812.  Ben- 
ton was  successful,  and  Jackson  was  saved  from  great 
embarrassment,  if  not  ruin.  The  part  Jackson  took  in 
Carroll's  fight  with  Jesse  greatly  incensed  Benton,  and 
on  his  way  home  and  after  his  return,  he  made  many 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  77 

bitter  remarks  about  Jackson.  This  was  something 
that  that  person  was  not  in  the  habit  of  tolerating,  and 
the  result  was  a  letter  from  him  to  Benton,  which  con- 
tained this  language  : — 

"  You  must  either  be  sensible  of  having  done  me  injustice  and 
acknowledge  it,  or  make  a  demand  upon  me  for  such  satisfaction 
as  one  man  of  honor  thinks  he  has  a  right  to  demand  of  another. 
This,  sir,  I  have  a  right  to  expect  from  the  military  commission 
which  you  now  hold.  This,  sir,  comports  with  the  magnanim- 
ity of  a  soldier,  if  in  error  to  say  so ;  if  not,  to  promptly  demand 
of  me  satisfaction  for  any  injury  you  may  think  I  have  done 
you.  .  .  .  After  this  explanation,  if  it  is  explained,  you  will  do  me 
the  justice  to  believe  that  the  harsh  and  indecorous  language  you 
have  thought  proper  to  adopt,  was  unmerited,  and  that  you  will 
retract  it." 

But  Benton  had  in  a  fit  of  fury  written  to  Jackson 
about  this  matter  before  he  left  Washington,  and  the 
General  had  given  out  that  he  was  going  to  horsewhip 
Tom  Benton.  Benton  was,  however,  always  prepared 
for  a  meeting,  and  expected  it  to  come  sooner  or  later. 
On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  September  the  Bentons 
were  in  Nashville,  stopping  at  the  "  City  Hotel,"  and, 
as  it  happened.  General  Jackson  and  John  Coffee  came 
to  town  and  staid  the  same  night  at  the  "  Nashville 
Inn,"  near  by,  across  the  square.  On  the  following 
morning  in  going  from  the  post-office,  Jackson  and  Cof- 
fee took  occasion  to  pass  in  front  of  the  City  Hotel. 
Seeing  Thomas  H.  Benton  standing  in  the  door  Jackson 
rushed  upon  him  with  his  whip,  at  the  same  time  noti- 
fying him  to  defend  himself. 

But  seeing  Benton  in  the  act  of  drawing  a  pistol,  as  he 
thought,  he  presented  his  own  with  great  dexterity  to 
Benton's  breast,  the  latter  backing  toward  the  door  lead- 
ing to  the  rear  porch  of  the  house.    At  this  juncture  Jesse 


•78  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Benton  entered  the  hall,  and  observing  the  situation 
at  once,  drew  his  pistol,  loaded  with  balls  and  slugs, 
and  fired  upon  Jackson  bringing  him  to  the  floor. 
Coffee  now  rushed  into  the  passage,  and  thinking  that 
Thomas  Benton  had  done  the  shooting,  instantly  shot 
at  him,  but  missed,  when  clubbing  his  weapon  he 
rushed  upon  him.  Benton  stepped  back  and  fell  down 
a  stairway  which  he  had  not  observed.  Another  blood- 
thirsty character  now  came  upon  the  scene  in  the  per- 
son of  Stokely  Hays,  a  relative  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  and 
drawing  his  sword  from  a  cane  rushed  like  a  fiend 
upon  Jesse  Benton.  But  at  the  first  thrust  his  sword 
was  broken  on  a  button.  He  then  drew  a  dirk.  A 
fearful  contest  ensued,  in  which  he  got  Benton  down, 
and  after  stabbing  him  several  times  slightly,  would 
have  cut  his  heart  or  head  from  his  body  had  not  dis- 
interested persons  now  interfered.  The  Bentons  then 
went  into  the  street,  where  Thomas  broke  Jackson's 
sword  which  he  carried  as  a  trophy,  and  in  his  sten- 
torian voice  defied  Jackson  and  his  friends.  Jackson 
was  badly  wounded  in  the  arm  and  shoulder,  and  was 
not  only  unable  for  months  to  make  much  use  of  his  arm, 
but  also  suffered  from  the  wound  all  his  life,  the  ball 
not  being  taken  out  until  while  he  was  President. 

Thomas  H.  Benton  soon  after  this  affair  entered 
the  army,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  located  in 
Missouri.  He  did  not  meet  General  Jackson  again 
until  1823. 

A   few  days  after  the  fight  Mr.  Benton  made  the- 
following  statement : — 

"  Franklin,  Tennessee,  September  10,  1813. 
"  A  difference  which  had  been  for  some  months  brewing  be- 
tween General  Jackson   and  myself,  produced  on  Saturday,  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  79 

4th  instant,  in  the  town  of  Nashville,  the  most  outrageous  affray 
ever  witnessed  in  a  civilized  country.  In  communicating  the 
affair  to  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  I  limit  myself  to  the 
statement  of  a  few  leading  facts,  the  truth  of  which  I  am  ready 
to  establish  by  judicial  proofs. 

"1.  That  myself  and  my  brother,  Jesse  Benton,  arriving  in 
Nashville  on  the  morning  of  the  affr-ay,  and  knowing  of  General 
Jackson's  threats,  went  and  took  lodgings  in  a  different  house 
from  the  one  in  which  he  staid,  on  purpose  to  avoid  him. 

"  2.  That  the  General  and  some  of  his  friends  came  to  the  house 
where  we  had  put  up,  and  commenced  the  attack  by  leveling  a 
pistol  at  me  when  I  had  no  weapon  drawn,  and  advancing  upon 
me  at  a  quick  pace,  without  giving  me  time  to  draw  one. 

"3.  That  seeing  this,  my  brother  fired  upon  General  Jackson 
when  he  had  got  within  eight  or  ten  feet  of  me. 

"4.  That  four  other  pistols  were  fired  in  quick  succession; 
one  by  General  Jackson  at  me,  two  by  me  at  the  General,  and 
one  by  Colonel  Coffee  at  me.  In  the  course  of  this  firing, 
General  Jackson  was  brought  to  the  ground,  but  received  no  hurt. 

"5.  That  daggers  were  then  drawn.  Colonel  Coffee  and  Mr. 
Alexander  Donaldson  made  at  me,  and  gave  me  five  slight 
wounds.  Captain  Hammond  and  Mr.  Stokely  Hays  engaged  my 
brother,  who,  still  suffering  from  a  severe  wound  he  had  lately 
received  in  a  duel,  was  not  able  to  resist  two  men.  They  got 
him  down;  and  while  Captain  Hammond  beat  him  on  the  head 
to  make  him  lie  still,  Mr.  Hays  attempted  to  stab  him,  and 
wounded  him  in  both  arms  as  he  lay  on  his  back  parrying  the 
thrusts  with  his  naked  hands.  From  this  situation  a  generous- 
hearted  citizen  of  Nashville,  Mr.  Sumner,  relieved  him.  Before 
he  came  to  the  ground  my  brother  clapped  a  pistol  to  the  breast 
of  Mr.  Hays  to  blow  him  through,  but  it  missed  fire. 

"6.  My  own  and  my  brother's  pistols  carried  two  balls  each; 
for  it  was  our  intention,  if  driven  to  arms,  to  have  no  child's 
play.  The  pistols  fired  at  me  were  so  near  that  the  blaze  of  the 
muzzle  of  one  of  them  burnt  the  sleeve  of  my  coat,  and  the  other 
aimed  at  my  head  at  a  little  more  than  arm's  length  from  it. 

"7.  Captain  Carroll  was  to  have  taken  part  in  the  aflTray,  but 
was  absent  by  the  permission  of  General  Jackson,  as  he  had  proved 
by  the  General's  certificate,  a  certificate  which  reflects,  I  know 
not,  whether  less  honor  upon  the  General  or  upon  the  Captain. 

"8.  That  this  attack  was  made  upon  me  in  the  house  where 


-80  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  judge  of  the  district,  Mr.  Searcy,  had  his  lodgings !  Nor  has 
the  civil  authority  yet  taken  cognizance  of  this  horrible  outrage. 
"These  facts  are  sufficient  to  fix  the  public  opinion.  For  my 
own  part,  I  think  it  scandalous  that  such  things  should  take  place 
at  any  time;  but  particulai'ly  so  at  the  present  moment,  when 
the  public  service  requires  the  aid  of  all  its  citizens.  As  for  the 
name  of  courage,  God  forbid  that  I  should  ever  attempt  to  gain  it 
by  becoming  a  bully.  Those  who  know  me,  know  full  well  that 
I  would  give  a  thousand  times  more  for  the  reputation  of  Cro- 
ghan  in  defending  his  post,  than  I  would  for  the  reputation  of  all 
the  duelists  and  gladiators  that  ever  appeared  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Thomas  Hart  Benton." 

Time  and  other  things  had  their  influence,  and  Mr. 
Benton  was  finally  found  among  the  foremost  and  most 
unyielding  supporters  of  General  Jackson's  Adminis- 
tration, and  a  personal  friend,  if  not  a  member  of  the 
"Kitchen  Cabinet."  Later  on  Mr.  Benton  became 
one  of  the  General's  apologizers  and  eulogists,  and 
made  it  a  point  to  deny  or  defend  his  evil  deeds,  as 
well  as  bestow  extravagant  praise  upon  the  better 
features  of  his  life.  But  few  more  bitter  enemies, 
to  the  end  of  his  days,  had  General  Jackson  than 
Jesse  Benton, 

It  does  not  appear  that  General  Jackson  made  his 
will,  or  even  said  good-bye  to  Mrs.  Jackson  before  set- 
ting out  for  these  bloody  affrays,  any  more  than  he 
did  when  starting  out  for  a  horse-race  or  a  cock-fight. 
They  were  so  frequent  as  to  render  the  precaution 
unnecessary  or  monotonous,  and,  no  doubt,  Mrs.  Jack-  . 
son  always  expected  the  worst  whenever  he  was  out 
of  her  sight. 

There  is  hardly  a  period  in  the  life  of  General 
Jackson  when  he  is  not  represented  as  carrying  a 
cane  or  a  whip.  On  horseback,  as  well  as  on  foot,  he 
was  accompanied  by  the  cane,  and  at  the  beginning  as 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  81 

well  as  at  the  end  of  life.  To  him,  in  the  earlier  days 
at  least,  it  was  regarded  as  an  instrument  of  defense, 
to  some  extent.  The  cane  is  certainly  not  significant 
of  strength  or  manhood,  but  the  opposite.  It  is  a 
help  to  old  age,  and  may  be  a  fit  appendage  to  that  in 
man  or  woman.  It  is  not  an  ornament.  To  young 
women  it  might,  at  times,  be  useful  as  it  was  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson ;  but,  generally,  does  it  not  rather  indi- 
cate the  presence  of  a  mind  fond  of  trifles  and  occupied 
with  little  whims  ? 

To  give  a  just  impression  of  the  character  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson  it  has  seemed  necessary  to  make  this 
somewhat  full  outline  sketch  of  his  leading  "  affairs 
of  honor."  Most  of  the  unimportant  accompaniments, 
the  disgusting  profanity  which  always  went  along  with 
General  Jackson's  displays  of  chivalry  and  passion, 
and  other  rougher  features,  have  been  omitted  mainly 
in  the  narrative.  Other  quarrels  of  General  Jackson's, 
as,  for  instance,  with  Samuel  L.  Southard,  General 
Winfield  Scott,  Governor  John  Adair,  etc.,  may  be 
briefly  referred  to  in  the  course  of  the  work. 

6— G 


82  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  AND  AARON  BURR. 

IN  May,  1805,  Aaron  Burr  made  his  first  trip  to 
Nashville.  Although  he  was  an  outcast  in  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  he  was  very  popular  in  the 
West,  where,  if  his  murder  of  Hamilton  did  not  help 
him  on,  it  did  not  hurt  his  standing  at  Nashville.  He 
had  left  his  boat  down  on  the  Ohio,  and  gone  up  to 
Nashville  to  see  how  popular  he  was  there,  and  his 
reception  was  all  he  desired.  He  remained  five  days^ 
and  was  during  that  time  a  guest  of  Judge  Jackson  in  the 
old  log  Hermitage  presided  over  by  "Aunt  Rachel," 
as  Mrs.  Jackson  was  even  then  called.  Jackson  had 
been  apprised  of  Burr's  coming,  and  on  the  day  of  his 
arrival  had  met  him  in  Nashville,  and  after  the  "re- 
ception "  and  dinner,  had  taken  him  home  on  one  of 
his  finest  horses  ;  and  at  the  close  of  his  visit  sent  him 
in  one  of  his  own  boats  down  the  Cumberland.  At  the 
Ohio  he  not  only  found  the  wonderful  "  Ark  "  safe,  in 
which  he  had  floated  down  from  Pittsburg,  but  he 
also  found  General  Wilkinson,  another  of  his  hospitable 
admirers,  who  sent  him  on  his  way  in  an  elegant  barge. 
On  his  return  Burr  was  again  at  the  Hermitage,  in 
August.  For  a  week  or  more  he  remained  this  time 
at  the  Hermitage,  and  was  greatly  pleased  with  his 
visit.  Judge  Jackson  was  a  thorough  hater  of  Span- 
iards   and   the    Spanish    Government,    and    to    Burr's 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  83 

enthusiasm  on  that  point  he  gave  full  sanction.  Too 
well  did  the  artful  little  man  know  Jackson's  devotion 
to  the  Union,  to  make  any  direct  allusions  to  his 
scheme,  if  he  had  one,  of  separating  it. 

Aaron  Burr  was  not  a  friend  to  President  Jefferson. 
And  from  this  visit  to  Nashville  Jackson's  decided  op- 
position to  the  Administration  began.  Burr  wrote  two 
or  more  letters  to  him  after  this  visit.  Besides  con- 
taining an  air  of  mystery  and  a  sort  of  military  aspect 
squinting  towards  war  with  Spain,  altogether  pleasing 
to  the  General,  these  letters  referred  to  John  Ran- 
dolph's attack  upon  the  President  and  other  affairs 
bearing  upon  the  Administration,  which  were  not 
wholly  disagreeable  to  his  correspondent. 

In  one  of  these  letters  Burr  spoke  about  the  possi- 
bility of  two  regiments  of  "  choice  spirits  "  being  raised 
in  Tennessee,  and  recommended  Jackson  to  send  a  list 
of  officers'  names,  men  that  could  be  trusted,  and  that 
in  case  of  war  his  influence  with  the  War  Department 
would  turn  this  to  his  benefit.  Jackson  sent  the 
names,  and  believed  that  Burr  really  was  in  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Administration  in.  this  direction,  at  all 
events,  and  that  all  of  this  mystery  and  quiet  business 
meant  what  he  most  desired,  war  with  Spain. 

In  September,  Burr  again  visited  Nashville  and  re- 
mained a  few  days  with  Judge  Jackson.  At  the  rec- 
ommendation of  Jackson  a  ball  was  given  at  Nashville 
in  his  honor.  At  that  ball  Jackson  in  full  military 
dress  appeared  with  Burr  on  his  arm.  They  were  the 
lions  of  the  occasion.  Especially  were  the  "ladies" 
hardly  able  to  decide  as  to  their  preference  for  these 
magnificent  and  charming  men. 

One  of  the  standing  slanders  and  burlesques  on  the 


84  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

sex  was  the  general  attachment  of  women  to  Aaron 
Burr,  a  man  who  despised  alike  the  good  and  bad  quali- 
ties of  woman,  regarded  as  well  her  vices  as  virtues, 
and  held  as  unworthy  of  his  concein,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, any  of  her  claims  to  manly  respect  or 
honor.  To  this  he  made  an  exception  in  Theodosia, 
his  brilliant  daughter.  It  may  have  been  that  more 
than  Burr's  ordinary  gallant  feeling  was  entertained  by 
him  for  the  woman  who  ministered  to  his  pride  and 
his  every  want  during  his  last  deserted,  hopeless,  and 
lonely  hours  on  earth. 

But  at  this  visit,  the  last  but  one,  which  Burr 
made  to  the  Hermitage,  some  rumors  were  afloat  in 
Nashville  as  to  the  ambiguous  character  of  his  designs. 
These  rumors  Jackson  believed  arose  from  partisan 
considerations,^  and  did  not  allow  them  to  influence  his 
conduct.  Burr  considered  his  friendship  and  his 
scheme  secure  at  Nashville,  and  determined  to  make 
that  place  a  center  of  operations. 

Accordingly  in  November,  he  sent  thirty-five  hun- 
dred dollars  to  Jackson,  or  perhaps,  more  strictly 
speaking,  to  Coffee  and  Hutchings,  and  an  order  for  the 
construction  of  five  flat-boats,  and  the  collection  of  a 
considerable  quantity  of  provisions. 

Jackson,  Coffee,  and  Hutchings,  believing  every 
thing  to  be  right,  began  to  build  the  boats  at  Clover 
Bottom. 

Burr  had  made  it  appear  at  Nashville,  as  every 
place  else,  that  his  object  was  the  purchase  and  set- 
tlement of  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Washita  River. 
He  was  going  to  establish  there  the  center  from  which 
all  the  culture  and  refinement  of  North  America  was 
to  flow,  and,  of  course,  if  war  with  Spain  was  declared, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  86 

they  would  be  ready  for  the  fray.  This  was,  no  doubt, 
exactly  what  Jackson  believed  to  be  Burr's  purpose. 
But  there  was  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  Burr  and  his 
projects,  and  the  suspicion  of  Jackson  was  at  last 
aroused.  Then  followed  Burr's  arrest,  trial,  and  ac- 
quittal in  Kentucky. 

About  the  middle  of  December  he  again  appeared, 
for  the  last  time,  at  Nashville,  but,  in  the  absence 
of  General  Jackson,  he  was  not  well  received  at  this 
visit.  He  knew  the  reason,  and  was  not  slow  in 
declaring  his  innocence  of  any  designs  prejudicial  to 
the  Government.  Some  of  his  boats  were  now  com- 
pleted, and  having  settled  with  the  contractors,  on  the 
22d  of  December,  1806,  he  left  Nashville  with  the 
few  followers  enlisted  there.  In  a  few  days  the  Presi- 
dent's proclamation  was  sent  throughout  the  country, 
the  Ohio  valley  swarmed  with  armed  patriots,  and  the 
Quixotic  adventure  fell  to  pieces. 

Attachment  to  the  Federal  Union  was  then  at  no 
discount  at  Nashville.  Burr  was  burned  in  effigy,  and 
a  big  blaze  made  over  his  villainous  scheme  of  treason 
against  the  country,  as  it  was  believed  to  be.  General 
Jackson  was  among  the  foremost  in  his  efforts  to 
nip  the  movement  in  the  bud.  The  militia  of  his 
division  were  notified  that  their  services  might  be 
needed  at  any  time,  messengers  were  sent  off  with 
notes  of  warning,  and  nobody  added  more  to  the  gen- 
eral commotion  than  Jackson.  James  Robertson,  the 
Tennessee  Boone,  and  a  number  of  Revolutionary 
veterans  offered  their  services  to  Jackson  for  the  occa- 
sion in  a  sentimental  address,  to  which  Jackson  replied 
in  a  style  fully  up  to  the  heat  of  the  occasion,  and 
the  spread-eagle  tone  which  characterized  the  procla- 


86  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

mations  of  the  West  and  Northern  border  generals  in 
the  war  of  1812. 

These  old  patriots  and  others  of  the  militia  rushed  to 
arms,  Jackson  reviewed  them,  Nashville  was  abhize 
with  enthusiasm.  It  was  a  grand  time  !  A  momentous 
occasion  ! 

But  Bissel,  commanding  at  Fort  Massac,  on  the 
Ohio,  sent  back  Jackson's  messenger  to  him  with  the 
stunning  intelligence  that  the  late  Vice-President  and 
a  few  harmless  people  had  passed  unmolested  down  the 
river.  This  took  the  spirit  out  of  the  war-panic  at 
Nashville.  Major-General  of  militia,  Jackson,  issued 
an  address  as  a  grand  finale,  and  the  soldiers  were 
dismissed.     In  this  address  are  these  words : — 

Friends  and  Fellow-soldiers, — The  President's  proclama- 
tion, as  well  as  the  Secretary  of  War's  letter  to  me,  dated  on  the 
19th  of  last  month,  has  given  rise  to  the  preparatory  steps  taken 
to  have  the  militia  under  my  command  in  complete  readiness. 
These  communications  sound  the  tocsin  of  alai-m.  They  are  suf- 
ficient evidence  to  us  that  the  repose  of  our  country  is  about  to  be 
interrupted  ;  that  an  illegal  enterprise  has  been  set  on  foot  by 
disappointed,  unprincipled,  ambitions,  or  misguided  individuals;  and 
that  they  are  about  to  be  carried  on  against  the  Government  of 
Spain,  contrary  to  the  faith  of  treaties.  Other  reports  state  that 
the  adventurers  in  this  enterprise  were  numerous;  that  they  had 
assembled  at  the  mouth  of  Cumberland  River,  in  considerable 
force  and  hostile  array  ;  that  they  had  for  their  object  a  separa- 
tion of  the  western  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States; 
and  that  an  attack  would,  in  the  first  place,  be  made  on  New 
Orleans. 

"When  the  insolence  or  vanity  of  the  Spanish  Government 
shall  dare  to  repeat  their  insults  on  our  flag,  or  shall  dare  to 
violate  the  sacred  obligations  of  the  good  faith  of  our  treaties 
with  them ;  or  should  the  disorganizing  Traitor  attempt  the  dis- 
memberment of  our  country  or  criminal  breach  of  our  laws,  let 
me  ask  what  will  be  the  effects  of  the  example  given  by  a  tender 
of  service  made  by  such  men  as   compose  the  Invincible  Grays, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  87 

commanded,  too,  by  the  father  of  our  infant  State,  General 
James  Robertson? 

"It  must  and  will  produce  effects  like  these:  The  youthful 
patriot  will  be  invigorated  to  a  proper  sense  of  duty  and  zeal, 
and  the  vengeance  of  an  insulted  country  will  burst  upon  the 
devoted  heads  of  any  foreign  invaders,  or  the  authors  of  such 
diabolical  plans.  When  we  behold  aged,  deserving,  and  respect- 
able men,  whom  the  laws  of  their  country  exempt  from  common 
military  duty,  the  very  first  to  come  forward  in  the  event  of  dan- 
ger, and  whose  situation  is  every  how  comfortable  at  home,  thus 
to  act,  what  must  be  the  degree  of  feeling  and  seusilulity  excited  ? 
It  is  beyond  comprehension,  but  merits  the  highest  encomium. 

"Friends  and  fellow-soldiers,  I  can  not  dismiss  you  without 
making  honorable  mention  of  the  patriotism  of  Captain  Thomas 
Williamson,  displayed  on  the  present  occasion,  who,  in  twenty- 
four  hours  after  the  receipt  of  my  letter,  notified  me  he  was 
ready  to  march  at  the  head  of  a  full  company  of  volunteers. 
Such  promptness  as  this  will  be  a  fit  example  for  the  hardy  sons 
of  freedom,  should  the  constituted  authorities  require  our  service. 

"Return,  fellow-soldiers,  to  the  bosom  of  your  families,  with 
the  best  wishes  of  your  General,  until  your  country  calls,  and 
then  it  is  expected  you  will  march  on  a  moment's  warning." 

"  Return,  fellow-soldiers,  to  the  bosom  of  your 
families  !"  Stupendous  sacrifice  !  Worse  than  an  In- 
dian scare  on  the  frontier  !  "  Woe  unto  the  muUen- 
stalks,  which  in  our  course  we  met !" 

But  if  this  was  burlesque,  it  was  also  a  first  glimpse 
of  the  dawn  of  something  better  in  the  life  of  General 
Jackson  than  had  yet  occurred. 

When  Burr  was  lodged  in  state  at  Richmond  for 
trial,  Jackson  went  on  there  as  a  witness.  While  there 
he  made  a  public  speech  in  defense  of  Burr,  and  so 
thoroughly  satisfied  was  he,  by  this  time,  that  Burr 
was  not  guilty  of  treason,  that  he  was  unstinted  in  his 
condemnation  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

A  demand  for  his  testimony  in  the  case  was  not 
made.     But    General  Jackson  was   not  left  unsinged. 


88  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

His  associations  had  been  bad,  if  nothing  more.  He 
was  suspected  at  Washington  and  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  was  actually  charged  at  home  with  hav- 
ing been  implicated  in  Burr's  treasonable  purposes. 
Although  Jackson  was  guilty  of  many  foolish  and  one 
diabolical  practice,  there  never  could  be  a  greater  piece 
of  injustice  and  folly  than  to  Accuse  him  of  treason. 
Patriotism- was  his  first  and  most  admirable  quality. 
With  him  it  was  a  passion;  in  him  it  was  great.  His 
patriotism  was  not  bounded  by  State  lines.  This 
mantle  may  well  cover  many  of  his  "  earlier  indis- 
cretions." 

The  following  is  the  greater  part  of  General  Jack- 
son's letter  to  George  AV.  Campbell,  then  in  Congress 
from  Tennessee,  dated  January  15,  1807,  reviewing, 
to  some  extent,  this  Burr  difficult}^ : — 

"  Sir, — The  late  denunciation  of  Aaron  Burr  as  a  traitor  has 
excited  great  surprise  and  general  indignation.  Still,  from  the 
opinion  possessed  of  the  accuser,  many  there  are  who  wait  for  the 
proof,  before  they  will  pronounce  him  guilty  of  the  charge.  One 
thing  is  generally  believed,  that  if  Burr  is  guilty,  Wilkinson  has 
participated  in  the  treason.  The  public  mind  has  been  agitated 
from  various  reports  of  Burr  having  been  met,  at  the  mouth  of 
Cumberland  River,  with  one  hundred  boats  and  one  thousand 
armed  men  ;  and  it  was  stated  as  a  fact,  that  the  captain  at  Mas- 
sac, and  all  the  men,  were  going  with  him.  Subsequent  reports 
stated  they  had  gone.  An  express  which  I  started  on  the  receipt 
of  the  Secretary  of  War's  letter,  of  the  —  ult.,  has  returned,  and 
states  that  Burr  left  Massac  on  the  3d  ult.,  in  company  with  ten 
boats,  six  men  on  board  each,  without  arms,  or  any  thing  that 
can  afford  suspicion  ;  and  that  Captain  Bissell  has  been  doing  his 
duty,  as  a  vigilant  officer.  I  had  ordered  out  twelve  companies 
of  volunteers,  on  the  receipt  of  the  Secretary  of  War's  letter,  to 
check  the  adventurers,  which  on  the  return  of  express,  I  dismissed. 
I  have  no  doubt,  but  from  the  pains  that  have  been  taken  to  cir- 
culate reports,  it  will  be  rumored    that   I  am  on   full  march,  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  89 

unite  with  Burr.  This  I  know  you  never  will  believe,  until  you 
hear  it  from  myself;  or  from  such  a  source  that  you  know  can 
not  err.  Should  you  ever  hear  that  I  am  embarked  in  a  course 
inimical  to  my  country,  believe  it  not.  iShould  you  hear  tliat  any 
treasonable  intentions  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  and  that  I 
have  been  silent,  believe  them  not;  or  that  I  would  not  put  any 
man  out  of  existence,  who  would  name  such  a  thing  to  me,  with- 
out on  the  grounds  of  discovering  it  to  the  proper  authorities. 
If  Burr  has  any  treasonable  intentions  in  view,  he  is  the  basest 
of  all  human  beings ;  I  will  tell  you  why,  he  always  held  out  the 
idea  of  settling  Washita,  unless  a  wav  with  Spain  ;  in  that  event, 
he  held  out  the  idea,  that  from  his  intimacy  with  the  Secretary 
of  War,  he  would  obtain  an  appointment,  and  if  he  did,  would 
revolutionize  Mexico. 

"  About  the  10th  of  November,  Captain  called  at  my 

house,  and  after  the  stay  of  a  night  and  part  of  a  day,  intro- 
duced the  subject  of  the  adventurers,  and  in  part  stated  that  their 
intention  was  to  divide  the  Union.  I  sternly  asked  how  they 
would  effect  it ;  he  replied,  by  seizing  New  Orleans  and  the  bank, 
shutting  the  port,  conquering  Mexico,  and  uniting  the  western 
parts  of  the  Union  to  the  conquered  country.  I,  perhaps  with 
warmth,  asked  him  how  this  was  to  be  effected  ;  he  replied,  by 
the  aid  of  the  Federal  troops  with  the  General  at  their  head.  I 
asked  if  he  h^ad  this  from  the  General ;  he  said  he  had  not. 
I  asked  him  if-  Colonel  Burr  was  in  the  scheme ;  he  answered,  he 
did  not  know,  nor  was  he  informed  that  he  was ;  that  he  barely 
knew  Colonel  Burr,  and  never  had  any  conversation  with  him. 
I  asked  him  how  he  knew  this,  and  from  whom  he  got  his  informa- 
tion ;  he  said  from in  New  York.     Knowing  that  Colonel  Burr 

was  well  acquainted  with  ,  it  rushed  into  my  mind  like  light- 
ning, that  Burr  was  at  the  head,  and  from  the  colorings  he  had 
held  out  to  me.  Generals  Robertson,  and  Overton,  and  the  hos- 
pitality I  had  shown  him,  I  viewed  it  as  base  conduct  to  us  all ; 
and  heightened  the  baseness  of  his  intended  crimes,  if  he  really 
was  about  to  become  a  traitor.  I  sat  down  and  wrote  to  General 
Smith  and  Dr.  Dickinson  ;  I  wrote  to  Governor  Claiborne  to  put 
his  citadel  in  a  state  of  defense,  without  naming  any  person  ex- 
cept General  Wilkinson.  When  this  was  done,  I  wrote  Colonel 
Burr  in  strong  terms  my  suspicious  of  him,  and  until  they  were 
cleared  from  my  mind,  no  further  intimacy  was  to  exist  between 
us.     I   made  my  suspicions  known   to  Generals  Robertson    and 


90  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Tatum,  with  some  others.  Not  long  after,  I  received  his  answer, 
with  the  most  sacred  pledges,  that  he  had  not,  nor  never  had,  any 
views  inimical  or  hostile  to  the  United  States ;  and  whenever  he 
was  charged  with  the  intention  of  separating  the  Union,  the  idea 
of  insanity  must  be  ascribed  to  him.  After  his  acquittal  in  Ken- 
tucky, he  returned  to  this  country,  and  to  all  who  named  the 
subject,  made  the  same  pledge,  and  said  he  had  no  object  in  view, 
but  such  as  was  sanctioned  by  legal  authority  ;  and  still  said  that, 
when  necessary,  he  would  produce  the  Secretary  of  War's  orders ; 
that  he  wanted  only  young  men  of  talents  to  go  with  him  ;  with 
such  he  wished  to  make  his  settlement,  as  it  would  have  a  tend- 
ency to  draw  to  it  wealth  and  character.  For  these  reasons,  from 
the  pledges  made,  if  he  is  a  traitor,  he  is  the  basest  that  ever  did 
commit  treason ;  and  being  torn  to  pieces  and  scattered  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  would  be  too  good  for  him.  But  we  will  leave 
him  for  time  and  evidence  to  verify  his  hue.  I  have  given  you 
the  outlines,  and  in  a  few  weeks  will  give  the  proof. 

"A.  Jackson." 

In  1828,  this  matter  again  came-  up  in  the  cam- 
paign charges  against  General  Jackson.  Judge  Will- 
iams, of  Tennessee,  was  then  foremost  in  forwarding 
the  belief  that  Jackson  was  involved  in  the  Burr 
scheme.  A  committee  was  organized  at  Nashville, 
composed  of  men  of  very  honorable  standing,  which 
undertook  to  correct  many  "  errors "  concerning  the 
General,  that  had  become  of  national  notoriety.  And, 
at  this  time,  the  Burr  affair,  so  far  as  it  could  have 
had  any  bearing  upon  Jackson,  was  thoroughly  in- 
vestigated. 

In  1815,  in  the  suit  of  Herman  Blennerhassett 
against  General  Jackson,  at  Natchez,  Coffee  there  gave 
this  statement : — 

"The  report  of  his  acting  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Government  prevented  his  procuring  supplies  of  provisions ;  and 
he  had  not  use  for  all  the  boats  that  had  been  made  for  liim. 
Two,  I  believe,  was  the  number  he  made  use  of  for  himself  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  91 

those  with  him.  The  balance  of  the  boats,  the  number  I  do  not 
recollect,  were  left  by  Mr.  Burr ;  and  afterward,  by  virtue  of  his 
order  in  favor  of  Patten  Anderson,  the  boats,  or  the  proceeds 
thereof,  were  paid  over  to  Mr.  Anderson.  When  Mr.  Burr  was 
at  Clover  Bottom,  General  Jackson  and  myself  made  a  settle- 
ment with  him,  the  said  Burr ;  and,  after  charging  him  with  the 
boats  and  other  articles  furnished  him  for  his  voyage  down  the 
river,  I  returned  him  all  the  balance  of  his  money  ($1,725.62) 
in  the  very  same  notes  first  sent  by  him,  and  the  accounts  were 
then  completely  closed  and  paid  on  both  sides,  as  I  understood." 

Outside  of  the  work  of  the  Nashville  committee, 
called  the  "  Whitewash  Committee,"  there  was  evidence 
enough  to  show  that  Jackson  was  in  no  sense  impli- 
cated with  Burr.  The  facts,  as  may  now  be  seen, 
were  simply  these,  that  Jackson  had  received  him 
with  great  kindness  at  Nashville,  as  a  friend  to  him- 
self and  the  State,  as  he  believed,  and  as  a  distin- 
guished citizen  and  member  of  the  party  to  which  he 
belonged ;  that  when  he  was  discovered  to  be  engaged, 
as  was  supposed,  in  a  scheme  against  the  country,  he 
had  done  all  he  could  to  thwart  it;  that  Burr  never 
submitted  his  treasonable  purposes  to  him,  but  main- 
tained the  opposite  to  be  his  object;  that  he  not  only 
did  not  receive  him  into  cordial  friendship  on  his  last 
trip  to  Nashville,  but  also  did  not  ever  afterwards 
satisfy  any  of  Burr's  demands,  or  hold  confidential 
communications  with  him,  even  when  Burr  had  ad- 
vanced his  Presidential  interests  all  that  it  was  in  his 
power  to  do  from  1816  to  the  day  of  his  success  in 
1828.  Although  he  did  not  believe  Burr  designed  to 
divide  the  Union,  General  Jackson  never  had  any 
faith  in  him  after  the  affair  was  finally  disposed  of, 
and  the  world  had  entirely  discarded  him. 

As    to    the    participation    of    General    Jackson    in 


92  .  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

building  the  boats  and  furnishing  supplies  and  recruits 
for  Burr  there  are,  perhaps,  some  irreconcilable  discrep- 
ancies in  the  records.  In  the  Blennerhassett  suit,  in 
1815,  when  the  case  was  yet  certainly  fresh  enough 
in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  concerned,  John 
Coflfee  testified  that  General  Jackson  and  himself  did 
make  the  settlement  with  Burr  at  Clover  Bottom,  in 
December,  1806,  and  that  they  charged  him  for  the 
boats  and  other  articles,  and  then  that  he  returned 
to  Burr  the  balance  of  his  money. 

In  his  letter  to  the  "Whitewash  Committee,"  in 
1828,  after  the  lapse  of  years.  General  Coffee's  memory 
seemed  to  waA^er.  Still  he  there  says  that  the  thirty- 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  subsequently  five  hundred  dol- 
lars more,  sent  by  Burr  were  put  into  his  hands  by 
General  Jackson.  In  this  letter  Coffee  appears  to  be  far 
off  in  his  recollections,  was  willing  to  advance  himself 
as  the  instrument,  and  lacked  all  that  positiveness  with 
which  he  referred  to  General  Jackson  and  himself  as 
making  the  settlement  with  Burr  on  his  last  visit  in 
1806.  That  he  controlled  the  boat-building,  etc.,  signi- 
fied nothing.  General  Jackson  was  his  partner,  and  had 
received  the  money  from  Burr,  had  put  the  money  into 
his  hands,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  being  a  partner  had 
received  some  of  the  benefits  of  the  transaction.  There 
seemed  no  need  of  trying  to  slip  around  these  facts. 

But,  in  1843,  the  General  wrote  to  Amos  Kendall 
on  this  subject,  and  apparently  flatly  contradicts  Cof- 
fee's statement  to  the  "  Whitewash  Committee,"  and 
more  flatly  contradicts  Coffee's  statement  in  the  Blen- 
nerhassett suit,  and  says  that  he  never  saw  or  had  in 
his  possession  a  dollar  of  Burr's  money,  and  that  he 
had   nothing   whatever   to   do   with  the   matter   when 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  93 

Coffee  had  sworn  that  the  General  and  himself  made 
the  settlement.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Gen- 
eral knew  every  word  that  Coffee  was  to  write  and 
did  write  for  the  "  Whitewash  Committee,"  and  that 
time  had  changed  the  picture  in  his  memory  in  his 
retrospective  period,  in  1843.  While  Jackson  did  not 
mean  to  whitewash  himself,  perhaps,  it  would  hardly 
do  to  settle  such  a  point  by  his  memory  at  so 
late  a  date. 

General  Jackson  was  now  on  the  verge  of  an  inter- 
esting era  in  his  life,  one  for  which  his  former  career 
was  in  some  sense  preparatory.  Up  to  this  time  he 
had  mainly  shown  himself  to  be  a  powerful  animal ; 
an  uncultured,  unrestrained,  domineering  will.  Aver- 
aging his  deeds  and  traits,  as  to  good  and  evil,  at 
this  juncture  would,  perhaps,  not  be  unattended  with 
difficulty  from  the  story  which  has  here  been  told.  But 
the  picture  has  necessarily  been  incomplete,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  of  reaching  the  so-called  small  things  of 
his  private  life.  He  stood  out  among  men  as  an  ex- 
traordinary friend.  No  amount  of  hardship,  self-denial, 
or  danger  would  he  allow  to  come  in  the  way  of  his 
friendship  when  once  satisfactorily  founded.  Here  he 
was  unselfish  and  untyrannical.  The  predominant  fea- 
tures of  his  influence  in  these  friendships  were,  per- 
haps, good.  He  expected  a  friend  to  be  wholly  devoted 
to  his  interests,  and  not  to  stand  in  the  way  of  his 
will.  On  this  ground  his  own  feelings  never  faltered. 
Forgiveness  was  not  an  element  of  his  nature.  An 
enemy  to  him  was  always  an  enemy.  To  do  good  to 
an  enemy  was  among  his  impossibilities.  To  enemies 
he  aimed  to  do  only  evil.  He  had  been  alike  a  terror 
and  an  example  to  evil-doers. 


94  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

His  position  as  a  judge  had  not  helped  him  up. 
He  had  not  a  judicial  mind.  What  he  had  not,  he 
would  never  have  by  culture.  He  simply  went  on 
developing  and  letting  out  his  inherent  traits  as  op- 
portunities came.  A  cause,  just  or  unjust,  he  could 
not  separate  from  a  friend  or  a  foe.  If  it  was  not 
impossible,  it  certainly  was  difficult,  for  him  to  be  im- 
partial in  his  judgments.  His  will  could  not  be  sep- 
arated from  his  verdicts.  His  personality  was  always 
uppermost.  His  opinion  could  hardly  be  unbiased. 
He  was  necessarily  a  partisan.  His  future  experiences 
and  acts  only  precipitated  and  crystallized  the  traits 
he  had  now  exhibited.  His  defects,  evils,  and  faults 
could  never  become  goods  or  virtues.  But  his  great 
powers  were  now  to  be  utilized  in  a  congenial  field 
where  license  was  law;  and  where  the  country,  while 
realizing  the  benefits  of  his  virtues,  was  also  destined 
to  feel  the  evils  of  his  riotous  will. 

The  following  borrowed  picture  may  fitly  end  this 
chapter  and  period  : — 

NASHVILLE  CORRESPONDENCB  NEW  YORK  HERALD. 

"Many  are  the  interesting  scenes  of  Jackson's  life  which  his 
biographer,  Parton,  has  omitted  and  not  brought  to  light.  When 
a  boy  I  saw  him  scare  and  put  to  flight  twenty  thousand  men. 
The  occasion  was  this :  Greyhound,  a  Kentucky  horse,  had 
beaten  Double-Head,  a  Tennessee  horse,  and  they  were  afterward 
matched  for  five  thousand  dollars  a  side,  to  be  run  on  the  Clover- 
bottom  Course.  My  uncle,  Josephus  H.  Conn,  carried  me  on 
horseback  behind  him  to  see  the  race.  He  set  me  on  the  <?edar 
fence  and  told  me  to  remain  till  he  returned.  In  those  days  not 
only  counties,  but  States,  in  full  feather,  attended  the  race-course 
as  a  great  national  amusement,  and  the  same  is  still  kept  up  in 
France  and  England,  under  the  fostering  care  of  each  gov- 
ernment. 

"There  must  have  been  twenty  thousand  persons  present.  I 
never  witnessed  such  fierce  betting  between  the  States.     Horses 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  95 

and  negroes  were  put  up.     A  large  pound  was  filled  with  horses 
and  negroes  bet  on   the   result  of  the   race.     The  time  had  now 
arrived  for  the  competitors  to  appear  on  the  track.     I  heard  some 
loud  talking,  and  looking  down  the  track,  saw,  for  the  first  time. 
General  Jackson,  riding  slowly  on  a  gray  horse,  with  long  pistols 
held  in  each  hand.     I  think  they  were  as  long  as  my  arm,  and  had  a 
mouth  that  a  ground-squirrel  could  enter.     In  his  wake  followed 
my    uncle    Conn,    Stokely,    Donelson,    Patton    Anderson,    and 
several  others,  as  fierce  as  bulldogs.     As  General  Jackson  led  the 
van  and   approached   the  judges'   stand,  he  was   rapidly   talking 
and  gesticulating.     As  he  came  by  me  he  said  that  he  had  irref- 
ragable proof  that  this  was  to  be  a  jockey  race,  that  Greyhound 
was  seen  in  the  wheat-field  the  night  before,  which  disqualified 
him  for  the  race,  and  that  his  rider  was  to  receive  five  hundred 
dollars  to  throw  it  off,  and  '  by  the  eternal  God,'  he  would  shoot 
the  first  man  who  brought  his  horse  upon  the  track ;  that  the 
people's  money  should  not   be  stolen  from  them  in  this,  manner. 
He  talked   incessantly,  while    the   spittle  rolled  from  his  mouth 
and  the  fire  from  his  eyes.     I  have  seen  bears  and  wolves  at  bay, 
but  he  was  certainly  the  most  ferocious-looking  animal  that  I  had 
ever   seen.     His   appearance   and   manner   struck   terror  to  the 
hearts  of  twenty  thousand  people.     If  they  felt  as  I  did,  every 
one  expected  to  be  slain.     He   announced  to  the  parties  if  they 
wanted  some  lead  in  their  hides  to  first  bring  their  horses  on  the 
track,  for  '  by  the    eternal,'    he  would  kill  the  first  man  that  at- 
tempted to  do  so.     There  was  no  response  to  this  challenge,  and, 
after   waiting   some   time,   and   they  failing   to  appear,  General 
Jackson  said  it  was  a  great  mistake  in  the  opinion  of  some,  that 
he  had  acted  hastily,  without  consideration.      He  would  give  the 
scoundrel   a  fair   trial,  and   to    that   end   he   would   constitute  a 
court  to  investigate   this  matter,  who  would   hear  the  proof  and 
do  justice  to  all  parties.     Thereupon   he  appointed  a  sheriff  to 
keep  order  and  five  judges  to   hear  the  case.     Proclamation  was 
made  that  the  court  was  open,  and  was  ready  to  proceed  to  busi- 
ness, and  for  the  parties  to  appear  and  defend  themselves,     l^o 
one  appearing.  General  Jackson  introduced  the  witnesses,  proving 
the  bribery  of  Greyhound's  rider,  who   was  to  receive  five  hun- 
dred dollars  to  throw  off  the  race,  having   received  two   hundred 
and    fifty    dollars    in   advance,  and    that   Greyhound  had   been 
turned  into  the  wheat-field   the    night  before.     He  again  called 
on  the  parties  to  appear  and  contradict  this  proof  and  vmdicate 


96  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

their  innocence.  They  failing  to  appear,  General  Jackson  told 
the  court  that  the  proof  was  closed,  and  for  them  to  render  their 
judgment  in  the  premises,  which  in  a  few  moments  was  done  in 
accordance  with  the  facts  proved.  I  was  still  on  the  fence  form- 
ing one  line  of  the  large  pound  containing  the  property  bet  on 
the  race.     Each  man  was  anxious  to  get  back  his  property. 

"General  Jackson  waved  his  hand  and  announced  the  de- 
cision and  said,  'Now,  gentlemen,  go  calmly  and  in  order,  and 
each  man  take  his  own  property.'  When  the  word  was  given 
the  people  came  with  a  rush.  It  was  more  terrible  than  an  army 
with  banners.  They  came  bulging  against  the  fence,  and  in  the 
struggle  to  get  over  they  knocked  it  down  for  one  hundred  yards. 
I  was  overturned  and  nearly  trampled  to  death.  Each  man  got 
his  property,  and  thus  the  fraudulent  race  was  broken  up  by  an 
exhibition  of  the  most  extraordinary  courage.  He  did  that  day 
what  it  would  have  required  two  thousand  armed  men  to  have 
effected.  All  this  was  effected  by  the  presence  and  action  of  one 
man,  and  without  the  drawing  of  one  drop  of  blood.  A  certain 
knowledge  that  in  one  event  streams  of  blood  would  have  flowed 
effected  this  great  and  worthy  object." 


ANDREW  JA0K6ON.  97 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CREEK    WAR— GENERAL    JACKSON    STEPS    INTO   PUBLIC    ES- 
TEEM—EXPEDITION TO  NATCHEZ— "OLD  HICKORY"— 
JESSE    BENTON,    HIS    MARK  — FORT    MIMS— 
COFFEE    AT    TALLUSCH ATCHES— THE 
STORY    OF    LINCOYER. 

SCARCELY  had  war  with  England  been  declared 
before  General  Jackson  offered  his  services  to  the 
"  Government,"  although  he  was  not,  by  any  means,  a 
favorite  with  the  Administration,  nor  had  Mr.  Madison 
been  his  choice  for  the  Presidency.  But  Jackson  was 
fired  with  military  ardor  at  the  very  name  of  war,  and 
besides  being  an  enemy  to  Great  Britain,  he  was  de- 
voted to  his  own  country,  and  was  ready  to  serve  it. 
He  had  had  little  military  experience  that  could  be 
relied  upon,  but  there  were  not  wanting  persons  in  his 
State  and  out  of  it,  who  believed  that  he  possessed 
qualities  requisite  for  a  great  emergency  in  which  the 
country  found  itself  unready  for  war,  and  that  he 
would  make  a  record  honorable  to  all  concerned,  if  he 
had  an  opportunity. 

But  Mr.  Madison  and  his  Cabinet  thought,  wisely 
enough,  that  men  who  had  gained  some  distinction  in 
the  service  of  their  country,  placed  at  the  head  of 
affairs  in  the  field,  would  give  more  confidence  to  the 
people.  While  this  was  in  fact  true,  such  men  did  not 
apparently  exist,  and  in  all  the  efforts  to  find  them 
there  was  no  great  degree  of  success. 

7— G 


98  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1812,  General  Jackson  through 
Willie  Blount,  Governor  of  Tennessee,  proffered  his 
own  services  and  that  of  twenty -five  hundred  volunteers 
to  the  Government.  Sixteen  days  afterwards  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  formally  and  in  a  highly  complimentary 
manner  accepted  the  offer.  It  became  a  serious  bar- 
gain for  many  years  both  for  the  Administration  and 
the  country,  but  in  the  end  it  proved  successful. 

No  man  in  America,  perhaps,  had  so  many  desirable 
qualities  for  military  command,  and  yet  was  so  little  to 
be  trusted  as  a  responsible,  safe,  and  reliable  com- 
mander. But  this  prompt,  zealous  patriotism  could  not 
be  overlooked  when  the  country  was  in  need.  The 
Administration  had  just  passed  through  a  serious  ex- 
perience with  this  pugnacious  militia  general.  A  great 
feud  had  been  for  some  time  existing  between  Silas 
Dinsmore,  the  very  able  and  patriotic  agent  of  the 
Choctaw  Indians,  and  General  Jackson.  Dinsmore's 
crime  consisted  in  carrying  out  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
with  these  Indians,  and  requiring  people  going  through 
their  country  to  have  regular  passes  for  themselves 
and  their  servants.  This  became  a  source  of  great 
annoyance  to  people  who  di'd  not  care  to  or  had  not 
provided  themselves  with  the  necessary  authority. 
Jackson  himself  came  against  Dinsmore's  regulations, 
but,  of  course,  rode  them  down.  It  was  that  or  a  fight 
with  him.  He  made  many  severe  and  rough  threats 
against  the  agent,  and  in  his  usually  imperious  style 
urged  his  dismissal  at  Washington. 

Poor  Dinsmore !  this  giant  from  Carrickfergus  was 
too  much  for  him.  He  was  soon  summoned  to  Wash- 
ington, lost  his  position,  and  was  not  otherwise  treated 
well  by  the  Administration.     He  was  a  faithful  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  99 

true  man,  but  he  had  to  be  sacrificed  to  this  Western 
despot.  He  made  a  manly  effort  to  reconcile  General 
Jackson,  but  he  was  not  successful.  Nor  did  he  know 
for  many  years,  not  until  1828,  who  was  the  author 
of  his  downfall.  The  Administration  had,  however, 
taken  its  first  lesson  in  learning  to  deal  with  this  im- 
perious, self-willed,  daring  republican,  who  was  ready 
to  go  to  Pensacola,  East  Florida,  anywhere,  without 
Constitutional  or  other  scruples. 

Jackson  set  about  gathering  volunteers  at  once,  but 
not  until  the  10th  of  December  were  they  to  rendezvous 
at  Nashville. 

The  chivalrous,  patriotic  Tennesseeans  came  as  di- 
rected to  the  rendezvous.  But  it  was  winter  with 
snow  now,  even  at  Nashville,  and  not  until  January  7, 
1813,  did  the  expedition  start  down  the  Cumber- 
land in  such  miserable  boats  as  were  used  for  navi- 
gating and  trading  at  that  time. 

The  Governor  had  reviewed  the  troops,  and  in  a  let- 
ter to  Jackson  greatly  complimented  him.  This  brought 
the  following  words  from  this  new  "  son  of  Mars : — 

"It  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and  satisfaction  that  the 
Major-General,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the  brave  volunteers 
whom  he  has  the  honor  to  command,  acknowledges  the  receipt  of 
your  Excellency's  polite  and  highly  flattering  address,  which  he 
has  caused  to  be  read  in  general  orders  on  the  19th  instant.  They 
feel  much  gratified  that  their  conduct,  both  in  camp  and  on 
parade,  has  merited  the  approbation  of  your  Excellency ;  and  they 
cherish  a  belief  that  they  never  will  so  far  forget  themselves,  the 
State  of  which  they  have  the  honor  to  be  citizens,  and  the  cause 
which  has  elicited  the  spark  of  patriotism  from  every  bosom  of 
the  volunteers,  as  to  act  in  any  way  derogatory  to  the  strictest 
rules  of  military  discipline  and  subordination.  It  is  true  that  the 
volunteers  have  experienced  hardships  and  privations  in  camp, 
and    have    been    exposed  to  the   'severity  of  the  severest  cold 


100  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

weather  ever  known  here  for  years  past,  and  that,  too,  without  a 
murmur,'  but  these  hardships,  as  great  as  they  may  seem  to  be, 
are  but  inconsiderable,  when  compared  to  those  wliich  they  are 
willing  to  endure,  when  required,    for  the  benefit  of  the  service. 

"  We  have  changed  the  garb  of  citizens  for  that  of  soldiers. 
In  doing  this,  we  hope  none  of  us  have  changed  our  principles ; 
for,  let  it  be  recollected,  as  an  invariable  rule,  that  good  citizens 
make  good  soldiers.  The  volunteers  have  drawn  their  swords  and 
shouldered  their  muskets  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  de- 
fending their  country  against  the  hostile  attacks  of  their  enemies, 
the  British,  and  their  barbarous  allies,  the  Indians.  May  they 
never  be  returned  to  the  scabbard  until  the  enemies  of  America, 
of  every  denomination,  be  humbled  in  the  dust  and  constrained 
to  yield  that  which,  in  vain,  has  been  so  often  and  so  long  de- 
manded by  amicable  negotiation,  Justice  !  We  flatter  ourselves 
that  your  Excellency  will  do  us  the  justice  to  believe  that  there 
is  not  an  individual  among  the  volunteers  who  would  not  prefer 
perishing  in  the  field  of  battle,  who  would  not  cheerfully  yield 
his  life  in  the  defense  of  his  country,  than  return  to  the  '  bosom 
of  his  family'  and  his  friends,  covered  with  shame,  ignominy, 
and  disgrace. 

"  Perish  our  friends,  perish  our  wives,  perish  our  children  (the 
dearest  pledges  of  heaven),  nay,  perish  all  earthly  considerations, 
but  let  the  honor  and  fame  of  a  volunteer  soldier  be  untarnished 
and  immaculate.  We  now  enjoy  liberties,  political,  civil,  and  re- 
ligious, that  no  other  nation  on  earth  possesses.  May  we  never 
survive  them  ?  No  ;  rather  let  us  perish  in  maintaining  them. 
And  if  we  must  yield,  where  is  the  man  that  would  not  prefer  be- 
ing buried  in  the  ruins  of  his  country  than  live  the  ignominious 
slave  of  haughty  lords  and  unfeeling  tyrants  ?  We  hope  that  your 
Excellency  shall  never  blush  for  the  honor  of  Tennessee.  Your 
Excellency  will  not  call  it  presumption,  when  the  volunteers  say 
that  it  is  their  full  determination  to  return  covered  with  laurels, 
or  die  endeavoring  to  gather  them  in  the  bloody  field  of  Mars ! 

"Accept  from  the  General,  for  himself  and  the  volunteers, 
the  homage  of  the  highest  confidence  and  respect. 

"Andrew  Jackson,  Major  General, 
"  For  himself,  and  in  behalf  of  the  volunteers  under  his  command." 

Jackson  also  wrote  to  Secretary  Eustis  that  he  was 
then  starting   with  two  thousand   and   seventy  choice 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  101 

citizen  soldiers  to  execute  the  will  of  the  Government, 
free  from  scruples  as  to  where  he  planted  the  American 
standard.  The  mounted  men  crossed  the  country, 
five  hundred  miles  to  Natchez,  under  the  command  of 
John  Coffee,  a  noble-hearted  fellow,  who  made  his  will 
and  left  his  wife,  Polly  Donelson,  and  her  infant  child, 
in  a  heroic  deed,  to  his  father-in-law,  John  Donelson, 
brother  of  "Aunt  Rachel." 

Although  fruitless,  it  was  a  brave,  chivalrous,  and 
patriotic  adventure  on  which  they  were  going,  and  the 
heart  of  Tennessee  was  big  with  hope  and  fear.  About 
fourteen  hundred  men,  with  General  Jackson,  made 
this  trip  down  the  Cumberland,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  landed  at  Natchez,  where  the  cavalry 
had  arrived  before  them.  General  James  Wilkinson, 
then  in  command  at  New  Orleans,  thought  it  well  to 
stop  this  little  army  at  Natchez.  He  saw  no  use  to 
which  it  could  be  turned,  and  had  not  the  means  for 
subsisting  it ;  and,  besides,  he  was  not  anxious  to 
come  in  contact  with  its  fighting  commander.  The  ques- 
tion of  who  should  be  first  was  foremost  with  him  then, 
as  it  was  mainly  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
public  career,  from  Burgoyne's  surrender  to  his  own 
utter  failure  on  the  St.  Lawrence  thirty-five  years  later. 
Jackson's  patriotism  was  of  a  different  material.  It  car- 
ried him  above  this  feeling.  He  yearned  to  relieve  his 
country  of  her  enemies.  He  was  willing  to  obey  just 
and  wise  commands  for  that  purpose.  But  there  was 
no  man  in  the  country,  in  public  place  at  that  time, 
whom  Jackson  so  perfectly  detested  as  he  did  General 
Wilkinson.  It  is  said  that  he  left  Nashville  on  this 
expedition  with  his  dueling-pistols  in  his  pocket, 
under  the  impression  that  he  would  be  unable  to  return 


102  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

without  an  "  affair  of  honor "  with   Wilkinson.     But 
they  did  not  meet. 

On  the  15th  of  February  the  command  reached 
Natchez,  and  went  into  camp.  The  time  was  passed 
in  drilling,  and  in  a  fruitless  effort  on  the  part  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson  to  be  sent  into  service  with  his  men,  in 
whom  he  had  unbounded  faith.  He  was  anxious  to 
go  to  Canada,  to  go  anywhere  for  an  opportunity  to 
fight.  But  this  was  denied  him,  and  late  in  March  an 
order  came  from  John  Armstrong,  then  become  Sec- 
retary of  War,  dismissing  his  command  on  the  spot. 
This  was  not  only  a  blast  to  the  General's  ambitious 
hopes,  but  also  gave  further  opportunity  for  him  to 
display  his  stubborn  qualities  to  the  Administration, 
and  his  good  ones  to  the  people  of  his  State. 

The  soldiers  under  his  command  and  care,  for 
whom  he  was  responsible  to  the  people  of  the 
State,  were,  to  all  appearances,  to  be  dismissed  with- 
out pay,  with  a  wilderness  of  five  hundred  miles  be- 
tween them  and  their  homes,  and  without  the  means 
of  transportation.  He  at  once  determined  to  disobey 
the  order  from  the  War  Department,  and  keeping 
the  men  in  a  body,  take  them  home  at  his  own  ex- 
pense. He  called  a  council  of  his  officers,  all  ardent 
young  men,  like  John  Coffee,  Thomas  Hart  Benton, 
and  William  B.  Lewis,  to  consult,  that  is,  to  hear  and 
warmly  approve  his  determination.  He  set  about  pre- 
paring the  means  of  transportation  for  the  long  over- 
land journey,  and  when  the  order  did  at  last  arrive 
from  Washington  for  the  payment  of  the  troops,  he 
would  not  accept  it,  as  no  provision  was  made  for 
their  transportation  to  Tennessee. 

On   the  25th  of  April   they   were  ready  to  begin 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  103 

their  tedious  march  for  Nashville.  The  sick  were  placed 
in  the  wagons  and  on  the  horses.  General  Jackson  had 
three  of  his  fine  horses  along.  On  these  sick  soldiers 
were  placed,  and  he  took  his  position  on  foot.  He 
proved  himself  to  be  a  tough  and  hardy  walker,  and 
by  it  walked  into  the  affections  of  his  men,  and  a 
respectable  nickname,  which  lasted  him  all  his  life. 

Before  leaving  Natchez  he  wrote  to  General  Wilkin- 
son, that  if  the  contractor  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty 
to  provide  for  feeding  and  carrying  his  soldiers,  the 
sick  should  be  carried  on  the  horses  of  the  cavalry, 
and  if  necessary  the  horses  should  be  used  for  food, 
that  the  men  had  followed  him  to  the  field,  that  he 
would  see  them  safe  home,  and  that  the  Government 
must  account  to  Tennessee  for  the  mean  treatment. 

On  the  22d  of  May  the  little  army  received  a  flag 
from  the  "  Ladies  of  East  Tennessee,"  and  was  dis- 
banded with  great  ceremony  at  Nashville. 

So  far  as  Tennessee  was  concerned,  Jackson's  repu- 
tation as  a  military  leader  was  forever  fixed.  Although 
so  tyrannical  and  severe  in  temper  that  people  feared  to 
come  in  contact  with  him,  he  had,  to  the*  men  of  his 
command,  assumed  much  of  the  manner  of  his  conduct 
in  his  own  family.  He  had  from  the  very  outset  taken 
the  warmest  interest  in  their  welfare,  in  every  thing 
belonging  to  them,  even  man  by  man,  looking  after  their 
health  and  comfort.  Their  hardships  and  interests  he 
had  made  his  own,  as  he  had  done  his  clients',  when 
practicing  law.  He  placed  himself  in  every  breach  for 
their  defense,  and  finally,  as  the  great  test  of  his  char- 
acter and  sincerity,  had  undertaken  to  carry  them  home 
at  his  own  expense,  denying  himself  to  save  them  hard- 
ship on  the  long  journey. 


104  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

It  was  during  this  trip  as  the  soldiers  saw  the  Gen- 
eral trudging  along  on  foot  that  they  said  he  was  tough 
as  hickory,  and  finally  called  him  hickory^  and  old  hick- 
ory, and  "  Old  Hickory."  Thus  he  received  this  ad- 
mirable nickname  from  good  circumstances.  The  term 
ultimately  spread  out  to  include  his  general  charac- 
teristics and  was  forcibly  applied  to  him  especially  as 
a  kind  of  pet  term  by  his  admirers  and  partisans 
during  life. 

Mainly  through  the  influence  and  perseverance  of 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  who  happened  to  be  in  Washing- 
ton City,  the  debt  Jackson  had  incurred  was  assumed 
by  the  War  Department,  and  all  the  benefits  there 
were  in  the  expedition  went  to  the  credit  of  "  Old 
Hickory." 

Jackson's  patriotism  and  military  ardor  were  little 

affected    by   the   ill-treatment  of  the   Administration, 

which,  however,  he   interpreted   in   the  worst  possible 

sense,  as   it  was   afterwards   known   to   be   true    that 

when   the  order   for   the    dismissal  of  his  troops  was 

issued   at  Washington  it  was   believed   there  that  he 

had  not  yet  left   the    State,  or  at  most  had  not  gone 

down  the   Ohio   River.     But   before   his   troops  were 

discharged  one  of  his  letters  contained  these  words  to 

the  Secretary  of  War  : — 

"  Should  Government  have  any  orders  to  execute  at  Maiden, 
or  its  vicinity,  about  the  30th  proximo,  I  shall  be  happy  to  exe- 
cute them,  at  the  head  of  my  detachment,  provided  I  can  be 
informed  of  their  wishes  about  the  25th  instant,  or  before  I  am 
discharged.  My  force  can  be  augmented  if  necessary.  I  have  a 
few  standards  wearing  the  American  eagle,  that  I  should  be 
happy  to  place  on  the  ramparts  of  Maiden." 

The  ring  of  this  new  metal  was  not  unlike  that 
frequently  heard    in    the    East   and    on   the   Canadian 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  105 

border,  and  the  means  of  diagnosing  between  them  had 
not  yet  been  supplied.  "  I  have  a  few  standards 
wearing  the  American  eagle,  that  I  should  be  happy 
to  place  on  the  ramparts  of  Maiden."  This  grand  out- 
burst had  a  chivalric  grandiloquence  about  it  which 
was  unfortunately  not  understood  at  Washington. 
General  Jackson  did  not  stand  very  high  with  the 
Administration.  He  had  already  disobeyed  orders, 
and  although  little  notice  was  taken  of  this  fact  amidst 
the  excitements  of  the  times,  it  was  held  against  him 
then,  and  used  with  some  force  to  his  disadvantage  in 
after  years.  Still  he  was  not  destined  to  remain  long 
inactive  on  his  farm.  If  he  could  not  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  try  his  hand  with  the  Red  Coats,  the  Red 
Skins,  their  allies,  were  soon  to  know  something  of 
his  qualities. 

Tecumseh  was  now  the  most  powerful  and  influen- 
tial Indian  in  North  America.  He  had  risen  since  the 
Revolution,  and  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  bor- 
der wars  which  had  at  times  disturbed  the  country. 
He  was  a  full-blooded  Indian,  and  an  intense  hater  of 
the  white  race.  He  had  ties  of  family,  so  to  speak, 
among  the  Southern  Indians,  and  long  ago  had  spent 
a  year  or  two  among  them,  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  his  purposes  now.  In  the  spring  of  1811,  he  had 
made  a  visit  to  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Georgia,  as  well 
as  to  other  parts  of  the  border,  then  inhabited  by 
powerful  Indian  tribes.  He  was  a  man  of  stately  pro- 
portions and  iron  fiber,  and  without  any  other  than 
physical  education,  he  exhibited  the  tact  of  a  dema- 
gogue and  the  tongue  of  an  orator.  This  time  he  had 
a  mission  to  the  South.  His  grand  scheme  was  an 
Indian  confederacy  from   one  end  of  the  continent  to 


106  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the   other  against  the  American  Anglo-Saxons.     His 
appeals  were  not  fruitless. 

When  war  was  declared  against  England,  he  saw 
the  possibility  of  realizing  his  hopes  by  negotiations 
with  this  old  enemy  on  the  basis  of  his  project  to 
restore  the  Indian  country  to  its  original  owners  by  a 
general  co-operation  of  all  the  interested  tribes.  The 
agents  of  Great  Britain  favored  his  scheme,  and  held 
out  inducements  which  could  not  be  expected  from 
the  land-grasping  Americans.  Hull's  surrender,  and 
the  unfortunate  beginning  of  the  war  with  England 
were  greatly  to  his  advantage.  Still  many  of  the 
old  chiefs  refused  to  listen  to  him,  and  some  of  them 
looked  with  great  anxiety  upon  his  bad  purposes.  But 
he  was  not  long  in  creating  disciples.  The  younger 
leaders  fell  into  his  spirit,  and  when  he  returned  to 
the  North  his  work  was  accomplished.  Proceeding  in 
great  secrecy,  in  the  summer  of  1813,  the  greater  part 
of  the  Creek  nation  was  in  arms  against  this  Govern- 
ment. It  is  claimed  that  Tecumseh  orioinated  the 
plan  of  this  alliance  of  his  people.  Whether  he  was 
aided  by  British  ingenuity  or  was  the  author  of  it 
himself,  it  was  only  worthy  of  respect  as  the  act  of  a 
mind  of  ability,  on  the  supposition  that  the  British 
Government  would  give  them  all  the  aid  promised  and 
would  itself  be  successful.  Unaided  by  England  the 
scheme  was  futile,  and  the  mind  that  invented  it  was 
wild  and  unreliable. 

The  Indians,  all  tribes  of  them,  have  always  been 
pitiable  cowards,  and  never  could  contend  against  the 
Americans  in  an  open  pitched  battle.  No  people  could 
hope  to  succeed  in  any  cause  who  could  only  support 
it   by  the    stealth  and    artifice   of   the    cut-throat   and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  107 

robber.  But  the  blood  of  the  red  fiends  was  up.  Their 
prophets  and  soothsayers,  always  first  in  evil,  mainly 
embraced  the  scheme,  and  made  great  promises ;  all 
lies,  but  which  served  the  same  purpose  as  truths. 

By  them  it  was  declared  that  Tecumseh  was  guided 
by  the  Great  Spirit,  and  could  not  be  harmed  by  the 
destructive  arts  of  the  white  men  ;  that  the  warriors 
who  went  forth  in  the  great  cause  would  be  held  up 
by  the  same  Being ;  that  their  cause  was  His  cause ; 
and  that  these  filthy,  beastly  hyenas  were  his  chosen 
subjects.  But  how  like  "civilization"  and  even 
Christianization,  so-called,  is  all  of  this  !  The  thought 
of  it  tames  the  spirit  of  censure  and  comparison.  No 
nation  has  ever  gone  into  war  without  hoping,  if  not 
believing,  that  the  same  Great  Spirit  stood  on  its  side, 
and  would  lead  it  to  ultimate  success. 

It  is  a  charming  hallucination  allowed  alike  to  all 
grades  of  national  and  individual  life.  Men  have  been 
raised  up  in  all  states  of  human  society  who  have  been 
held  as  especially  endowed,  if  not  maintained,  by  the 
Unseen  Power,  for  the  very  emergency  in  which  they 
were  to  act.  Yet  the  results  have  been  so  variable 
and  adverse  as  to  shake  the  foundation  of  this  unphi- 
losophical  superstition,  if  that  were  possible,  or  as  to 
suggest  the  possibility  of  the  non-existence  of  such  a 
great  facile  Spirit,  or  that  He  took  little  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  men. 

No  great  city  or  community  to-day  in  Christendom 
is  without  its  prophet,  seer,  or  diviner  of  events.  If 
dress,  business,  or  position  constitutes  respectabihty 
and  intelligence,  then  vast  multitudes  of  wise  and  re- 
spectable people  are  controlled  in  many  steps  of  their 
lives  by  these  lying,  and  mostly  uncultured  and  vulgar 


108  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

miscreants.  A  vast  amount  of  the  social  and  political 
enthusiasm  of  the  world  is  mean  and  contemptible 
charlatanry.  The  prophets  of  Baal  are  not  yet,  un- 
fortunately, peculiar  to  any  nation  or  any  so-called  or 
apparent  stage  of  civilization.  Only  in  Him  whose 
ways  are  not  our  ways  is  there  no  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning.  His  hand  covers  all  those  who 
strive.  Within  and  above  must  be  found  the  elements 
which  decide  His  approval;  and  generations  may  pass 
away  before  it  becomes  apparent  where  He  stood,  or 
on  which  side  was  the  right. 

From  the  British  and  the  Spaniards  the  Indians 
received  arms  and  ammunition.  And  although  the 
people  in  Southern  Alabama,  then  a  part  of  Mississippi, 
had  long  suspected  their  designs  and  had  mainly  col- 
lected into  block-houses  and  forts,  yet  so  secret  were 
the  savage  preparations  that  no  sign  was  cast  before 
the  first  blow.  In  what  is  now  Baldwin  County,  Ala- 
bama, on  the  shore  of  Lake  Tensaw,  Samuel  Minis  had 
erected  a  house  and  surrounded  it  with  palisades  in- 
closing an  acre  of  ground.  In  this  inclosure  many  of 
the  settlers  with  their  families  took  refuge,  and  built 
huts  to  shelter  them,  as  did  others  in  many  similar 
structures  along  the  Alabama  River.  So  that  in  a 
distance  of  seventy  miles  along  this  stream  most  of 
the  whites  had  collected  by  the  midsummer  of  1813. 

To  the  stockade  of  Mims,  now  called  Fort  Minis, 
General  F.  L.  Claiborne,  of  the  army,  sent  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Major 
Daniel  Beasley,  to  aid  in  the  frontier  defense. 

A  considerable  number  of  friendly  Indians  and  over 
one  hundred  and  fifty  negroes  were  also  assembled  in 
this  fort.     Seventy  of  the  militia  of  the  neighborhood 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  109 

were  also  in  it.  Beasley  built  another  line  of  palisades 
taking  in  more  territory  at  one  end  of  the  fort,  but 
leaving  the  former  inclosure  as  it  had  been  with  its 
five  hundred  port-holes  and  two  gates.  About  five 
hundred  and  fifty  people  were  collected  in  this  place, 
and  over  a  hundred  of  them  were  white  women  and 
children.  Beasley  was  a  brave  man,  but  unused  to  In- 
dian strategy.  He  became  so  sensitive  to  reports  of 
the  movements  of  Indians  as  to  have  a  negro  whipped 
for  imagining  that  he  saw  a  company  of  savages  a 
short  distance  from  the  fort.  A  planter  who  refused 
to  have  his  negro  whipped  for  the  same  offense  was 
ordered  to  leave  the  place  with  his  whole  family  which 
he  was  only  prevented  doing  by  having  them  all  mas- 
sacred where  they  were  on  the  following  day. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1813,  as  the  drum  called 
these  poor  people  to  dinner,  with  the  gates  wide  open, 
all  unguarded  and  exposed,  a  thousand  hideously 
painted  Creek  savages,  armed  with  British  and  Spanish 
arms,  rushed  upon  them.  A  terrible  conflict  ensued 
which  lasted  nearly  all  the  afternoon.  Major  Beasley 
was  one  of  the  first  to  fall  under  the  tomahawk,  while 
in  the  attempt  to  shut  the  gate.  The  women  and 
children  were  gathered  in  the  inner  inclosure,  where 
finally  the  whole  remaining  strength  of  the  fort  was 
collected.  The  slaughter  was  not  all  on  one  side. 
There  was  no  cowardice  in  this  little  band,  even  the 
women,  while  there  was  hope,  acted  with  great  bravery. 

From  the  port-holes  the  savages  were  shot  in  con- 
siderable numbers  ;  and  their  prophets,  held  to  be  im- 
pervious to  balls  from  the  whites,  were  killed  as  they 
boldly  performed  their  diabolical  incantations  in  front 
of  the  warriors.     But  still  Weathersford  or  Red  Eagle, 


110  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  commander  of  these  red  fiends,  a  man  of  great  in- 
fluence and  physical  strength,  urged  on  his  men.  The 
houses  in  the  fort  were  fired  with  burning  arrows.  The 
infuriated  wretches  fought  on,  and  by  sunset  the  bloody 
work  was  done,  only  about  seventeen  of  all  the  whites 
escaping  to  tell  the  fearful  story.  Some  negroes  were 
spared  to  become  slaves  to  the  conquerors ;  and  four 
hundred  of  the  garrison  lay  scalped  and  mangled, 
heaped  in  death.  Not  a  white  child  nor  a  white  woman 
could  be  found  among  the  living. 

The  task  had  not  been. easy  for  the  Indians.  Per- 
haps nearly  half  of  them  were  killed  or  wounded.  For 
this  horrible  deed,  but  one  voice  went  up  over  the  coun- 
try, the  voice  of  revenge.  Whether  this  was  right  or 
wrong,  there  seemed  no  other  way  ;  and  preparations 
for  revenge  were  hurried  along  tumultously. 

When  Tennessee  was  first  explored  by  white  men 
it  was  uninhabited,  and  even  at  the  time  of  the  first 
efforts  towards  permanent  white  settlements  in  its  bor- 
ders, little  of  its  territory  was  actually  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  savages.  It  had  been  a  kind  of  neutral 
region  between  unfriendly  nations,  which  for  ages, 
perhaps,  was  not  even  used  for  a  hunting-ground  by 
the  cowardly  sneaks. 

As  the  adventurous  white  man  began  to  appear,  and 
the  sound  of  his  ax  and  gun  was  heard,  these  worth- 
less cumberers  of  the  earth  also  began  to  show  them- 
selves. For  twenty  years  before  this  territory  became 
a  State  of  the  Union  a  great  part  of  it  was  a  theater 
of  wars  and  murders.  Among  the  worst  of  these  sav- 
ages were  the  Shawnees,  who  had  lived  on  the  Cum- 
berland River,  but  driven  out  or  slaughtered  in  wars 
with  the  Cherokees  and  Chickasaws,   they  had  relin- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  HI 

quished  the  little  hold  they  possessed  upon  the  coun- 
try, only  appearing  in  it  on  occasional  raids  for  murder 
and  plunder.  The  Chickasaws  claimed  the  country 
west  of  the  Tennessee  River,  but  their  homes  or  sta- 
tions were  mainly  to  the  south  of  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  territory.  They  were,  however,  neither 
numerous,  nor  inimical  to  the  whites. 

Most  closely  identified  with  the  settlement  of  Ten- 
nessee were  the  Cherokees,  a  tribe  of  considerable  war 
strength  at  the  time,  but  they  were  located  mainly  on 
the  Tennessee  east  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  south 
of  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  and  in  Georgia  and 
Alabama.  They  were  spread  along  the  Tennessee  in 
many  towns,  from  Chattanooga,  with  many  mixed 
settlements  below,  one  of  which  was  Nickajack,  de- 
stroyed by  the  Nashville  expedition  in  1793.  To  the 
south,  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  intermixed  with 
these  Cherokees,  were  the  Creeks,  also  a  formidable 
nation,  who  became  the  main  aggressors  in  the  war  of 
1812,  on  the  southern  border,  having  been  fatally  duped 
by  the  pretensions  and  promises  of  Tecumseh  and  their 
Spanish  and  British  friends. 

On  the  18th  of  September,  1813,  the  citizens  of 
Nashville  assembled  to  take  some  steps  toward  aveng- 
ing the  massacre  at  Fort  Mims,  and  for  the  protection 
of  their  own  borders.  The  Legislature  was  to  be  urged 
to  take  steps  adequate  to  the  emergency,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor and  General  Jackson  were  consulted  and  with 
enthusiasm  entered  into  the  common  feeling. 

Jackson  was  still  deservedly  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  the  rencounter  with  the  Bentons,  but  he  could 
carry  his  wounded  left  arm  in  a  sling,  and  in  that  con- 
dition he  was  willing  to  undertake  the  responsibility  of 


112  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

leading  an  expedition  against  the  Indians,  according  to 
the  general  desire  of  the  people.  The  Governor  at 
once  ordered  him  to  call  out  two  thousand  of  the  militia 
of  his  division  to  meet  at  Fayetteville.  Jackson  issued 
an  exciting  address  or  order  to  the  volunteers,  appeal- 
ing to  them  to  hasten,  well  equipped,  to  the  rendez- 
vous where  he  would  meet  them. 

Of  the  way  this  call  from  General  Jackson  operated 
on  the  women  and  other  such  unselfish  patriots,  Hugh 
H.  Garland,  one  of  the  most  extravagant  and  unreli- 
able writers,  says  : — 

"  He  who  had  stood  by  them  and  brought  them  safely  home 
last  spring,  at  the  hazard  of  his  own  life  and  reputation,  could 
not  fail  to  have  their  services  whenever  called  on.  We  may  well 
imagine  that  the  women  vied  with  the  men  in  their  zeal  and 
alacrity.  '  Go,  my  son  !  go,  my  husband  !  Jackson,  your  father 
and  friend,  calls  you;  your  country  is  in  danger;  go,  help  him 
to  chastise  the  savages ;  he  will  take  care  of  you,  and  bring  you 
safely  back  home.  He  did  not  forsake  you ;  do  n't  you  forsake  him. ' " 

Modern  Spartans  !     Lively  imagination,  indeed  ! 

The  Legislature  soon  afterwards  met,  and,  taking 
the  same  view  of  the  case  as  the  people,  authorized 
the  Governor  to  call  out  thirty-five  hundred  volun- 
teers in  addition,  the  State  then  having  fifteen  hun- 
dred in  the  service,  and  voting  pay  and  subsistence, 
should  the  Government  not  become  responsible. 

General  Jackson  had  appointed  to  meet  the  soldiers 
at  Fayetteville  on  the  4th  of  October,  1813  ;  but  yet 
unable  to  carry  his  arm  with  satisfaction,  and  being  a 
man  of  words  as  well  as  of  deeds,  he  sent  Major  John 
Reid,  his  aid,  forward  with  an  address,  which  contained 
this  stirring  language  : — 

"We  are  about  to  furnish  these  savages  a  lesson  of  admoni- 
tion ;  we  are  about  to  teach  them  that  our  long  forbearance  has 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  113 

not  proceeded  from  an  insensibility  to  wrongs,  or  inability  to 
redress  them.  They  stand  in  need  of  such  warning.  In  propor- 
tion as  we  have  borne  with  their  insults,  and  submitted  to  their 
outrages,  have  they  multiplied  in  number,  and  increased  in 
atrocity.  But  the  measure  of  their  offenses  is  at  length  filled. 
The  blood  of  our  women  and  children,  recently  spilled  at  Fort 
Mims,  calls  for  our  vengeance ;  it  must  not  call  in  vain.  Our 
borders  must  no  longer  be  disturbed  by  the  war-whoop  of  these 
savages,  or  the  cries  of  suffering  victims.  The  torch  that  has 
been  lighted  up  must  be  made  to  blaze  in  the  heart  of  their  own 
country.  It  is  time  they  should  be  made  to  feel  the  weight  of  a 
power,  which,  because  it  was  merciful,  they  believed  to  be  im- 
potent. But  how  shall  a  war  so  long  forborne,  and  so  loudly 
called  for  by  retributive  justice,  be  waged?  Shall  we  imitate  the 
example  of  our  enemies,  in  the  disorder  of  their  movements,  and 
the  savageness  of  their  dispositions  ?  Is  it  worthy  the  character 
of  American  soldiers,  who  take  up  arms  to  redress  the  wrongs  of 
an  injured  country,  to  assume  no  better  model  than  that  fur- 
nished them  by  barbarians  ?  No,  fellow-soldiers ;  great  as  are 
the  grievances  that  have  called  us  from  our  homes,  we  must  not 
permit  disorderly  passions  to  tarnish  the  reputation  we  shall  carry 
along  with  us ;  we  must  and  will  be  victorious ;  but  we  must 
conquer  as  men  who  owe  nothing  to  chance,  and  who,  in  the 
midst  of  victory,  can  still  be  mindful  of  what  is  due  to  humanity ! 
"We  will  commence  the  campaign  by  an  inviolable  attention 
to  subordination  and  discipline.  Without  a  strict  observance  of 
these,  victory  must  ever  be  uncertain,  and  ought  hardly  to  be 
exulted  in,  even  when  gained.  To  what  but  the  entire  disregard 
of  order  and  subordination  are  we  to  ascribe  the  disasters  which 
have  attended  our  arms  in  the  North  during  the  present  war? 
How  glorious  it  will  be  to  remove  the  blots  which  have  tarnished 
the  fair  character  bequeathed  us  by  the  fathers  of  our  Revolution  ! 
The  bosom  of  your  General  is  full  of  hope.  He  knows  the  ardor 
which  animates  you,  and  already  exults  in  the  triumph,  which 
your  strict  observance  of  discipline  and  good  order  will  render 
certain." 

Three  days  later  Jackson  himself  reached  Fayette- 
ville.  Colonel  John  Coffee,  with  his  mounted  men, 
was  then  in  advance  at  Huntsville,  thirty-two  miles 
distant.     From  him  on  the  11th  of  October  there  came 

8— G 


114  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  message  announcing  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
Jackson  at  once  set  forward  with  his  force  and  reached 
Huntsville  in  five  hours,  on  the  same  day.  Eager,  in- 
deed, were  these  men  to  meet'  the  red  foe.  The  com- 
manding General  was  not  the  only  remarkable  and  in- 
teresting character  in  this  little  army.  One  of  the 
number  was  David  Crockett,  one  of  the  most  eccentric 
and  noted  of  all  the  American  backwoodsmen. 

The  arrangements  to  provision  this  considerable 
body  of  men  were  not  adequate  or  reliable,  and  now 
General  Jackson  found  that  want  was  likely  to  become 
his  master,  or,  at  least,  greatly  obstruct  his  plans.  He 
thus  wrote  of  the  wants  of  his  army  :  "  For  a  week's 
subsistence  they  require  a  thousand  bushels  of  grain, 
twenty  tons  of  flesh,  a  thousand  gallons  of  whisky, 
and  many  hundred-weight  of  miscellaneous  stores." 

And  why  did  General  Jackson  and  his  eager  Ten- 
nesseeans  want  a  thousand  gallons  of  whisky  weekly  ? 
Was  it  merely  one  of  the  strange  errors  which  ever 
mark  the  path  of  men  ?  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
in  the  swamps  of  Virginia,  whisky  was  made  a  part  of 
the  daily  ration  of  the  weary  soldier  to  render  him 
less  liable,  it  was  said,  to  the  influence  of  malaria. 
But  did  it  do  this  ?  Was  not  this  a  repetition  of  the 
old  quackeries  and  superstitions  which  yet  largely 
control  these  matters  in  the  world  ?  Did  not  the 
whisky  drive  the  already  irregular  and  susceptible 
life  to  still  greater  extremes,  and  render  it  more  sub- 
ject to  climatic  influences  ? 

However,  the  question  of  supplies  now  became  the 
most  serious  one  to  General  Jackson,  and  so  continued 
to  be  throughout  the  campaign  against  the  Indians. 
At  that  time   the   army  was   supplied    by  contractors, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  115 

who  were  often  powerless  to  do  what  they  had  under- 
taken. 

While  lying  at  the  Tennessee,  waiting  for  supplies 
which  did  not  come,  he  received  word  through  Path- 
Killer,  a  friendly  Cherokee  chief,  of  the  movements  of 
a  body  of  hostile  Creeks  at  the  Ten  Islands  of  the 
Coosa. 

He  now  made  desperate  efforts  to  obtain  supplies, 
took  the  responsibility  of  giving  the  contract  to  an- 
other person,  and  determined,  at  all  events,  to  set  for- 
ward.    To  Governor  Blount  the  General  wrote  : — 

' '  Indeed,  sir,  we  have  been  very  wretchedly  supphed — 
scarcely  two  rations  in  succession  have  been  regularly  drawn ; 
yet  we  are  not  despondent.  Whilst  we  can  procure  an  ear  of 
corn  apiece,  or  anything  that  will  answer  as  a  substitute  for  it, 
we  shall  continue  our  exertions  to  accomplish  the  object  for  which 
we  were  sent.  The  cheerfulness  with  which  my  men  submit  to 
privations  and  are  ready  to  encounter  danger,  does  honor  to  the 
Government  whose  rights  they  are  defending. 

"Every  means  within  my  power  for  procuring  the  requisite 
supplies  for  my  army  I  have  taken,  and  am  continuing  to  take. 
East,  West,  North,  and  South  have  been  applied  to  with  the 
most  pressing  solicitation.  The  Governor  of  Georgia,  in  a  letter 
received  from  him  this  evening,  informs  me  that  a  sufficiency  can 
be  had  in  his  State ;  but  does  not  signify  that  he  is  about  to 
take  any  measures  to  procure  it.  My  former  contractor  has  been 
superseded.  No  exertions  were  spared  by  him  to  fulfill  his  en- 
gagements; yet  the  inconveniences  under  which  he  labored  were 
such  as  to  render  his  best  exertions  unavailing.  The  contract 
has  been  offered  to  one  who  will  be  able  to  execute  it ;  if  he 
accepts  it,  my  apprehensions  will  be  greatly  diminished." 

From  the  very  free  use  General  Jackson  made  of 
the  term  "  your  General,"  in  his  numerous  addresses 
and  orders  throughout  his  military  career,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  his  attachment  to  the  title.  The  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  often  used,  too,  carries   the   air  of 


116  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

superior  patronage  to  helpless  creatures,  the  air  of 
loftiness  accommodating  itself  to  inferior  minds.  To 
be  general  of  the  militia  of  Mero  District  was  gratify- 
ing, no  doubt,  to  General  Jackson,  but  4o  be  com- 
mander of  troops  ready  to  execute  his  will  in  the 
actual  field  of  conflict,  must  have  been  extremely  de- 
lightful. He  had  evidently  enjoyed  the  distinction  of 
Judge,  however  little  he  cared  for  the  duties  of  the 
bench.  But  now  he  was  in  his  element,  and  it  made 
him  exhibit  his  natural  swagger.  In  the  matter  of 
titles  a  Jefferson  Republican  and  a  Jackson  Democrat 
were  never  identical.  Democracy,  as  a  political  sys- 
tem, has,  however,  unfortunately,  never  greatly  modi- 
fied the  passion  for  titles.  Nor  is  this  disgusting  and 
weak  disposition  a  jot  less  prominent  among  latter-day 
Democrats  than  it  is  among  their  enemies,  and,  in 
many  respect,  antipodes,  the  Republicans.  In  all  the 
political  factions  of  the  Republic,  republicanism  is  much 
the  same ;  as  Federalists  and  Republicans  were  all  re- 
publicans in  the  happiest  moments  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Having  gathered  all  the  provisions  possible,  the 
little  army  set  forward  on  the  19th  of  October,  de- 
termined to  strike  the  enemy  in  his  own  retreats.  But 
Jackson  was  again  forced,  for  want  of  supplies,  to  halt 
on  Thompson's  Creek,  some  distance  up  the  Tennessee. 
In  the  meantime  Colonel  Coffee  had  not  been  idle. 
Besides  capturing  a  few  Indians,  he  had  broken  up 
some  of  their  stations,  and  gathered  some  supplies. 
On  the  25th,  Jackson  moved  southward,  and,  in  a  few 
days,  reached  the  Coosa,  thirteen  miles  from  Tallu- 
schatches,  an  Indian  town,  where  had  assembled  a  body 
of  the  hostile  Creeks. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  of  November,  Colonel 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  117 

Coffee,  with  about  a  thousand  mounted  men,  was 
ordered  to  march  against  the  town.  He  was  guided 
by  friendly  Indians,  and  that  night  crossed  the  river 
four  miles  above  the  Ten  Islands,  where  the  savages 
were  encamped.  The  next  morning,  when  he  advanced 
against  them,  he  found  that  they  knew  of  his  ap- 
proach, and  were  ready  to  receive  him.  The  result 
told  plainly  the  character  of  the  conflict,  as  not  a 
single  Creek  warrior  was  left  to  tell  of  the  un- 
equal struggle. 

The  following  is  Coffee's  report  and  General  Jack- 
son's letter  to  Governor  Blount  concerning  the  battle  :— 

"  Camp  at  Ten  Islands,  Nov.  4,  1813. 
"Governor  Blount: 

^<Sm, — We  have  retaliated  for  the  destruction  of  Fort  Mims. 
On  the  2d  inst.,  I  detached  General  Coffee  with  a  part  of  his 
brigade  of  cavalry  and  mounted  riflemen  to  destroy  Talluschatches, 
where  a  considerable  force  of  the  hostile  Creeks  were  concentrated. 
The  General  executed  this  in  style.  A  hundred  and  eighty-six 
of  the  enemy  were  found  dead  on  the  field,  and  eighty  taken 
prisoners,  forty  of  whom  have  been  brought  here.  In  the  number 
left,  there  is  a  sufficiency  but  slightly  wounded  to  take  care  of 
those  who  are  badly.  I  have  to  regret  that  five  of  my  brave  fel- 
lows have  been  killed,  and  about  thirty  wounded;  some  badly, 
but  none,  I  hope,  mortally.  Both  officers  and  men  behaved  with 
the  utmost  bravery  and  deliberation.  Captains  Smith,  Bradley, 
and  Winston  are  wounded,  all  slightly.  No  officer  is  killed.  So 
soon  as  General  Coffee  makes  his  report  I  shall  inclose  it.  If  we 
had  a  sufficient  supply  of  provisions  we  should,  in  a  very  short 
time,  accomplish  the  object  of  the  expedition. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  yours,  etc., 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

"  Camp  at  Ten  Islands,  Nov.  4,  1813. 

"  Major-General  Jackson  : 

"Sir,— I  had  the  honor  yesterday  of  transmitting  you  a  short 
account  of  an  engagement  that  took  place  between  a  detachment 
of  nine  hundred  men  from  my  brigade,  with  the  enemy  at  Tal- 


118  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

luschatches  town ;  the  particulars  whereof  I  beg  leave  herein  to 
recite  to  you.  Pursuant  to  your  order  of  the  2d,  I  detailed  from 
my  brigade  of  cavalry  and  mounted  riflemen,  nine  hundred  men 
and  officers,  and  proceeded  directly  to  the  Talluschatches  towns, 
and  crossed  Coosa  River  at  the  Fish-dam  ford,  three  or  four 
miles  above  this  place.  I  arrived  within  one  and  a  half  miles 
of  the  town,  distant  from  this  place  south-east  eight  miles,  on  the 
morning  of  the  3d,  at  which  place  I  divided  my  detachment  into 
two  columns,  the  right  composed  of  the  cavalry  commanded 
by  Colonel  Allcorn,  to  cross  over  a  large  creek  that  lay  between 
us  and  the  towns  ;  the  left  column  was  mounted  riflemen,  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Cannon,  with  whom  I  marched  myself. 
Colonel  Allcorn  was  ordered  to  march  up  on  the  right,  and  encir- 
cle one-half  of  the  town,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  left  would 
form  a  half  circle  on  the  left,  and  unite  the  head  of  the  columns 
in  front  of  the  town ;  all  of  which  was  performed  as  I  could  wish. 
When  I  arrived  within  half  a  mile  of  the  town,  the  drums  of  the 
enemy  began  to  beat,  mingled  with  their  savage  yells,  preparing 
for  action.  It  was  after  sunrise  an  hour,  when  the  action  was 
brought  on  by  Captain  Hammond's  and  Lieutenant  Patterson's 
companies,  who  had  gone  on  with  the  circle  of  alignment  for  the 
purpose  of  drawing  out  the  enemy  from  their  buildings,  which 
had  the  most  happy  effect.  As  soon  as  Captain  Hammond  exhib- 
ited his  front  in  view  of  the  town,  which  stood  in  an  open  wood- 
land, and  gave  a  few  scattering  shot,  the  enemy  formed  and  made 
a  violent  charge  on  him  ;  he  gave  way  as  they  advanced,  until 
they  met  our  right  column,  which  gave  them  a  general  fire  and 
then  charged  ;  this  changed  the  direction  of  charge  completely ; 
the  enemy  retreated  firing,  until  they  got  around  and  in  their 
buildings,  where  they  made  all  the  resistance  that  an  overpowered 
soldier  could  do  ;  they  fought  as  long  as  one  existed,  but  their 
destruction  was  verjj  soon  completed ;  our  men  rushed  up  to  the 
doors  of  the  houses,  and  in  a  few  minutes  killed  the  last  warrior 
of  them  ;  the  enemy  fought  with  savage  fury,  and  met  death, 
with  all  its  horrors,  without  shrinking  or  complaining;  not  one 
asked  to  be  spared,  but  fought  as  long  as  they  could  stand 
or  sit.  In  consequence  of  their  flying  to  their  houses,  and  mix- 
ing with  their  families,  our  men,  in  killing  the  males,  without 
intention  killed  and  wounded  a  few  of  the  squaws  and  children, 
which  was  regretted  by  every  officer  and  soldier  of  the  detach- 
ment, hut  which  could  not  be  avoided. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  119 

"The  number  of  the  enemy  killed  was  one  hundred  and 
eighty-six  that  were  counted,  and  a  number  of  others  killed  in 
the  weeds  not  found.  I  think  the  calculation  a  reasonable 
one  to  say  two  hundred  of  them  were  killed;  and  eighty-four 
prisoners,  of  women  and  children,  were  taken  ;  not  one  of  the 
warriors  escaped  to  carry  the  news,  a  circumstance  unknown 
heretofore.  We  lost  five  men  killed  and  forty-one  wounded,  none 
mortally,  the  greater  part  slightly,  a  number  with  arrows ;  this 
appears  to  form  a  very  principal  part  of  the  enemy's  arms  for 
warfare,  every  man  having  a  bow  with  a  bundle  of  arrows,  which 
is  used  after  the  first  fire  with  the  gun,  until  a  leisure  time  for 
loading  ofiers.  It  is  with  pleasure  I  say  that  our  men  acted  with 
deliberation  and  firmness ;  notwithstanding  our  numbers  were  su- 
perior to  those  of  the  enemy,  it  was  a  circumstance  *to  us  un- 
known, and,  from  the  parade  of  the  enemy,  we  had  every  reason 
to  suppose  them  our  equals  in  number ;  but  there  appeared  no 
visible  traces  of  alarm  in  any,  but,  on  the  contrary,  all  appeared 
cool  and  determined,  and,  no  doubt,  when  they  face  a  foe  of  their 
own  or  superior  number  they  will  show  the  same  courage  as  on 
this  occasion. 

".I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant,  John  Coffee, 

"Brig.  Gen.  of  Cavalry  and  Riflemen." 

The  women  and  children  taken  in  this  engagement 
were  sent  to  the  white  settlements  to  be  cared  for, 
and  the  honors  of  the  success  were  soon  transferred 
from  the  unpretentious  Coffee  to  the  credit  side  of 
General  Jackson's  popularity  account  with  the  country. 

Among  the  Indian  captives  was  a  boy  babe  whose 
mother  had  been  killed  in  the  fight.  General  Jackson 
asked  some  of  the  Indian  mothers  to  take  care  of  this 
infant,  but  these  refined  and  gentle  creatures  said : 
"No,  kill  him,  his  relatives  are  all  dead." 

This  kind  of  philosophy  did  not  suit  Jackson,  and 
he  took  the  child  into  his  own  tent  and  fed  it  on 
sweetened  water,  until  he  could  send  it  to  Huntsville, 
where    he  had  it  cared  for  at  his  own  expense.     He 


120  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

afterwards  sent  it  to  the  Hermitage,  where  he  and 
Mrs.  Jackson  raised  it,  and  gave  it  an  education,  and 
cared  for  it  as  if  it  had  been  their  own  child. 

For  no  apparent  reason  whatever  they  named  the 
boy  Lincoyer.  When  he  became  a  wild,  but  not  sav- 
age big  boy,  the  General  took  him  to  Nashville  for 
him  to  choose  among  all  the  shops  what  profession  he 
would  follow.  He  selected  the  saddler's  trade,  which 
might  have  brought  to  the  General's  mind  a  little  similar 
circumstance.  Like  other  boys,  so  situated,  Lincoyer 
spent  his  Sundays  at  home  and  returned  to  his  trade 
on  Monday  mornings.  But  habit  and  blood  would  tell. 
Lincoyer  still  liked  the  ways  of  his  race,  and  the 
poorly  selected  and  contemptible  trade  did  not  agree 
with  him.  How  could  such  a  contracted  and  mean 
pursuit  agree  with  this  free  child  of  the  forest,  born 
in  a  climate  where  his  parents  had  spent  all  their  days 
in  the  open  air,  unrestrained  and  uncramped. 

They  took  poor  Lincoyer  home,  and  good  "Aunt 
Rachel "  nursed  him.  But  he  actually  had  the  consump- 
tion, and  before  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age  died. 
They  buried  his  poor  brown  body,  and  long  was  his 
memory  kept  green  at  the  Hermitage.  Who  could 
name  a  better  and  more  interesting  thing  than  the  case 
of  this  little  Indian  boy,  in  the  life  of  General  Jack- 
son, up  to  that  date,  at  all  events  ? 

This  wonderful  battle,  in  which  not  a  savage  war- 
rior survived,  is  thus  spoken  of  by  Mr.  John  A. 
Bolles  :— 

"  Talluschatches,  a  name  that  will  ring  sadly  in  the  ear  of 
every  surviving  Creek  to  the  end  of  time ;  and  yet,  shall  the 
red  man  and  the  white  remember  the  terrors  of  that  field  with 
mingled  emotions, » for  it  bears  immortal  testimony  to  the  hu- 
manity as  well  as  the  military  genius  of  Jackson." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  121 

Discriminative  stump-speaker's  drivel !  What  had 
the  genius  of  Jackson  to  do  with  it  ?  He  was  miles 
away  when  the  battle  was  fought.  "  We  have  retal- 
iated for  the  destruction  of  Fort  Mims."  That  was 
the  view  of  this  genius. 

No  man's  humanity  or  genius  was  especially  con- 
spicuous in  a  conflict  in  which  not  an  Indian  was  left 
to  tell  how  no  quarter  was  asked  and  none  given. 
In  the  case  of  the  women  and  children  General  Jack- 
son was  just  and  humane,  and  around  him  centered 
the  melancholy  interest  of  the  event  in  the  story  of 
Lincoyer. 


122  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BATTLE   OF  TALLADEGA— GENERAL  COCKE— JACKSON  CON- 
QUERS A  MUTINOUS  ARMY. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  was  now  busy  in  building 
the  fort  on  the  Coosa,  which  was  called  Fort 
Strother,  and  in  fighting  the  contractors  and  waiting 
for  supplies,  his  troops  being  on  merely  living  rations. 

At  this  time  he  received  word  from  a  settlement 
of  friendly  Indians  thirty  miles  to  the  south,  on  a 
branch  of  the  Coosa,  at  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Talladega,  Alabama,  that  they  were  surrounded  and 
abqut  to  be  attacked  by  a  large  body  of  hostile  Creeks, 
and  urging  him  to  come  to  their  assistance.  This  he 
at  once  determined  to  do.  He  had  just  been  apprised 
of  the  approach  of  General  White  with  a  part  of  the 
East  Tennessee  troops  belonging  to  the  command  of 
General  John  Cocke,  and  wrote  to  White  to  advance 
immediately  to  the  protection  of  the  sick,  etc.,  at  Fort 
Strother  during  his  absence. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  November,  1813,  Jack- 
son, with  two  thousand  men,  eight  hundred  mounted 
and  twelve  hundred  foot,  crossed  the  Coosa  and  started 
for  Talladega.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  he 
halted  for  rest  six  miles  from  the  Indian  camp.  He 
had,  in  the  meantime,  been  informed  that  White  had 
been  commanded  by  General  Cocke  to  rejoin  him,  and 
deeming  it  his  duty  to  obey,  marched  away  instead  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  123 

coming  to  the  protection  of  Fort  Strother.  But,  not- 
withstanding the  danger  and  destitution  in  which  his 
camp  would  be  left,  Jackson  determined  to  press  for- 
ward, strike  the  enemy,  and  return  to  the  Coosa  before 
his  absence  would  be  known  to  the  prowling  bands 
of  savages.  Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th, 
he  fell  upon  and  defeated  the  Indians  in  a  severe  battle. 
The  following  letters  to  Governor  Blount  fully  de- 
scribe the  nature  and  results  of  this  engagement  :— 

"Camp  Strother,  near  Ten  Islands  of  Coosa,  \ 
November  11,  1813.     f 

"  Sir, — I  am  just  returned  from  an  excursion  which  I  took  a 
few  days  ago,  and  hasten  to  acquaint  you  with  the  result. 

"Late  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  inst.,  a  rumor  arrived  from 
the  friendly  party  at  Lashley's  Fort  (Talladega),  distant  about 
thirty  miles  below  us,  with  the  information  that  the  hostile 
Creeks,  in  great  force,  had  encamped  near  the  place,  and  were 
preparing  to  destroy  it ;  and  earnestly  entreated  that  I  would  lose 
no  time  in  affording  them  relief.  Urged  by^  their  situation,  as 
well  as  by  a  wish  to  meet  the  enemy  as  soon'  as  an  opportunity 
would  offer,  I  determined  upon  commencing  my  march  thither, 
with  all  my  disposable  force,  in  the  course  of  the  night ;  and  im- 
mediately dispatched  an  express  to  General  White,  advising  him 
of  my  intended  movement,  and  urged  him  to  hasten  to  this  en- 
campment by  a  forced  march,  in  order  to  protect  it  in  my  absence. 
I  had  repeatedly  written  to  the  General  to  form  a  junction  with 
me  as  speedily  as  practicable,  and  a  few  days  before  had  received  his 
assurance,  that  on  the  7th  he  would  join  me.  I  commenced  crossing 
the  river  at  Ten  Islands,  leaving  behind  me  my  baggage-wagons,  and 
whatever  might  retard  my  progress,  and  encamped  that  night  within 
six  miles  of  the  fort  I  had  set  out  to  relieve.  At  midnight,  I  had  re- 
ceived by  an  Indian  runner  a  letter  from  General  White,  informing 
me  that  he  had  received  my  order,  but  that  he  had  altered  his  course, 
and  was  on  his  march  backward  to  join  Major-General  Cocke,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Chatuga.  I  will  not  now  remark  upon  the 
strangeness  of  this  maneuver ;  but  it  was  now  too  late  to  cliange 
my  plan  or  make  any  new  arrangements;  and  between  three  and 
four  o'clock,  I  recommenced  my  march  to  meet  the  enemy,  who 
were  encamped  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  fort.     At  sun- 


124  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

rise  we  came  within  half  a  mile  of  them,  and  having  formed  my 
men,  I  moved  in  order  of  battle.  The  infantry  were  in  three  lines, 
the  militia  on  the  left,  and  the  volunteers  on  the  right.  The  cav- 
alry formed  the  two  extreme  wings,  and  were  ordered  to  advance 
in  a  curve,  keeping  their  rear  connected  with  the  advance  of  their 
infantry  lines,  and  inclose  the  enemy  in  a  circle.  The  advanced 
guard  whom  I  sent  forward  to  bring  on  the  engagement,  met  the 
attack  of  the  enemy  with  great  intrepidity ;  and,  having  poured 
upon  them  four  or  five  very  galling  rounds,  fell  back,  as  they  had 
been  previously  ordered,  to  the  army.  The  enemy  pursued,  and  the 
front  line  was  now  ordered  to  advance  and  meet  him ;  but,  owing 
to  some  misunderstanding,  a  few  companies  of  militia,  who  com- 
posed a  part  of  it,  commenced  a  retreat.  At  this  moment,  a  corps 
of  cavalry,  commanded  by  Lieut.-Colonel  Dyer,  which  I  had 
kept  as  a  reserve,  was  ordered  to  dismount  and  fill  up  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  retreat.  This  order  was  executed  with  a  great 
deal  of  promptitude  and  eflfect.  The  militia,  seeing  this,  speedily 
rallied;  and  the  fire  became  general  along  the  front  line,  and  on 
that  part  of  the  wings  which  was  contiguous.  The  enemy,  unable 
to  stand  it,  began  to  retreat ;  but  were  met  at  every  turn,  and  re- 
pulsed in  every  direction.  The  right  wing  chased  them,  with  a 
most  destructive  fire,  to  the  mountains,  a  distance  of  about  three 
miles;  and,  had  I  not  been  compelled,  by  the  faux  pas  of  the  mili- 
tia, in  the  outset  of  the  battle,  to  dismount  my  reserve,  I  believe 
not  a  man  of  them  would  have  escaped.  The  victory  was,  how- 
ever, very  decisive ;  two  hundred  and  ninety  of  the  enemy  were  left 
dead ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  many  more  were  killed  who 
were  not  found.  Wherever  they  ran,  they  left  behind  traces  of 
blood ;  and  it  is  believed  that  very  few  will  return  to  their 
villages  in  as  sound  a  condition  as  they  left  them.  I  was  com- 
pelled to  return  to  this  place  to  protect  the  sick  and  wounded,  and 
get  my  baggage  on. 

"In  the  engagement  we 'lost  fifteen  killed  and  eighty -five 
wounded  ;  two  of  whom  have  since  died.  All  the  officers  acted 
with  the  utmost  bravery,  and  so  did  all  the  privates,  except  that 
part  of  the  militia  who  retreated  at  the  commencement  of  the 
battle,  and  they  hastened  to  atone  for  their  error.  Taking  the 
whole  together,  they  have  realized  the  high  expectations  I  had 
formed  of  them,  and  have  fairly  entitled  themselves  to  the  grati- 
tude of  their  country.  Andrew  Jackson. 
"His  Excellency,  Willie  Blount,  Nashville." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  125 

"Camp  Strother,  near  Ten  Islands,") 
15th  November,  1813.      J 

*'  You  wiU  perceive  from  the  draft  which  I  shall  send  you,  that 
had  there  been  no  departure  from  the  original  order  of  battle,  not 
an  Indian  could  have  escaped  ;  and  even  as  the  battle  did  ter- 
minate I  believe  that  no  impartial  man  can  say  that  a  more 
splendid  victory  has  in  any  instance  attended  our  arms,  on  land, 
since  the  commencement  of  the  war.  The  force  of  the  enemy  is  rep- 
resented by  themselves  to  have  been  ten  hundred  and  eighty ;  and  it 
does  not  appear  from' their  fire  and  the  space  of  ground  which  they 
occupied,  that  their  number  can  have  been  less.  Two  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  were  left  dead  on  the  ground  ;  and  no  doubt 
many  more  were  killed  who  were  not  found.  In  a  very  tew 
weeks,  if  I  had  a  sufficiency  of  supplies,  I  am  thoroughly  con- 
vinced, I  should  be  able  to  put  an  end  to  the  Creek  hostdities. 
"Too  much  praise  can  not  be  bestowed  upon  the  advance,  led 
on  by  Colonel  Carroll,  for  the  spirited  manner  in  which  they  com- 
menced and  sustained  the  attack;  nor  upon  the  reserve,  com- 
manded by  Lieut. -Colonel  Dyer,  and  composed  of  Captains  Smith  s, 
Morton's,  Axurn's,  Edwards's,  and  Hammond's  companies,  tor  the 
gallantry  with  which  they  met  and  repulsed  the  enemy.  In  a 
word,  officers  of  every  grade,  as  well  as  the  privates,  realized  the 
high  expectations  I  had  formed  of  them,  and  merit  the  gratitude 

of  their  country.  A/r„;^va 

"  I  should  be  doing  injustice  to  my  staff,  composed  of  Majors 
Reid  and  Searcy;  my  aids,  Colonel  Sitler  and  Major  Anthony, 
Adjutant,  and  Assistant  Adjutant-General;  Colonel  Carroll  In- 
spector-General;  Major  Strother,  Topographer;  Mr^Cunningham, 
my  Secretary,  and  Colonel  Stokey  D.  Haynes,  Quartermaster- 
General;  not  to  say  that  they  were  everywhere  in  the  midst  ot 
danger,  circulating  my  orders.  They  deserve  and  receive  my 
thanks  I  bave  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

^'^^^^-  ..  Andrew  Jackson." 

Even  "  Old  Hickory"  now  salutes  us  in  a  military 
report  with  a  faux  pas,  a  little  French  to  relieve  the 
mind  of  his  amanuensis.  The  expression  hardly  placed 
the  case  in  its  proper  light,  as  three  companies  ot 
Roberts's  brigade  simply  became  frightened  and  ran, 
after  the  first  fire   from  the  Indians.     "  False  step 


126  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

was  a  mild  term,  indeed.  Nothing  could  be  more  dis- 
agreeable to  the  eye  and  ear  of  the  cultivated  P\ench- 
man  than  the  presence,  here  and  there,  of  English 
words  in  his  language ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  un- 
called for,  indelicate,  if  not  decidedly  disgusting  and 
vulgar,  than  the  appearance  of  terms  from  any  dead  or 
foreign  tongue,  mixed  with  the  pure, -noble,  expressive, 
clean,  clear-faced  words  of  the  English  language.  In 
official  reports  and  business  the  vulgarity  becomes  still 
less  excusable,  and  more  reprehensible. 

But,  leaving  out  the  fa u.v  pas,  it  was,  indeed,  quite 
a  battle,  and  really  placed  the  first  twig  in  Jackson's 
military  crown  of  laurel.  The  friendly  Indians,  res- 
cued from  the  jaws  of  death,  were  not  the  least  satis- 
fied people  over  this  victory.  Little  mercy  was  shown 
by  these  bloodthirsty  monsters  toward  those  of  their 
own  race,  who,  believing  the  war  with  the  whites 
could  have  only  a  fatal  result  to  the  Indians,  remained 
inactive,  or  were  friendly  to  the  whites. 

Before  leaving  Talladega,  Jackson  had  purchased 
with  his  own  money  all  the  corn  and  meat  the  friendly 
Indians  could  spare,  and  divided  it  among  his  half-fed 
men.  His  own  pockets  he  filled  with  acorns  which 
he  found  under  a  tree  on  the  way.  During  his  march 
back  to  Camp  Strother  he  had  occasion  to  use  this 
reserved  food  in  a  manner  which  materially  helped  his 
extremely  good  fortune  years  afterwards.  The  mole- 
hill became  a  mountain.  A  soldier  seeing  the  General 
eating,  as  he  supposed,  some  of  the  good  things  which 
it  was  believed  the  general  of  an  army  always  had 
somehow  provided  for  himself,  approached  and  asked 
him  for  a  morsel  to  check  his  hunger.  "  Certainly," 
said  Jackson,  "I  will  always  share  what  I  have  with 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  127 

a  hungry  man,"  and  handed  him  a  part  of  the  delicious 
acorns  he  was  eating. 

This,  as  an  Englishman  would  say,  was  a  "  stun- 
ner "  to  the  soldier,  and  the  story  was  spread  through- 
out the  camp,  and  was  no  great  while  in  spreading 
throughout  the  country.  If  the  General  fed  on  such 
food,  why  should  the  private  soldiers  complain  of  pri- 
vation? This  story  took  a  hundred  shapes,  with 
beautiful  but  unfortunately  altogether  fantastic  color- 
ings, yet  all  greatly  to  the  General's  advantage.  That 
handful  of  acorns  made  him  many  a  vote  when  he 
came  to  run  for  the  Presidency.     The  fortunate  fellow ! 

At  Fort  Strother  the  little  army  returned  to  star- 
vation, to  mutiny,  and  little  more  than  shame  to  all  but 
General  Jackson  and  a  few  of  his  devoted  officers  and 
followers. 

Talladega  was  a  salutary  lesson  to  the  Indians. 
Some  of  the  defeated  warriors  applied  to  Jackson  for 
terms  of  peace  shortly  afterwards,  and  he  immediately 
replied  in  plain  and  just  words. 

A  serious  difficulty  arose  at  this  juncture  between 
Jackson  and  General  Cocke.  The  latter  had  retired 
with  his  force,  and  was  preparing  to  strike  for  his  own 
honor.  It  was  largely  believed,  at  all  events,  that 
Cocke's  conduct  was  without  patriotism,  and  purely 
selfish.  That  it  greatly  changed  the  prospects,  and 
prolonged  the  Indian  war  with  all  its  horrors,  may  be 
more  easily  believed.  See  for  a  moment  how  the 
matter  stood.  The  Hillibee  braves  had  sued  to  Jack- 
son for  peace.  Cocke  had  put  himself  beyond  the 
possibility  of  knowing  this,  and  had  sent  off'  White 
who  destroyed  several  of  their  towns,  laid  waste  their 
country,  took  their  women  and  children  prisoners,  and 


128  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

killed  a  number  of  their  warriors  who  made  no  resist- 
ance, from  the  fact  that  it  had  been  decided  to  make 
peace,  and  they  were  awaiting  the  result  of  the  peace 
messenger  they  had  sent  to  General  Jackson.  This 
unexpected  stroke  changed  their  good  dispositions,  and 
no  answer  was  returned  to  Jackson's  ready  acceptance 
of  their  suit  for  peace.  To  the  end  of  the  war  this 
family  of  the  hostile  nation  asked  no  quarter,  and 
fought  stubbornly  to  the  death.  They  believed  that 
General  Jackson,  with  whom  they  were  negotiating  for 
peace,  had  ordered  this  devastation  and  slaughter. 

Had  White  obeyed  Jackson  instead  of  Cocke  this 
would  not  have  been  the  result  of  the  victory  of  Talla- 
dega. Nor  was  General  Cocke's  argument  a  good  one 
as  to  the  great  cause  for  his  not  joining  Jackson,  that 
if  the  whole  force  were  united,  starvation  would  be  ab- 
solutely certain.  It  would  have  been  less  difficult  to 
provide  for  five  thousand  men  in  one  body  than  in  two 
widely  separated  forces.  It  is  not  easy  to  estimate  the 
evils  which  might  have  been  avoided  by  the  speedy 
union  of  all  these  troops.  The  Indian  war  went  on. 
That  Cocke  was  greatly  influenced  by  a  desire  for 
fame,  which  he  very  well  knew  would  be  denied  him 
if  operating  under  General  Jackson,  may  be  questioned. 

All  attempts  at  immediately  pushing  the  war  to  an 
end  were  put  at  rest,  and  General  Jackson's  energies 
were  fully  directed  to  two  important  objects,  keeping 
the  wolf  and  the  spirit  of  rebellion  from  his  camp,  and 
devising  measures  for  a  new  and  more  reliable  force. 

The  course  pursued  from  the  outset  for  supplying 
the  army  seemed  the  most  practicable. 

The  Tennessee  River,  with  its  branches,  ran  through 
the  center  of  East  Tennessee,  and  it  furnished  an  easy 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  129 

down-stream  conveyance  to  the  very  seat  of  war  in 
Alabama.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  desirable 
than  this  provision  of  nature  to  advance  the  interest 
of  this  campaign,  as  it  appeared.  The  matter  of  pro- 
viding teams  and  building  roads  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, comparatively.  From  the  Tennessee  River  to 
the  Coosa  would  be  about  the  extent  of  this  overland 
transportation.  Thus  situated,  the  great  burden  of 
blame  came  upon  the  contractors.  But  after  all  re- 
sorting to  changes  in  these,  and  the  exhaustion  of  per- 
suasion by  letter  and  personal  messengers  from  the 
army,  little  change  was  made  for  the  better.  The  re- 
sult was  that  a  few  days  after  Jackson  returned  to 
Fort  Strother  actual  hunger  was  driving  his  men  to 
mutiny.  His  force  was  made  up  of  volunteers,  who 
had  been  called  into  service  for  one  year  from  the 
10th  of  December,  1812,  and  had  made  the  expedition 
with  him  to  Natchez,  and,  dismissed  in  May,  were 
now  serving  out  their  time,  which,  they  claimed,  would 
end  December  10,  1813  ;  and  of  militia  drawn  into 
the  field  for  the  campaign,  or  for  no  definite  period. 

The  militia  were  the  first  to  lose  their  stomachs 
for  the  war,  and  wanted  to  see  their  homes  once  more. 
They  contemplated  marching  in  a  body  for  the  settle- 
ments, a  thing  more  easily  talked  than  done,  under 
the  circumstances.  The  man  with  whom  they  had  to 
contend  was  actuated  by  motives  quite  contrary  to 
their  own.  On  the  morning  the  militia  had  fixed  to 
leave  camp,  Jackson  had  the  volunteers,  on  whom  he 
believed  he  could  depend,  drawn  up  in  battle  line  to 
resist  the  step  the  militia  were  about  to  make.  This 
unexpected  movement  staggered  the  mutineers,  who 
at  once  concluded  to  return  to  their  quarters. 

9— G 


130  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

On  that  very  night  the  volunteers,  who  had  been 
urged  by  their  wives,  mothers,  and  "  sweethearts "  to 
adhere  to  Jackson  because  he  had  been  a  father  and 
friend  to  them,  decided  themselves  to  desert.  When 
morning  came  and  they  were  ready  to  start  homeward, 
they  were  surprised  and  shocked  to  find  the  militia 
who  took  their  turn  the  previous  day,  now  drawn  up 
to  dispute  their  passage.  They  too  concluded  discre- 
tion the  better  part  of  valor,  and  returned  to  their 
places.  The  cavalry,  however,  were  sent  to  Huntsville 
to  recruit  their  horses,  and  provide  new  outfits  for 
themselves,  on  the  condition  that  they  should  return 
when  these  objects  were  accomplished.  But  this  was 
practically  disbanding  them,  as  they  had  caught  the 
general  distemper  of  homesickness,  and  were  of  little 
service  afterwards.  Nor  was  the  discontentment  al- 
layed in  the  camp  on  the  Coosa.  To  bring  about  this 
result.  General  Jackson  now  resorted  to  another  of  his 
life-long  remedies,  that  is,  addresses. 

In  one  of  these  he  said  to  the  soldiers  : — 

"Some  of  our  fellow-soldiers  are  wouuded  and  are  unable  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  Shall  it  be  said  that  we  are  so  lost  to 
humanity  as  to  leave  them  in  that  condition  ?  Can  any  one  under 
these  circumstances  and  under  these  prospects,  consent  to  an 
abandonment  of  the  camp ;  of  all  that  we  have  acquired  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  difficulties,  privations,  and  dangers ;  of  what  it 
will  cost  us  so  much  to  regain  ;  of  what  we  never  can  regain,  our 
brave  wounded  companions  who  will  be  murdered  by  our  unthink- 
ing, unfeeling  inhumanity  ?  Surely  there  can  be  none  such  !  No, 
we  will  take  with  us,  when  we  go,  our  wounded  and  sick.  They 
must  not,  shall  not  perish  by  our  cold-blooded  indifference.  But 
why  should  you  despond?  I  do  not,  and  yet  your  wants  are  not 
greater  than  mine.  To  be  sure,  we  do  not  live  sumptuously  ;  but 
no  one  has  died  of  hunger,  or  is  likely  to  die ;  and  then  how  an- 
imating are  our  prospects !  Large  supplies  are  at  Deposit,  and 
already  are  officers  dispatched  to  hasten  them  on.     Wagons  are 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  131 

on  the  way ;  a  large  number  of  beeves  are  in  the  neighborhood  ; 
and  detachments  are  out  to  bring  them  in.  All  these  resources 
surely  can  not  fail.  I  have  no  wish  to  starve  you,  none  to  de- 
ceive you.  Stay  contentedly,  and  if  supplies  do  not  arrive  in  two 
days,  we  will  all  march  back  together,  and  throw  the  blame  of 
our  failure  where  it  should  properly  lie  ;  until  then,  we  certainly 
have  the  means  of  subsisting ;  and  if  we  are  compelled  to  bear 
privations,  let  us  remember  that  they  are  borne  for  our  country, 
and  are  not  greater  than  many,  perhaps  most,  armies  have  been 
compelled  to  endure.  I  have  called  you  together  to  tell  you  my 
feelings  and  my  wishes  ;  this  evening  think  on  them  seriously, 
and  let  me  know  yours  in  the  morning." 

The  two  days  came  and  went,  and  no  provisions 
arrived.  This  disastrous  turn  in  negotiations  the  Gen- 
eral did  not  expect.  But  desperately  he  began  to 
prepare  to  carry  out  his  proposal.  In  this  strait,  he 
said  that  if  two  men  would  stay  with  him  he  would 
not  give  up  the  fort.  One  hundred  and  nine  men  agreed 
to  remain.  Jackson  then  induced  the  others  to  agree 
to  return  and  continue  the  campaign  in  case  they  met 
provisions  on  their  way ;  and  leaving  the  small  garri- 
son he  set  out  toward  the  Tennessee  River  at  the  head 
of  the  homeward-bound  patriots,  determined  to  see  for 
himself  that  they  should  not  escape  their  part  of  the 
contract. 

These  soldiers  were  now  willing  to  travel  without 
food,  and  like  a  hungry  and  tired  horse  when  his  head 
is  turned  for  home,  they  were  full  of  spirit;  and  the 
only  thing  they  now  feared  was  that  they  would 
actually  meet  the  supplies  for  which  all  the  troubles 
had  arisen ;  and  the  great  dread  of  the  General  was 
that  they  would  not  meet  them. 

But  they  did  that  very  day  meet  a  drove  of  cattle 
going  to  Fort  Strother  to  be  slaughtered  for  the  army. 
They  came  to  a  halt  at  once  and  went  to  killing,  cook- 


132  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ing,  and  eating.  The  next  step,  according  to  the  con- 
tract, was  to  march  back  to  the  fort.  But  this  they 
really  had  no  notion  of  doing ;  and  before  Jackson 
was  aware  of  it  one  company  was  on  the  move  for 
home.  This  was  too  much  for  "  Old  Hickory."  He 
started  in  pursuit,  and  with  Coffee  and  a  few  trusty 
men  put  himself  across  the  route  to  await  their  coming, 
Jackson  was  now  hurling  maledictions  upon  their  heads. 
His  oaths  and  his  fury  were  terrific.  The  company 
of  deserters  faced  about  and  returned  to  their  places. 
But  the  struggle  was  not  yet  over. 

It  was  apparent  that  the  whole  force  was  deter- 
mined to  proceed  on  the  way  home.  At  this  juncture 
Jackson  took  a  musket,  and  standing  by  his  horse  in 
front  of  the  rascals,  declared  that  he  would  kill  on  the 
spot  the  man  who  made  the  first  step  forward.  His 
staff"  officers  and  a  few  faithful  followers  seeing  the 
perilous  position  he  now  occupied,  came  forward  and 
took  positions  behind  him  to  await  the  result,  and  de- 
fend him,  if  necessary.  There  was  a  pause.  Not  one 
of  the  thousand  men  was  ready  to  die  in  the  last  ditch. 
Hickory  had  conquered.  In  anger  and  disappointment 
the  men  returned  to  Fort  Strother. 

But  the  General  went  on  to  the  Tennessee  to  look 
after  the  supplies.  The  great  outcry  and  all  the  exer- 
tions put  forth  were  not  without  avail.  Soon  abun- 
dance reached  the  fort,  and  from  this  time  forward  the 
question  of  feed  for  the  army  was  not  of  serious 
moment  during  the  Creek  war.  But  Jackson  felt  that 
this  little  army  would  be  of  no  great  benefit  in  pushing 
the  war  to  a  close,  and  set  about  making  provisions  for 
a  force  of  new  men.  It  was  now  the  first  of  Decem- 
ber, and  the  question  to  be  fought  was  as  to  the  time 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  133 

the  term  of  one  year  expired  in  the  service  of  the 
volunteers.  Jackson  held  that  they  volunteered  for 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  and  that  the  time 
they  spent  at  their  homes  after  returning  from  Natchez 
until  the  time  of  gathering  at  the  rendezvous  at  Fay- 
etteville,  November  4th,  was  not  to  be  put  to  their 
credit.  The  volunteers,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained 
that  it  was  from  the  10th  of  December  to  the  10th  of 
December,  and  when  that  day  came,  as  it  would  shortly, 
they  were  going  home.  The  militia  also  believed  that 
they  were  out  only  for  three  months,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  term  they  intended  to  start  home. 

While  determined,  if  possible,  to  hold  these  men, 
and  especially  till  new  ones  could  be  recruited  to  fill 
their  places.  General  Jackson  immediately  sent  home 
several  of  his  reliable  officers  to  hurry  up  the  work  of 
gathering  a  new  army. 

A  few  days  before  the  10th  of  December,  a  letter 
on  the  part  of  the  volunteers  was  handed  to  Jackson, 
in  which  their  case  was  stated,  their  determination 
expressed,  and  their  confidence  in  him,  and  an  appeal 
to  him  to  see  that  they  were  dealt  with  justly,  as  they 
had  faithfully  and  honorably  served  their  country,  etc. 

To  this  appeal  the  General  replied  in  a  long  and 
spirited  manner,  reviewing  the  whole  case,  and  closing 
with  these  words  : — 

"  Already  have  I  sent  to  raise  volunteers  on  my  own  respon- 
sibility, lo  complete  a  campaign  which  has  been  so  happily  begun, 
and  thus  far,  so  fortunately  prosecuted.  The  moment  they  arrive, 
and  I  am  assured  tliat,  fired  by  our  exploits,  they  will  hasten  in 
crowds  on  the  first  intimation  that  we  need  their  services,  they 
will  be  substituted  in  the  place  of  those  who  are  discontented 
here ;  the  latter  will  then  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes 
with  all  the  honor  which,    under  such  circumstances,  they  can 


134  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

carry  along  with  them.  But  I  still  cherish  a  hope  that  their  dis- 
satisfaction and  complaints  have  been  greatly  exaggerated.  I  can 
not,  must  not  believe  that  the  '  Volunteers  of  Tennessee,'  a  name 
ever  dear  to  fame,  will  disgrace  themselves  and  a  country  which 
they  have  honored,  by  abandoning  her  standard  as  mutineers  and 
deserters  ;  but  should  I  be  disappointed  and  be  compelled  to  resign 
this  pleasing  hope,  one  thing  I  would  not  resign,  my  duty. 
Mutiny  and  sedition,  so  long  as  I  possess  the  power  of  quelling 
them,  shall  be  put  down ;  and  even  when  left  destitute  of  this,  I 
will  still  be  found,  in  the  last  extremity,  endeavoring  to  discharge 
the  duty  I  owe  to  my  country  and  myself." 

No  matter  what  was  said  or  done,  Jackson  was  to 
have  one  more  struggle  with  these  mutinous  troops. 
They  were  going  home,  and  it  was  not  necessary  to 
put  it  off  until  the  10th.  On  the  preceding  day  they 
made  ready  to   go,  and  Jackson  issued  this  order  : — 

"The  Commanding  General  being  informed  that  an  actual 
mutiny  exists  in  the  camp,  all  officers  and  soldiers  are  commanded 
to  put  it  down.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  first  brigade  will, 
without  delay,  parade  on  the  west  side  of  the  fort,  and  await 
further  orders." 

His  two  cannons  were  put  in  position  for  use,  and 
the  militia  were  ordered  to  be  drawn  up  across  the 
road  to  be  taken  by  the  departing  volunteers.  These 
troops  were  in  line  ready  to  start  on  their  journey 
home.  Jackson  rode  out  before  them.  In  this  posi- 
tion he  addressed  them  with  great  vehemence.  After 
telling  them  that  reinforcements  were  rapidly  gather- 
ing for  their  relief,  and  speaking  of  the  nature  of  their 
situation,  and  pledging  himself  to  do  his  duty  or  die 
in  the  attempt,  he  said  : — 

"  I  am,  too,  in  daily  expectation  of  receiving  information 
whether  you  may  be  discharged  or  not.  Until  then  you  must 
not,  and  shall  not  retire.  I  have  done  with  entreaty,  it  has  been 
used  long  enough.     I  will  attempt  it  no  more.     You  must  now 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  135 

determine  whether  you  will  go  or  peaceably  remain.  If  you  still 
persist  in  your  determination  to  move  forcibly  off,  the  point  be- 
tween us  shall  soon  be  decided." 

The  cannoneers  were  ready  to  apply  the  fire  to 
their  pieces.  Silence  reigned.  No  one  seemed  pre- 
pared to  make  the  fatal  step.  A  whisper  ran  down 
the  line  of  recreant  volunteers  ;  the  officers  stepped 
forward,  and  said  they  had  concluded  to  await  the 
coming  of  other  troops,  or  until  the  settlement  of  the 
question  of  their  discharge. 


136  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  X. 

CREEK  WAR— SETTLING  MUTINY  WITH  THE  PISTOL— GEN- 
ERAL JACKSON  GATHERS  DOUBTFUL  LAURELS  AT 
EMUCKFAU     AND     ENOTACHOPCO  —  FLOYD 
AND    WEATHERSFORD  AT  CALIBEE— 
WHO    WAS    FIRST,    THE     RED 
OR  THE  WHITE  MAN? 

ALTHOUGH  Jackson  had  conquered  in  this  final 
struggle,  little  good  was  expected  from  the  con- 
quest. His  anxiety  was  now  directed  to  the  new 
levy  of  troops,  and  the  desire  to  close  the  campaign  so 
successfully  begun.  But  he  was  also  anxious  to  restore 
a  better  state  of  feeling  among  the  discontented  troops, 
and,  if  possible,  induce  many  of  them  to  remain  till  the 
close  of  the  war.  On  the  13th  of  December  he  caused 
to  be  read  to  the  soldiers  the  following  address  : — 

"  Volunteers  of  Tennessee!  On  the  10th  of  December,  1812, 
you  assembled  at  the  call  of  your  country.  Your  professions  of 
patriotism  and  ability  to  endure  fatigue  were  at  once  tested  by 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  Breaking  your  way  through 
sheets  of  ice,  you  descended  the  Mississippi,  and  reached  the 
point  at  which  you  were  ordered  to  be  halted  and  dismissed.  All 
this  you  bore  without  murmuring.  Finding  that  your  services 
were  not  needed,  the  means  for  marching  you  back  were  pro- 
cured ;  every  difficulty  was  surmounted,  and  as  soon  as  the  point 
from  which  you  eml)arked  was  regained,  the  order  for  your  dis- 
missal was  carried  into  effect.  The  promptness  with  which  you 
assembled,  the  regularity  of  your  conduct,  your  attention  to  your 
duties,  the  determination  manifested  on  every  occasion  to  carry 
into  effect  the  wishes  and  will  of  your  Government,  placed  you 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  137 

on  an  elevated  ground.  You  not  only  distinguished  yourselves, 
but  o'ave  to  your  State  a  distinguished  rank  with  her  sisters ;  and 
led  your  Government  to  believe  that  the  honor  of  the  Nation 
would  never  be  tarnished  when  intrusted  to  the  holy  keeping  of 
the  'Volunteers  of  Tennessee.'  In  the  progress  of  a  war,  which 
the  implacable  and  eternal  enemy  of  our  independence  induced 
to  be  waged,  we  found  that,  without  cause  on  our  part,  a  portion 
of  the  Creek  nation  was  added  to  the  number  of  our  foes.  To 
put  them  down,  the  first  glance  of  the  Administration  fell  on 
you,  and  you  were  again  summoned  to  the  field  of  honor.  In 
full  possession  of  your  former  feelings,  that  summons  was  cheer- 
fully obeyed.  Before  your  enemy  thought  you  in  motion,  you 
were  at  Talluschatches  and  Talledaga.  The  thunder  of  your  arras 
was  a  signal  to  them,  that  the  slaughter  of  your  countrymen  was 
about  to  be  avenged.  You  fought;  you  conquered;  barely 
enough  of  the  foe  escaped  to  recount  to  their  savage  associates 
your  deeds  of  valor.  You  returned  to  this  place,  loaded  with 
laurels  and  the  applauses  of  your  country. 

"Can  it  be  that  these  brave  men  are  about  to  become  the 
tarnishers  of  their  own  reputation— the  destroyers  of  a  name 
which  does  them  so  much  honor?  Yes,  it  is  a  truth  too  well 
disclosed,  that  cheerfulness  has  been  changed  for  complaints; 
murmurings  and  discontents  alone  prevail.  Men  who  a  little 
while  since  were  oflfering  up  prayers  for  permission  to  chastise 
the  merciless  savage,  who  turned  with  impatience  to  teach  them 
how  much  they  had  hitherto  been  indebted  to  our  forbearance, 
are  now,  when  they  could  so  easily  attain  their  wishes,  seeking 
to  be  discharged." 

But  it  was  past  the  time  to  change  the  inclinations 
of  these  men  by  patriotic  appeals  or  anything  else ; 
and  Cocke  now  having  arrived  with  two  thousand 
men,  Jackson  wisely  concluded  to  get  rid  of  these 
troublesome  fellows.  Accordingly,  he  ordered  Gen- 
eral Hall  to  march  them  back  to  Nashville,  and  de- 
liver them  to  the  Governor,  to  be  treated  as  he  saw  fit. 
Unfortunately,  however,  this  did  not  greatly  im- 
prove the  condition  of  things  at  Fort  Strother.  Cocke's 
men  were   clamoring   to   be    discharged,  as  their  time 


138  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

was  expiring.  About  half  of  them  still  had  a  month 
or  two  to  serve.  The  others  Jackson  sent  home  to 
be  disbanded  at  Knoxville;  and  urged  Cocke  to  re- 
cruit another  corps  as  speedily  as  possible.  Coffee's 
mounted  men  were  now  in  mutiny,  and  many  of  them 
had  gone  home.  The  others  refused  to  cross  the  Ten- 
nessee River.  Coffee  was  worn  out  with  his  trials 
with  them,  and  wrote  to  Jackson  to  that  effect.  The 
men  had  sent  him  an  address,  which  he  also  forwarded 
to  Fort  Strother.  Jackson  sent  back  a  long  cutting 
reply,  and  then  added  that  they  had  his  permission 
to  go  and  follow  no  more  after  him,  and  that  he  had 
a  letter  from  the  Governor  intimating  the  same  senti- 
ment on  his  part.  They  took  him  at  his  word  and 
went,  with  Colonel  Allcorn  at  their  head.  According 
to  the  general  understanding  of  this  case,  and  the  pa- 
rade of  evidence  on  the  Jackson  side,  the  conduct  of 
this  corps  of  volunteers  was  disgraceful  enough. 

Notwithstanding  the  assertions  of  most  of  General 
Jackson's  numerous  biographers  as  to  the  great  devo- 
tion of  his  soldiers  to  him,  the  history  of  this  cam- 
paign, in  the  main,  does  not  justify  any  such  opinion. 
There  are  few  questions  which  are  wholly  one-sided. 
Many  of  these  volunteers  were  men  of  some  character, 
and  once  they  had  been  called  the  flower  of  Tennessee, 
and  when  they  had  set  forward  on  the  long  winter 
march  to  Natchez,  the  heart  of  Middle  Tennessee  had 
gone  with  them.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1814,  over 
the  signatures  of  General  William  Hall  and  seven 
other  volunteer  officers  of  less  rank,  a  statement  was 
made  public,  representing  their  side  of  the  case,  and 
which  did,  to  some  extent,  cast  a  glimmer  of  light 
upon  the  whole  troublesome  affair. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  139 

The  reader  may  be  able  to  decide  for  himself,  with- 
out fuller  statements  from  both  sides,  the  merits  of 
this  case  between  General  Jackson  and  these  soldiers. 
That  they  had  not  been   all   the  time   in  the   service 
from  December  10,  1812,  to  December  10,  1813,  was 
no  fault   of  theirs.     That  they  might  have  been  dis- 
banded   before   their   year   had    expired,   and   at   any 
emergency  been  called  to  complete  it  a  score  of  years 
afterwards,  would  have  been  looked  upon  as  a  matter 
of  great   doubt,  at  least.     But   these   men,    it  seems, 
were  apprised  of  the  fact  that  they  might  be  called  to 
serve  out  the  year  for  which  they  had  enlisted.     The 
biographers    of    General   Jackson   have   usually  main- 
tained, as  did  especially  all  of  his  political  defenders, 
that  his  position  was  right,  and  that  this  Indian  cam- 
paign, on  his  part,  was  one  of  the  most  praiseworthy 
and  wonderful  ever  performed  by  any  military  leader 
in  the  history  of  the  world.     There  is  a  wide-spread 
feeling  in  war  that   the  private  soldier  has   no   right 
which  the  general  is  bound  to  respect.     This  country 
is  no  exception  to  the  rule  of  European  governments 
as    to    the   power   of    discipline   in    the    army.     And, 
indeed,  it  may,  at  times,  be  a  fortunate  circumstance, 
even  in   a  republic,  that  the  safety  of  the  country  is 
not  subject  to  the  whim  of  the  masses. 

In  the  conflict  between  General  Jackson  and  his 
men,  although  he  carried  his  point  at  the  time,  par- 
tially by  his  exhibition  of  phenomenal,  though  fool- 
hardy, daring,  it  could  not  be  inferred  that  they  were 
cowards.  They  were,  doubtlessly,  actuated  by  better 
motives.  Their  service  had  been  one  of  starvation 
and  hardship,  and,  perhaps,  their  greatest  trial  was  to 
endure   the  violent  temper   and  intolerant  manner  of 


140  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

their  Commanding  General.  The  experience  must  have 
been  a  dreadful  one  to  them.  But  the  story  has  been 
told  in  its  leading  points.  The  events  yet  to  come 
may,  however,  furnish  some  additional  aids  to  a  fair 
view  of  this   interesting  episode  in  the  war  of  1812. 

While  these  things  were  occurring  under  General 
Jackson,  from  two  other  directions  foes  of  equal  de- 
termination and  skill  were  preparing  to  assail  the 
Indians.  Peter  Early,  Governor  of  Georgia,  had,  by 
act  of  the  Legislature,  equipped  a  considerable  force 
under  the  command  of  General  Floyd.  General  Clai- 
borne was  also  putting  forth  his  exertions  from  the 
direction  of  Louisiana  and  the  Gulf. 

On  the  Tallapoosa  River  General  Floyd  met  the 
Indians,  and  defeated  them  in  an  engagement  which 
was  thus  described  in  his  report : — 

"Having  received  information  that  numbers  of  the  hostile 
Indians  were  assembled  at  Autossee,  a  town  on  the  southern 
bank  of  the  Tallapoosa,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  Hickory 
Ground,  and  twenty  above  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the 
Coosa,  I  proceeded  to  its  attack  with  nine  hundred  and  fifty  of 
the  Georgia  militia,  accompanied  by  between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred friendly  Indians.  Having  encamped  within  nine  or  ten 
miles  of  the  point  of  destination  the  preceding  evening,  we  re- 
sumed the  march  a  few  minutes  before  one  on  the  morning  of 
the  29th  (of  November),  and,  at  half-past  six,  were  formed  for 
action  in  front  of  the  town.  Booth's  battalion  composed  the 
right  column,  and  marched  from  its  center ;  Watson's  battalion 
composed  the  left,  and  marched  from  its  right;  Adams's  rifle 
company,  and  Merri wether's,  under  Lieutenant  Hendon,  were  on 
the  flanks ;  Captain  Thomas's  artillery  marched  in  front  of  the 
right  column  on  the  road. 

"It  was  my  intention  to  have  completely  surrounded  the 
enemy,  by  deploying  the  right  wing  of  my  force  on  Canlubee 
Creek,  at  the  mouth  of  which,  I  was  informed,  the  town  stood, 
and  resting  the  left  on  the  river  bank,  below  the  town  ;  but,  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  141 

our  surprise,  as  the  day  dawned,  we  perceived  a  second  town  about 
five  hundred  yards  below  that  which  we  had  first  viewed,  and 
were  preparing  to  attack.  The  plan  was  immediately  changed  ; 
three  companies  of  infantry,  on  the  left,  were  wheeled  into  echelon, 
and  advanced  to  the  low  town,  accompanied  by  Merri wether's 
rifle  company,  and  two  troops  of  light  dragoons,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captains  Irwin  and  Steele. 

"The  residue  of  the  force  approached  the  upper  town,  and 
the  battle  soon  became  general.  The  Indians  presented  them- 
selves at  every  point,  and  fought  with  the  desperate  bravery  of  real 
fanatics.  The  well-directed  fire,  however,  of  the  artillery,  added 
to  the  charge  of  the  bayonet,  soon  forced  them  to  take  refuge  in 
the  outhouses,  thickets,  and  copses  in  rear  of  the  town  ;  mauy,  it 
is  believed,  concealed  themselves  in  caves  previously  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  secure  retreat,  in  the  high  bluff  of  the  river, 
which  was  thickly  covered  with  reeds  and  brushwood.  The  In- 
dians of  the  friendly  party  who  accompanied  us  on  the  expedi- 
tion were  divided  into  four  companies,  and  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  leaders  of  their  selection.  They  were,  by  arrangement 
entered  into  the  day  previous,  to  have  crossed  the  river  above 
the  town,  and  been  posted  on  the  opposite  shore,  during  the 
action,  for  the  purpose  of  firing  on  such  of  the  enemy  as  might 
attempt  to  escape,  or  keep  in  check  any  reinforcement  which 
might  probably  be  thrown  in  from  the  neighboring  town ;  but, 
owing  to  the  difliculty  of  the  ford,  and  coldness  of  the  weather, 
and  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  this  arrangement  failed,  and  their 
leaders  were  directed  to  cross  Canlubee  Creek,  and  occupy  that 
flank,  to  prevent  escapes  from  the  Tallassee  town.  Some  time  after 
the  action  commenced  our  red  friends  thronged  in  disorder  in  the 
rear  of  our  lines.  The  Cowetams,  under  Mcintosh,  and  the 
Lookaubatchians,  under  the  Mad  Dog's  Son,  fell  in  on  our  flanks, 
and  fought  with  an  intrepidity  worthy  of  any  troops. 

"At  nine  o'clock,  the  enemy  was  completely  driven  from  the 
plain,  and  the  houses  of  both  towns  wrapped  in  flames.  As  we 
were  then  sixty  miles  from  any  depot  of  provisions,  and  our  five 
days'  rations  pretty  much  reduced,  in  the  heart  of  an  enemy's 
country,  which,  in  a  few  moments,  could  have  poured  from  its  nu- 
merous towns  hosts  of  its  fiercest  warriors,  as  soon  as  the  dead  and 
wounded  were  properly  disposed  of  I  ordered  the  place  to  be  aban- 
doned and  the  troops  to  commence  their  march  to  Chatahauchie. 

"It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  but 


142  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

from  the  information  of  the  chiefs,  which  it  is  said  can  be  relied 
upon,  that  at  Autossee,  warriors  from  eight  towns  were  assem- 
bled for  its  defense,  it  being  their  beloved  ground,  on  which  they 
proclaimed  no  white  man  could  approach  without  inevitable 
destruction.  It  is  difficult  to  give  a  precise  account  of  the  loss 
of  the  enemy ;  but  from  the  number  which  were  lying  scattered 
over  the  field,  together  with  those  destroyed  in  the  towns,  and 
many  slain  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  which  respectable  officers 
affirm  they  saw  lying  in  heaps  at  the  water's  edge,  where,  they  had 
been  precipitated  by  their  surviving  friends,  their  loss  in  killed,  in- 
dependent of  their  wounded,  must  have  been  at  least  two  hun- 
dred, among  whom  were  the  Autossee  and  Tallassee  kings;  and, 
from  the  circumstance  of  their  making  no  efforts  to  molest  our 
return,  probably  greater.  The  number  of  buildings  burned,  some 
of  a  superior  order  for  the  dwellings  of  savages,  and  filled  with 
valuable  articles,  is  supposed  to  be  four  hundred. 

"Adjutant-General  Newman  rendered  important  services 
during  the  action,  by  his  cool  and  deliberate  courage.  My  aid, 
Major  Crawford,  discharged  with  promptitude  the  duties  of  a 
brave  and  meritorious  officer.  Major  Pace,  who  acted  as  field 
aid,  also  distinguished  himself ;  both  these  gentlemen  had  their 
horses  shot  under  them.  Doctor  Williamson,  hospital  surgeon, 
and  Doctor  Clopton,  were  prompt  and  attentive  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duty  towards  the  wounded,  during  the  action. 

"  Major  Freeman,  at  the  head  of  Gwin's  troop  of  cavalry, 
and  part  of  Steele's,  made  a  furious  and  successful  charge  upon  a 
body  of  Indians,  sabered  several,  and  completely  defeated  them. 
Captain  Thomas  and  his  company,  Captain  Adams's,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Hendou's  rifle  company,  killed  a  great  many  Indians,  and 
deserve  particular  praise ;  Captain  Barton's  company  was  in  the 
hottest  of  the  battle,  and  fought  like  soldiers.  Captains  Myric, 
Little,  King,  Broadnax,  Cleveland,  Joseph  T.  Cunningham,  and 
Lee,  with  their  companies,  distinguished  themselves.  Brigadier- 
General  Shackleford  was  of  great  service  in  bringing  the  troops 
into  action  ;  and  Adjutant  Broadnax,  and  Major  Montgomery, 
who  acted  as  assistant  adjutant,  showed  great  activity  and  cour- 
age. Major  Booth  used  his  best  endeavors  in  bringing  his 
battalion  to  action,  and  Major  Watson's  battalion  acted  with 
considerable  spirit.  Gwin's,  Patterson's,  and  Steele's  troops  of 
cavalry,  wherever  an  opportunity  presented,  charged  with  spirit. 
Lieutenant  Strong  had  his  horse  shot,  and  narrowly  escaped,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  143 

Quartermaster  Fennell  displayed  the  greatest  heroism,  and 
miraculously  escaped,  though  badly  wounded,  after  having  his 
horse  shot  from  under  him.  The  topographical  engineer  was 
vigilant  in  his  endeavors  to  render  service.  The  troops  deserve 
the  highest  praise  for  their  fortitude  in  enduring  hunger,  cold, 
and  fatigue,  without  a  murmur,  having  marched  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  in  seven  days. 

•'The  friendly  Indians  lost  several  killed  and  wounded,  the 
number  not  exactly  known." 

But  after  all  this  fine  report,  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
Indians  were  not  so  badly  whipped  that  they  were 
unable  to  pursue  Floyd,  and  offer  him  battle.  They 
were,  however,  repulsed.  Still  General  Floyd's  great 
Autossee  victory  would  have  been  materially  toned 
down,  no  doubt,  by  the  pen  of  an  Indian  historian.  On 
the  23d  of  December,  1813,  General  Ferdinand  L.  Clai- 
borne, who  had  been  sent  over  from  the  Mississippi  with 
several  hundred  regulars  to  look  after  the  Indians,  and 
a  part  of  whose  command  was  destroyed  at  Fort  Mims, 
attacked  the  Indians  on  the  Alabama  River  at  Eccan- 
achaca,  the  Holy  Ground,  and  killed  some  of  their 
warriors,  and  burned  this  seat  of  the  prophets.  He 
also  destroyed  other  towns,  and  did  much  to  distress 
these  wild  and  improvident  creatures. 

General  Jackson  was  left  at  Fort  Strother  with  a 
few  hundred  dissatisfied  men.  He  put  forward  every 
possible  effort  to  get  a  new  army.  The  Governor  and 
influential  friends  at  home  were  plied  with  letters  by 
himself  and  his  officers ;  and  where  gentle  and  earnest 
terms  would  not  do  he  scolded  and  begged,  and  urged 
them  to  do  something  speedily,  or  finally  the  whole 
work  would  have  to  be  ignominiously  abandoned. 
Among  Jackson's  warmest  and  most  efficient  coadju- 
tors in  these  trials  was  the  Rev.    Gideon   Blackburn. 


144  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

When  the  cavalry  abandoned  the  war,  on  the  bank 
of  the  Tennessee,  in  January,  1814,  Mr.  Blackburn 
was  present,  and  to  the  appeal  of  the  brave  and  gen- 
erous Coflfee,  added  his  voice  in  an  eloquent  address 
urging  the  soldiers  to  continue  in  the  service.  Earlier 
he  had  offered  his  help,  and  to  him  General  Jackson 
wrote  the  following  letter : — 

"  Reverend  Sir, — Your  letter  has  been  just  received  ;  I 
thank  you  for  it ;  I  thank  you  most  sincerely.  It  arrived  at  a 
moment  when  my  spirits  needed  such  a  support. 

"  I  left  Tennessee  with  an  army,  brave,  I  believe,  as  any 
general  ever  commanded.  I  have  seen  them  in  battle,  and  my 
opinion  of  their  bravery  is  not  changed  ;  but  their  fortitude,  on 
this  too  I  relied,  has  been  too  severely  tested.  Perhaps  I  was 
wrong  in  believing  that  nothing, but  death  could  conquer  the 
spirits  of  brave  men.  I  am  sure  I  was;  for  my  men,  I  know,  are 
brave,  yet  privations  have  rendered  them  discontented  ;  that  is 
enough.  The  expedition  must  nevertheless  be  prosecuted  to  a 
successful  termination.  New  volunteers  must  be  raised  to  con- 
clude what  has  been  so  auspiciously  begun  by  the  old  ones. 
Gladly  would  I  save  these  men  from  themselves,  and  insure 
them  a  harvest  which  they  have  sown ;  but  if  they  will  abandon 
it  to  others,  it  must  be  so. 

"  You  are  good  enough  to  say,  if  I  need  your  assistance,  it 
will  be  cheerfully  afforded.  I  do  need  it  greatly.  The  influence 
you  possess  over  the  minds  of  men  is  great  and  well  founded, 
and  can  never  be  better  applied  than  in  summoning  volunteers 
to  the  defense  of  their  country,  their  liberty,  and  their  religion. 
While  we  fight  the  savage,  who  makes  war  only  because  he 
delights  in  blood,  and  who  has  gotten  his  booty  when  he  has 
scalped  his  victim,  we  are  through  him  contending  against  an 
enemy  of  more  inveterate  character,  and  deeper  design,  who 
would  demolish  a  fabric  cemented  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers, 
and  endeared  to  us  by  all  the  happiness  we  enjoy.  So  far  as  my 
exertions  can  contribute,  the  purposes,  both  of  the  savage  and 
his  instigator,  shall  be  defeated  ;  and  so  far  as  yours  can,  I  hope, 
I  know,  they  will  be  employed.  I  have  said  enough ;  I  want 
men,  and  want  them  immediately." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  145 

Mrs.  Jackson  became,  after  a  while,  greatly  at- 
tached to  the  character  of  this  good  man,  and  was 
accustomed  to  call  him  "dear  parson  Blackburn." 
She  was  wont  to  say  that  she  blessed  Heaven  that 
.  under  Blackburn  she  had  been  led  to  see  more  beauty 
and  sense  in  being  a  reasonable  and  correct  Christian 
than  in  squandering  her  days  in  foolishness  which  had 
not  even  the  virtue  of  benefiting  her  merely  as  a 
creature  endowed  with  progressive  mental  faculties. 
Blackburn  was  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  early 
preachers  of  the  wild  West,  a  sterling  character  who 
was  not  afraid  of  his  own  qualities  or  doubtful  as  to 
his  mission ;  and,  like  brave  old  Peter  Cartwright,  was 
ready,  at  all  times,  to  assail  the  infernals  wherever 
they  were  displayed  in  or  around  men.  He  had  no 
scruples  about  giving  his  aid  in  building  up  the 
affairs  of  this  world  in  a  safe  and  righteous  manner. 
There  was  no  question  of  two  masters  about  it  with 
him.  He  believed  it  was  a  part  of  a  Christian's  duty  to 
be  a  patriot.  He  seemed  also  to  believe  the  soldier  of 
the  Republic  became  the  highest  ideal  of  the  brave 
and  patriotic  man  accordingly  as  he  became  a  more 
trustworthy  soldier  of  the  Cross. 

General  Jackson's  difficulties  were  not  all  with  the 
soldiers,  who  could  have  done  better  than  they  did, 
or  the  contractors,  who,  perhaps,  did  the  best  they 
could  under  the  circumstances.  Governor  Blount  had 
become  discouraged  over  the  prospects  of  continuing 
the  campaign  without  aid  from  the  Government,  and 
actually  recommended  Jackson  to  give  it  up.  Gov- 
ernor Blount,  of  Tennessee,  was  neither  a  soldier  nor 
a  statesman,  although  he  was  a  patriot  of  the  most 
scrupulous  exactness,  and  a  man  of   many   admirable 

10— G 


146  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

traits.    The  following  letter  from  him  will  give  interest 
to  Jackson's  reply  : — 

"  Nashville,  December  22,  1813. 
"  Dear  Sir, — Since  writing  you  fully  of  this  date,  I  have  re- 
ceived, by  Major  David  Smith,  your  very  interesting  letter,  replete 
with  patriotic  sentiments,  dated  the  15th  inst.  You  will  see  by^ 
letter  of  the  10th,  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  how  I  am  placed 
with  respect  to  instructions,  which,  as  it  relates  to  the  good  of 
the  service,  and  a  most  righteous  cause,  in  support  of  which  you 
are  most  laudably  and  zealously  engaged,  I  much  regret.  The 
unfortunate  construction  given  by  the  troops,  so  generally, 
respecting  their  term  of  service,  at  this  very  interesting  crisis  in 
public  affairs,  in  this  section  of  the  Union,  is  to  be  lamented ; 
but  since  it  is  the  most  general,  and  likely  to  become  almost  the 
universal  construction  in  the  camp  ;  and  since  there  is  no  authority 
vested  here,  that  can  be  interposed  to  give  a  counter  current  of 
opinion,  with  the  prospect  of  effecting  any  permanent  good  to 
the  service,  or  to  the  cause  you  are  engaged  in ;  and  as  it  is  likely 
that  my  letter  of  the  10th  instant  will  produce  new  orders  for  a 
term  of  service  yet  to  commence,  which,  under  all  circumstances, 
would  be  most  judicious  in  Government  to  give,  the  better  to 
effect  the  objects  of  the  campaign,  more  especially  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  a  British  fleet  has  arrived  at  Pensacola ;  I 
can  not  doubt  but  that  the  Government  will  shortly  give  new 
instructions  to  have  a  new  force  organized,  to  effect  the  objects 
of  the  campaign,  and  to  oppose  the  British  ;  and  that  the  Presi- 
dent will  be  satisfied  to  consider  that  the  three  months'  tour  per- 
formed by  your  and  by  General  Cocke's  detachments,  with  so 
much  good  to  the  service,  and  with  so  much  credit  to  yourselves, 
may  terminate  the  present  campaign.  I  can  think  of  no  better 
plan  to  pursue,  so  as  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  all ;  for,  when 
once  militia,  or  any  other  troops,  take  it  into  their  heads  that 
they  have  served  their  tour  of  duty,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
convince  them  that  to  serve  longer  would  be  either  just  or  lauda- 
ble ;  and  to  attempt  to  keep  up  a  force  by  voluntary  enrollment, 
without  the  authority  of  Government,  would,  as  I  fear,  be  a  vain 
attempt,  notwithstanding  it  would  be  highly  laudable  at  this 
time,  if  it  were  practicable;  patching  up  an  army  that  way, 
would  effect  no  permanent  good.  I  am  not  at  liberty  as  an 
executive  officer,  to  advise  you,  who  hold  a  command  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States.     I  am  incapable  of  willingly  saying 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  147 

or  doing  anything  to  injure  the  service,  or  that  which  would 
injuriously  affect  the  reputation  of  deserving  men,  or  the  stand- 
ing of  au  able  and  patriotic  hero  and  general ;  but,  as  a  friend 
to  my  Government,  most  ardently  desirous  that  every  step  taken 
in  this  quarter  may  promote  the  good  of  the  service,  and  the 
standing  of  those  who  deserve  well  of  their  country,  I  do  not 
see  what  important  good  can  grow  out  of  your  continuing  at  an 
advanced  post,  in  an  enemy's  country,  with  a  handful  of  brave 
men.  Would  it  not,  under  all  circumstances,  be  most  likely  to 
be  attended  with  good  consequences  for  you  to  return  to  the 
frontier  of  Tennessee,  and,  with  your  patriotic  force,  defend  our 
frontier,  where  provision  can  be  readily  afforded  on  better  terms 
to  Government,  bringing  with  you  your  baggage  and  supplies ; 
and  there,  on  the  frontier,  await  the  order  of  Government,  or 
until  I  can  be  authorized  to  reinforce  you,  or  to  call  a  new  force  ? 
At  this  time,  I  really  do  not  feel  authorized  to  order  a  draft,  or 
I  would,  with  the  greatest  of  all  pleasures  I  could  feel,  do  it. 
Were  I  to  attempt  it  in  an  unauthorized  way,  it  would  injure,  as 
I  think,  the  public  service,  which  I  would  rather  die  than  do. 
I  could  not  positively  assure  the  men  that  they   would  be  paid. 

"I  send  you  a  copy  of  the  President's  Message,  and  am  grati- 
fied to  see  the  handsome  terms  he  uses  in  speaking  of  your  and 
of  General  Coffee's  battles.  He  seems  to  mean  something  about 
Pensacola,  and,  to  effect  his  object  best,  a  new  force  should  cer- 
tainly be  organized.  Many  who  are  now,  and  have  been,  on  the 
campaign,  would  go  again  on  that  business,  if  they  are  pleased 
with  the  President's  decision  respecting  their  term  of  service, 
under  the  late  orders.  I  shall,  from  what  I  have  said  about  the 
propriety  of  your  return  to  the  Tennessee  frontier,  feel  bound  to 
send  a  copy  of  this  to  the  War  Department,  for  the  information 
of  Government,  and  by  way  of  apology  for  offering  such  an 
opinion  to  an  officer  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

"  I  am,  with  highest  respect  and  most  sincere  regard,  your 
friend,  Willie  Blount. 

"  Major-General    Andrew    Jackson,    United    States    service.    Creek 
Nation." 

The  following  is  a  part  of  General  Jackson's  reply 
to  this  earnest  letter  : — 

' '  Had  your  wish  that  I  should  discharge  a  part  of  my  force 
and  retire  with  the  residue  into  the  settlements  assumed  the  form 


148  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  a  positive  order,  it  might  have  furnished  me  some  apology  for 
pursuiug  such  a  course  ;  but  by  no  means  a  full  justification. 
As  you  would  have  no  power  to  give  such  an  order,  I  could  not 
be  inculpable  in  obeying,  with  my  eyes  open  to  the  fatal  conse- 
quences that  would  attend  it.  But  a  bare  recommendation, 
founded,  as  I  am  satisfied  it  must  be,  on  the  artful  suggestions 
of  those  fireside  patriots  who  seek,  in  a  failure  of  the  expedi- 
tions, an  excuse  for  their  own  supineness;  and  upon  the  misrep- 
resentations of  the  discontented  from  the  army,  who  wish  it  to  be 
believed  that  the  difficulties  which  overcame  their  patriotism  are 
wholly  insurmountable,  would  afford  me  but  a  feeble  shield 
against  the  reproaches  of  my  country,  or  my  conscience.  Believe 
me,  my  respected  friend,  the  remarks  I  make  proceed  from  the 
purest  personal  regard.  If  you  would  preserve  your  reputation, 
or  that  of  the  State  over  which  you  preside,  you  must  take  a 
straightforward,  determined  course ;  regardless  of  the  applause 
or  censure  of  the  populace,  and  of  the  forebodings  of  that  das- 
tardly and  designing  crew,  who,  at  a  time  like  this,  may  be 
expected  to  clamor  continually  in  your  ears.  The  very  wretches 
who  now  beset  you  with  evil  counsel  will  be  the  first,  should 
the  measures  which  they  recommend  eventuate  in  disaster,  to  call 
down  imprecations  on  your  head,  and  load  you  with  reproaches. 
Your  country  is  in  danger ;  apply  its  resources  to  its  defense ! 
Can  any  course  be  more  plain?  Do  you,  my, friend,  at  such  a 
moment  as  the  present,  sit  with  your  arms  folded,  and  your  heart 
at  ease,  waiting  a  solution  of  your  doubts,  and  a  definition  of 
your  powers  ?  Do  you  wait  for  special  instructions  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  which  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  receive  in 
time  for  the  danger  that  threatens?  How  did  the  venerable 
Shelby  act  under  similar  circumstances ;  or  rather,  under  circum- 
stances by  no  means  so  critical?  Did  he  wait  for  orders  to  do 
what  every  man  of  sense  knew,  what  every  patriot  felt  to  be 
right?  He  did  not;  and  yet  how  highly  and  justly  did  the 
Government  extol  his  manly  and  energetic  conduct !  and  how 
dear  has  his  name  become  to  all  the  friends  of  their  country  ! 

"You  say  that,  having  given  an  order  to  General  Cocke  to 
bring  his  quota  of  men  into  the  field,  your  power  ceases;  and 
that  although  you  are  made  sensible  that  he  has  wholly  neglected 
that  order,  you  can  take  no  measure  to  remedy  the  omission. 
Widely  different,  indeed,  is  my  opinion.  I  consider  it  your  im- 
perious duty,  when  the  men  called  for  by  your  order,  founded 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  149 

upon  that  of  the  Government,  are  known  not  to  be  in  the  field, 
to  see  that  they  be  brought  there,  and  to  take  immediate  meas- 
ures with  the  officer  who,  charged  with  the  execution  of  your  or- 
der, omits  or  neglects  to  do  it.  As  the  Executive  of  the  State, 
it  is  your  duty  to  see  that  the  full  quota  of  troops  be  constantly 
kept  in  the  field  for  the  time  they  have  been  required.  You 
are  responsible  to  the  Government ;  your  officer  to  you.  Of  what 
avail  is  it  to  give  an  order  if  it  be  never  executed,  and 
may  be  disobeyed  with  impunity?  Is  it  by  empty  orders  that 
we  can  hope  to  conquer  our  enemies,  and  save  our  defenseless 
frontiers  from  butchery  and  devastation  ?  Believe  me,  my  valued 
friend,  there  are  times  when  it  is  highly  criminal  to  shrink 
from  i-esponsibility,  or  scruple  about  the  exercise  of  our  powers. 
There  are  times  when  we  must  disregard  punctilious  etiquette, 
and  think  only  of  serving  our  country.  What  is  really  our  pres- 
ent situation?  The  enemy  we  have  been  sent  to  subdue,  may  be 
said,  if  we  stop  at  this,  to  be  only  exasperated.  The  Commander- 
in-chief,  General  Pinckney,  who  supposes  me  by  this  time  pre- 
pared for  renewed  operations,  has  ordered  me  to  advance  and 
form  a  junction  with  the  Georgia  army ;  and,  upon  the  expecta- 
tion that  1  will  do  so,  are  all  his  arrangements  formed  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  campaign.  Will  it  do  to  defeat  his  plans  and 
jeopardize  the  safety  of  the  Georgia  army?  The  General  Gov- 
ernment, too,  believe,  and  have  a  right  to  believe,  that  Ave  have 
now  not  less  than  five  thousand  men  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's 
country;  and,  on  this  opinion,  are  all  their  calculations  bot- 
tomed. And  must  they  all  be  frustrated,  and  I  become  the  instru- 
ment by  which  it  is  done  ?     God  forbid  ! 

"You  advise  me,  too,  to  discharge  or  dismiss  from  service, 
until  the  will  of  the  President  can  be  known,  such  a  portion  of 
the  militia  as  have  rendered  three  months'  service.  This  advice 
astonishes  me  even  more  than  the  former.  I  have  no  such  dis- 
cretionary power ;  and  it  would  be  impolitic  and  ruinous  to  use 
it,  if  I  had.  I  believed  the  militia,  who  were  not  specially  re- 
ceived for  a  shorter  period,  were  engaged  for  six  months,  unless 
the  objects  of  the  expedition  should  be  sooner  attained ;  and  in 
this  opioion  I  was  greatly  strengthened  by  your  letter  of  the  15th, 
in  which  you  say,  when  answering  my  inquiry  upon  this  subject, 
'the  militia  are  detached  for  six  months'  service;'  nor  did  I 
know  or  suppose  you  had  a  different  opinion  until  the  arrival  of 
your  last  letter.     This  opinion  must,  I  suppose,  agreeably  to  your 


150  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

request,  be  made  known  to  General  Roberts's  brigade,  and  then 
the  consequences  are  not  difficult  to  be  foreseen.  Every  man 
belonging  to  it  will  abandon  me  on  the  4th  of  next  month ;  nor 
shall  I  have  the  means  of  preventing  it  but  by  the  application 
of  force,  which  under  such  circumstances  I  shall  not  be  at  liberty 
to  use.  I  have  labored  hard  to  reconcile  these  men  to  a  con- 
tinuance in  service  until  they  could  be  honorably  discharged,  and 
had  hoped  I  had  in  a  great  measure  succeeded ;  but  your 
opinion,  operating  with  their  own  prejudices,  will  give  a  sanction 
to  their  conduct,  and  render  useless  any  further  attempts.  They 
will  go,  but  I  can  neither  discharge  nor  dismiss  them.  Shall  I 
be  told,  that,  as  they  will  go,  it  may  as  well  be  peaceably  per- 
mitted? Can  that  be  any  good  reason  why  I  should  do  an 
unauthorized  act  ?  Is  it  a  good  reason  why  I  should  violate  the 
order  of  my  superior  officer,  and  evince  a  willingness  to  defeat 
the  purposes  of  my  Government  ?  And  wherein  does  the  '  sound 
policy '  of  the  measures  that  have  been  recommended  consist  ?  or 
in  what  way  are  they  '  likely  to  promote  the  public  good?'  Is  it 
sound  policy  to  abandon  a  conquest  thus  far  made,  and  deliver 
up  to  havoc,  or  add  to  the  number  of  our  enemies  those  frieudly 
Creeks  and  Cherokees,  who,  relying  on  our  protection,  have 
espoused  our  cause,  and  aided  us  with  their  arms  ?  Is  it  good 
policy  to  turn  loose  upon  our  defenseless  frontiers  five  thousand 
exasperated  savages,  to  imbrue  their  hands  once  more  in  the 
blood  of  our  citizens?  What  !  retrograde  under  such  circum- 
stances !  I  will  perish  first.  No,  I  will  do  my  duty.  I  will 
hold  the  posts  I  have  established  until  ordered  to  abandon  them 
by  the  commanding  general,  or  die  in  the  struggle  ;  long  since 
have  I  determined  not  to  seek  the  preservation  of  life  at  the 
sacrifice  of  reputation. 

"But  our  frontiers,  it  seems,  are  to  be  defended,  and  by 
whom?  By  the  very  force  that  is  now  recommended  to  be  dis- 
missed ;  for  I  am  first  told  to  retire  into  the  settlements,  and  to 
protect  the  frontiers  ;  next,  to  discharge  my  troops ;  and  then, 
that  no  measures  can  be  taken  for  raising  others.  No,  my 
friend,  if  troops  be  given  me,  it  is  not  by  loitering  on  the  fron- 
tiers that  I  will  seek  to  give  protection  ;  they  are  to  be  defended, 
if  defended  at  all,  in  a  very  different  manner ;  by  carrying  the 
war  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country.  All  other  hopes  of 
defense  are  more  visionary  than  dreams.  What  then  is  to  be 
done  ?      I  '11    tell   you   what.     You   have  only   to    act   with  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  151 

energy  and  decision  the  crisis  demands,  and  all  will  be  well. 
Send  me  a  force  engaged  for  six  months,  and  I  will  answer  for 
the  result ;  but  withhold  it,  and  all  is  lost ;  the  reputation  of  the 
State,  and  yours  and  mine  along  with  it." 

This  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  papers  ever 
written  or  dictated  by  or  founded  on  the  spirit  of 
General  Jackson.  No  partisan  friend  can  read  this 
letter  at  this  day  without  having  his  respect  for  the 
memory  of  his  hero  greatly  deepened  and  renewed  ; 
no  student  of  history,  no  fair-minded  man,  no  matter 
what  his  political  creed,  can  read  this  noble  letter 
without  having  excited  warm  sentiments  of  admiration 
for  its  author,  or  having  his  own  sentiments  of  patri- 
otism elevated  and  strengthened.  It  exhibits  General 
Jackson  in  one  of  his  supreme  moments.  The  easy- 
tempered  Governor  appeared  as  a  child  in  the  hands  of 
this  stern  patriot,  who,  exacting  uncompromisingly  of 
himself  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty,  could  not 
tolerate  the  thought  even  of  less  from  other  men. 

This  letter  presents  General  Jackson  in  the  finest 
possible  light  in  every  sense,  and  was  the  crowning 
feature  in  a  campaign  of  wonderful  trials,  from  which 
he  emerged  more  than  a  conqueror.  It  is  one  of  the 
finest  bursts  of  wise  valor  and  self-sacrifice  to  be 
found  among  all  the  specimens  of  American  patriot- 
ism and  heroism.  Such  a  letter  would  to-day  be  con- 
sidered excellent  material  for  President-making.  And 
so  it  was  in  1828,  deservedly.  It  had  the  desired 
eff'ect  upon  Governor  Blount.  He  saw  his  duty  now. 
There  was  no  more  hesitation  on  his  part.  He 
ordered,  at  once,  twenty-five  hundred  new  recruits  to 
be  gathered  at  Fayetteville  for  the  term  of  three 
months,  and  in  East  Tennessee,  the  new  corps  ordered 


152  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

by  General  Jackson,  was  pushed  forward  with  vigor. 
At  home  affairs  had  taken  a  satisfactory  turn. 

But  General  Jackson  was  destined  to  have  one 
more  passage  with  his  two  ever-ready  weapons,  words 
and  pistols,  with  the  old  levy,  the  militia  and  the 
men  remaining  at  Fort  Strother,  from  Cocke's  division. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  some  difficulty  arose 
with  two  hundred  of  the  new  recruits  under  Colonel 
Roberts.  Roberts  left  his  troops  at  some  distance 
from  camp  while  he  went  forward  to  see  the  General 
as  to  the  terms  on  which  the  men  would  be  received 
at  the  fort.  When  Roberts  returned  to  his  men  they 
had  allowed  all  their  valor  to  evaporate,  and  were  on 
the  homeward  march.  By  the  order  of  General 
Jackson  many  of  them  were  arrested  and  brought  to 
Fort  Strother.  But  it  turned  out  that  these  valiant 
fellows  were  influenced  in  their  conduct  by  Roberts 
himself,  who  was  tried  by  a  court-martial  and  cashiered. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1814,  the  force  at 
Fort  Strother  was  made  up  of  a  small  regiment  under 
Colonel  Lilliard,  with  their  time  expiring  on  the  14th, 
the  artillery  company,  and  two  small  companies  of 
spies.  The  spirit  of  dissatisfaction  was  becoming 
quite  apparent  in  this  little  force.  So  careless  did 
they  become  as  to  guard  and  other  duties  that,  on  one 
occasion,  Jackson  was  forced  to  order  the  arrest  of 
Lieutenant  Kearley.  But  Kearley  would  not  be  ar- 
rested. Jackson  then  ordered  him  to  give,  him  his 
sword.  This  the  lieutenant  refused  to  do  also.  Of 
course,  the  next  moment  the  General's  pi'stol  was 
whipped  out,  and  there  being  but  two  ways  left  the 
fractious  officer,  to  die  or  give  up  his  sword,  he  pre- 
ferred the  latter.     Kearley  afterwards  repented  of  his 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  153 

bad   conduct,   and  was  restored   to   the   friendship  or 
confidence  of  Jackson. 

Now,  uncertain  as  to  the  time  the  new  levies  of 
troops  would  reach  him.  General  Jackson  determined 
to  make  an  effort  to  hold  Lilliard's  men  long  enough 
to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  strike  the  enemy  again. 
To  that  end  he  had  read  to  them  a  long,  stirring 
address.  But  four  soldiers,  Captain  Hamilton  and 
three  of  his  men,  were  willing  to  stay  ;  and  a  few  days 
afterwards  the  regiment   started   for  Knoxville  to  be 

discharged. 

From  Colonel  Carroll  Jackson  heard,  at  last,  that 
about  eight  hundred  volunteers,  some  of  them  enlisted 
for  only  sixty  days,  were  gathered  at  Huntsville.     On 
the  spur  of  the  moment  the  General  wrote  to  Carroll  :— 
"  I   am  happy  to   hear  of  your  success  in  procuring  volun- 
teers     I  shall  receive  with  open  arras  those  who,  in  this  hour  of 
need,  so  gallantly  come  forth   to  uphold  the  sinking  reputation 
of  their  State.     I  am  more  anxious  than  ever  to  recommence  opera- 
tions   and,  indeed,  they  have  become  more  necessary  than  ever, 
yet  I  can  not  move  without  supplies.     As  this  will  meet  you  near 
where  the  contractors  are,   you  will  be  better  able  to   ascertain 
than  I  can  inform  you,  when  that  happy  moment  will  arrive ; 
and,  I  pray  you,  use  your  best  exertions  to  have  it  brought  about 
with  the  least  possible  delay.     Until  supplies,  and  the  means  of 
transportation  can  be  furnished  to  justify  another  movement  from 
this  place,  it  will  be  better  that  you  remain  where  your  horses  can 
be  fed.     i  say  this  upon  the  supposition  that  this  will  be  shortly 
done;  but  were   it  certain  that  the  same  causes   of  delay  which 
have 'so  long  retarded   our  operations  were  still   to   continue,  I 
would,  at  every  risk,  and  under  every  responsibility,  take  up  the 
march  as  soon  as  the  troops   now  with   you  could   arrive.     For 
such  a  measure  I  should  seek  my  justification  in  the  imperious- 
ness  of  the  circumstances  by  which  I  am  surrounded  ;  and  rely 
for  success  upon  Heaven  and  the  enterprise  of  my  followers. 

"Partial  supplies  have  arrived  for  my  use  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
which  will  be  ordered  on  to-morrow.     This,  with  the  scanty  stock 


154  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

on  hand  will,  at  least,  keep  us  from  starving  a  few  weeks,  until 
we  can  quarter  upon  the  enemy,  or  gain  assistance  from  the 
country  below.  General  Claiborne,  who  is  encamped  eighty-five 
miles  above  Fort  Stoddart,  writes  me,  that  arrangements  are  made 
to  send  supplies  up  the  Alabama  to  the  junction  of  the  Coosa 
and  Tallapoosa.  Upon  such  resources  will  I  depend,  sooner  than 
wait  until  my  army  wastes  away,  or  becomes,  through  inaction, 
unfit  for  service." 

The  few  hundred  men  assembled  at  Huntsville 
were  formed  into  two  regiments,  and  reached  Fort 
Strother  on  the  13th  of  January,  1814.  Jackson  was 
now  to  take  direct,  personal  command  of  his  little  force. 
The  officers  out  of  employment  by  this  arrangement 
formed  themselves  into  a  company  of  privates.  The 
General  determined  that  they  should  not  rust  for  the 
want  of  service,  and  accordingly  set  out  with  his  raw 
troops,  amounting  to  about  a  thousand  men,  on  the  15th. 
He  had  received  word  that  a  considerable  body  of  In- 
dians was  encamped  at  the  mouth  of  Emuckfau  Creek, 
on  the  Tallapoosa  River.  This  was  his  objective 
point.  At  Talladega  he  was  joined  by  two  or  three 
hundred  friendly  Indians,  who  were  brave  and  faithful 
fellows,  and,  in  the  battles  which  followed,  one-third 
of  the  killed  and  wounded  belonged  to  this  handful 
of  red  men. 

The  following  is  General  Jackson's  report  of  this 
expedition : — 

"Head-quarters,  Fort  Strother,  Jan.  29,  1814. 
"Maj.  Gen.  Thomas  Pinckney:     - 

"Sir, — I  had  the  honor  of  informing  you  in  a  letter  of  the 
31st  ult.  [express]  of  an  excursion  I  contemplated  making  still 
further  in  the  enemy's  country,  with  the  new  raised  volunteers 
from  Tennessee.  I  had  ordered  those  troops  to  form  a  junction 
with  me  on  the  10th  inst.,  but  they  did  not  arrive  until  the 
14th.     Their   number,  including   officers,  was  about   eight   hun- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  155 

dred,  and  on  the  15th,  I  marched  them  across  the  river  to  graze 
their  horses.  On  the  next  day  I  followed  with  the  remainder  of 
my  force,  consisting  of  the  artillery  company,  with  one  six- 
pounder,  one  company  of  infantry  of  forty-eight  men,  two  com- 
panies of  spies,  commanded  by  Captains  Gordon  and  Russell,  of 
about  thirty  men  each,  and  a  company  of  volunteer  officers, 
headed  by  General  Coffee,  who  had  been  abandoned  by  his  men, 
and  who  still  remained  in  the  field  awaiting  the  orders  of  the 
Government ;  making  my  force,  exclusive  of  Indians,  nine  hun- 
dred and  thirty. 

"The  motives  which  influenced  me  to  penetrate  still  further 
into  the  enemy's  country,  with  this  force,  were  many  and  urgent. 
The  terms  of  service  of  the  new  raised  volunteers  was  short,  and 
a  considerable  part  of  it  was  expired  ;  they  were  expensive  to  the 
Government ;  and  were  full  of  ardor  to  meet  the  enemy.  The 
ill-effects  of  keeping  soldiers  of  this  description  long  stationary 
and  idle,  I  had  been  made  to  feel  but  too  sensibly  already.  Other 
causes  concurred  to  make  such  a  movement  not  only  justifiable, 
but  absolutely  necessary.  I  had  received  a  letter  from  Captain 
McAlpin,  of  the  5th  inst.,  who  commanded  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
in  the  absence  of  Colonel  Snodgrass,  informing  me  that  fourteen 
or  fifteen  towns  of  the  enemy,  situated  on  the  waters  of  the  Tal- 
lapoosa, were  about  uniting  their  forces,  and  attacking  that  place, 
which  had  been  left  in  a  very  feeble  state  of  defense.  You  had 
in  your  letter  of  the  24th  ult.  informed  me  that  General  Floyd 
was  about  to  make  a  movement  to  the  Tallapoosa,  near  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Coosa ;  and  in  the  same  letter  had  recommended 
temporary  excursions  against  such  of  the  enemy's  towns,  or  set- 
tlements, as  might  be  within  striking  distance,  as  well  to  prevent 
my  men  from  becoming  discontented,  as  to  harass  the  enemy. 
Your  ideas  corresponded  exactly  with  my  own,  and  I  was  happy 
in  the  opportunity  of  keeping  my  men  engaged,  distressing  the 
enemy,  and  at  the  same  time  making  a  diversion  to  facilitate  the 
operations  of  General  Floyd. 

"Determined  by  these  and  other  considerations,  I  took  up 
the  line  of  march  on  the  17th  inst.,  and  on  the  18th  encamped 
at  Talladega  fort,  where  I  was  joined  by  between  two  and  three 
hundred  friendly  Indians ;  sixty-five  of  whom  were  Cherokees, 
the  balance  Creeks.  Here  I  received  your  letter  of  the  9th  inst., 
stating  that  General  Floyd  was  expected  to  make  a  movement 
from  Cowetau  the  next  day,  and   that   in  ten  days  thereafter  he 


156  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

would  establish  a  firm  position  at  Tuckbatchee ;  and  also  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Snodgrass,  who  had  returned  to  Fort  Armstrong, 
informing  me  that  an  attack  was  intended  to  be  soon  made  on 
that  fort  by  nine  hundred  of  the  enemy.  If  I  could  have  hesi- 
tated before,  I  could  now  hesitate  no  longer.  I  resolved  to  lose 
no  time  in  meeting  this  force,  which  was  understood  to  have 
been  collected  from  New  Yorcau,  Oakfuskie,  and  Ufauley  towns, 
and  were  concentrated  in  a  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  near  the 
mouth  of  a  creek,  called  Emuckfau,  and  on  an  island  below 
New  Yorcau. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  your  letter  of  the  10th  inst., 
forwarded  by  McCandles,  reached  me  at  the  Hillibee  Creek ; 
and  that  night  I  encamped  at  Enotachopco,  a  small  Hillibee 
village,  about  twelve  miles  from  Emuckfau.  Here  I  began  to 
perceive  very  plainly  how  little  knowledge  my  spies  had  of  the 
country,  of  the  situation  of  the  enemy,  or  of  the  distance  I  was 
from  them.  The  insubordination  of  the  new  troops,  and  the 
want  of  skill  in  most  of  their  officers,  also  became  more  and 
more  apparent.  But  their  ardor  to  meet  the  enemy  was  not 
diminished  ;  and  I  had  sure  reliance  upon  the  guards,  and  upon 
the  company  of  old  volunteer  officers,  and  upon  the  spies,  in  all 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  My  wishes  and  my  duty 
remained  united,  and  I  was  determined  to  efl^ect,  if  possible,  the 
objects  for  which  the  excursion  had  been  principally  undertaken. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  21st,  I  marched  from  Enotachopco, 
as  direct  as  I  could  for  the  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  and  about 
two  o'clock,  P.  M.,  my  spies  having  discovered  two  of  the  enemy, 
endeavored  to  overtake  them,  but  failed.  In  the  eveniug  I  fell 
in  upon  a  large  trail,  which  led  to  a  new  road,  much  beaten  and 
lately  traveled.  Knowing  that  I  must  have  arrived  within  the 
neighborhood  of  a  strong  force,  and  it  being  late  in  the  day,  I 
determined  to  encamp,  and  reconnoiter  the  country  in  the  night. 
I  chose  tlie  best  site  the  country  would  admit,  encamped  in  a 
hollow  square,  sent  out  my  spies  and  pickets,  doubled  my 
sentinels,  and  made  the  necessary  arrangements  before  dark, 
for  a  night  attack.  About  ten  o'clock  at  night,  one  of  the 
pickets  fired  at  three  of  the  enemy,  and  killed  one,  but  he 
was  not  found  until  the  next  day.  At  eleven  o'clock,  the  spies 
whom  I  had  sent  out,  returned  with  the  information  that  there 
was  a  large  encampment  of  Indians  at  the  distance  of  about 
three  miles,  who,  from  their  whooping  and  dancing,  seemed  to  be 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  157 

apprised  of  our  approach.  One  of  these  spies,  an  Indian  in  whom 
I  had  great  confidence,  assured  me  that  they  were  carrying  off 
their  women  and  children,  and  that  the  warriors  would  either 
make  their  escape,  or  attack  me  before  day.  Being  prepared  at 
all  points,  nothing  remained  to  be  done  but  to  await  their  ap- 
proach, if  they  meditated  an  attack,  or  to  be  in  readiness,  if  they 
did  not,  to  pursue  and  attack  them  at  daylight.  While  we  were 
in  this  state  of  readiness,  the  enemy  about  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  commenced  a  vigorous  attack  on  my  left  flank,  which 
was  vigorously  met ;  the  action  continued  to  rage  on  my  left 
flank,  and  on  the  left  of  my  rear,  for  about  half  an  hour.  The 
brave  Genei'al  Coffee,  with  Colonel  Sitler,  the  adjutant-general, 
and  Colonel  Carroll,  the  inspector-general,  the  moment  the  firing 
commenced,  mounted  their  horses  and  repaired  to  the  line,  en- 
couraging and  animating  the  men  to  the  performance  of  their 
duty.  So  soon  as  it  became  light  enough  to  pursue,  the  left 
wing  having  sustained  the  heat  of  the  action,  and  being  some- 
what weakened,  was  reinforced  by  Captain  Ferrill's  company  of 
infantry,  and  was  ordered  and  led  on  to  the  charge  by  General 
Coffee,  who  was  well  supported  by  Colonel  Higgins  and  the 
inspector-general,  and  by  all  the  officers  and  privates  who  com- 
posed that  line.  The  enemy  was  completely  routed  at  every 
point,  and,  the  friendly  Indians  joining  in  the  pursuit,  they  were 
chased  about  two  miles  with  considerable  slaughter. 

"The  chase  being  over,  I  immediately  detached  General 
Coffee  with  four  hundred  men,  and  all  the  Indian  force,  to  burn 
their  encampment;  but  it  was  said  by  some  to  be  fortified.  I 
ordered  him,  in  that  event,  not  to  attack  it  until  the  artillery 
could  be  sent  forward  to  reduce  it.  On  viewing  the  encampment 
and  its  strength,  the  General  thought  it  most  prudent  to  return 
to  my  encampment,  and  guard  the  artillery  thither.  The  wisdom 
of  this  step  was  soon  discovered — in  half  an  hour  after  his  return 
to  camp,  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  made  its  appearance 
on  my  right  flank,  and  commenced  a  brisk  fire  on  a  party  of 
men,  who  had  been  on  picket-guard  the  night  before,  and  were 
then  in  search  of  the  Indians  they  had  fired  upon,  some  of  whom 
they  believed  had  been  killed.  General  Coffee  immediately  re- 
quested me  to  let  him  take  two  hundred  men,  and  turn  their 
left  flank,  which  I  accordingly  ordered ;  but,  through  some 
mistake  which  I  did  not  then  observe,  not  more  than  fifty-four 
followed  him,  among  whom  were  the  old  volunteer  officers.    With 


158  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

these,  however,  he  immediately  commenced  an  attack  on  the  left 
flank  of  the  enemy ;  at  which  time  I  ordered  two  hundred  of  the 
friendly  Indians  to  fall  fn  upon  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy, 
and  co-operate  with  the  General.  This  order  was  promptly 
obeyed,  and  on  the  moment  of  its  execution,  what  I  expected 
was  realized.  The  enemy  had  intended  the  attack  on  the  right 
as  a  feint,  and  expecting  to  direct  all  my  attention  thither,  meant 
to  attack  me  again,  and  with  their  main  force  on  the  left  flank, 
which  they  had  hoped  to  find  weakened  and  in  disorder,  they 
were  disappointed.  I  had  ordered  the  left  flank  to  remain  firm 
in  its  place,  and  the  moment  the  alarm-gun  was  heard  in  that 
quarter,  I  repaired  thither,  and  ordered  Captain  Ferrill,  part  of 
my  reserve,  to  support  it.  The  whole  line  met  the  approach  of 
the  enemy  with  astonishing  intrepidity,  and  having  given  a  few 
fires,  they  forthwith  charged  with  great  vigor — the  effect  was 
immediate  and  inevitable.  The  enemy  fled  with  precipitation, 
and  were  pursued  to  a  considerable  distance,  by  the  left  flank 
and  the  friendly  Indians,  with  a  galling  and  destructive  fire. 
Colonel  Carroll,  who  ordered  the  charge,  led  on  the  pursuit,  and 
Colonel  Higgins  and  his  regiment  again  distinguished  themselves. 
"In  the  meantime.  General  Coffee  was  contending  with  a 
superior  force  of  the  enemy.  The  Indians  whom  I  had  ordered  to 
his  support,  and  who  had  set  out  for  this  purpose,  hearing  the 
firing  on  the  left,  had  returned  to  that  quarter,  and  when  the 
enemy  were  routed  there,  entered  into  the  chase.  That  being 
now  over,  I  forthwith  ordered  Jim  Fife,  who  was  one  of  the 
principal  commanders  of  the  friendly  Creeks,  with  one  hundred 
of  his  warriors,  to  execute  my  first  order.  So  soon  as  he  reached 
General  Coffee,  the  charge  was  made,  and  the  enemy  routed ; 
they  were  pursued  about  three  miles,  and  forty-five  of  them  slain, 
who  were  found.  General  Coffee  was  wounded  in  the  body,  and 
his  aid-de-camp,  A.  Donaldson,  killed,  together  with  three  others. 
Having  brought  in  and  buried  the  dead,  and  dressed  the  wounded, 
I  ordered  my  camp  to  be  fortified,  to  be  the  better  prepared  to 
repel  any  attack  which  might  be  made  in  the  night,  determined 
to  make  a  return  march  to  Fort  Strother  the  following  day. 
Many  causes  concurred  to  make  such  a  measure  necessary,  as  I 
had  not  set  out  prepared,  or  with  a  view  to  make  a  permanent 
establishment.  I  considered  it  worse  than  useless  to  advance 
and  destroy  an  empty  encampment.  I  had,  indeed,  hoped  to 
have   met  the  enemy  there,  but  having  met  and  beaten  them  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  159 

little  sooner,  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  or  prudent  to  proceed 
any  further — not  necessary,  because  I  had  accomplished  all  I 
could  expect  to  effect  by  marching  to  their  encampment;  and 
because  if  it  was  proper  to  contend  with  and  weaken  their  forces 
still  farther,  this  object  would  be  more  certainly  attained  by 
commencing  a  return,  which  having  to  them  the  appearance  of  a 
retreat,  would  inspirit  them  to  pursue  me.  Not  prudent,  because 
of  the  number  of  my  wounded ;  of  the  reinforcements  from  be- 
low, which  the  enemy  might  be  expected  to  receive ;  of  the  starv- 
ing condition  of  my  horses,  they  having  had  neither  corn  nor 
cane  for  two  days  and  nights  ;  of  the  scarcity  of  supplies  for  my 
men,  the  Indians  who  joined  me  at  Talladega  having  drawn 
none,  and  being  wholly  destitute;  and  because  if  the  enemy  pur- 
sued me,  as  it  was  likely  they  would,  the  diversion  in  favor  of 
General  Floyd  would  be  the  more  complete  and  effectual.  In- 
fluenced by  these  considerations,  I  commenced  my  return  march, 
at  half  after  ten  on  the  23d,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  reach 
Enotachopco  before  night,  having  passed,  without  interruption,  a 
dangerous  defile  occasioned  by  a  hurricane.  I  again  fortified  my 
camp,  and  having  another  defile  to  pass  in  the  morning,  across  a 
deep  creek,  and  between  two  hills  which  I  had  viewed  with  at- 
tention as  I  passed  on,  and  where  I  expected  I  might  be  attacked, 
I  determined  to  pass  it  at  another  point,  and  gave  directions  to 
my  guide  and  fatigue-men  accordingly.  My  expectation  of  an 
attack  in  the  morning  was  increased  by  the  signs  of  the  night, 
and  with  it  my  caution.  Before  I  moved  the  wounded  from  the 
interior  of  my  camp,  I  had  my  front  and  rear  guards  formed,  as 
well  as  my  right  and  left  columns,  and  moved  off  my  center  in 
regular  order,  leading  down  a  handsome  ridge  to  Enotachopco 
Creek,  at  a  point  where  it  was  clear  of  reed,  except  immediately 
on  its  margin.  I  had  previously  issued  a  general  order,  pointing 
out  the  manner  in  which  the  men  should  be  formed  in  the  event 
of  an  attack  on  the  front  or  rear,  or  on  the  flanks,  and  had  par- 
ticularly cautioned  the  officers  to  halt  and  form  accordingly,  the 
instant  the  word  should  be  given. 

"The  front  guard  had  crossed  with  part  of  the  flank  columns, 
the  wounded  were  over,  and  the  artillery  in  the  act  of  entering 
the  creek,  when  an  alarm-gun  was  heard  in  the  rear.  I  heard 
it  without  surprise,  and  even  with  pleasure,  calculating  with  the 
utmost  confidence  on  the  firmness  of  my  troops,  from  the  manner 
in  which  I  had  seen  them  act  on  the  22d.     I  had  placed  Colonel 


160  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Carroll  at  the  head  of  the  center  column  of  the  rear  guard ;  its 
right  column  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Perkins,  and  its  left  by 
Colonel  Stump.  Having  chosen  the  ground,  I  expected  there  to 
have  entirely  cut  off  the  enemy,  by  wheeling  the  right  and  left 
columns  on  their  pivot,  recrossing  the  creek  above  and  below, 
and  falling  in  upon  their  flanks  and  rear.  But  to  my  astonish- 
ment and  mortification,  when  the  word  was  given  by  Colonel 
Carroll  to  halt  and  form,  and  a  few  guns  had  been  fired,  I  beheld 
the  right  and  left  columns  of  the  rear  guard  precipitately  give 
way.  This  shameful  retreat  was  disastrous  in  the  extreme ;  it 
drew  along  with  it  the  greater  part  of  the  center  column,  leaving 
not  more  than  twenty-five  men,  who  being  formed  by  Colonel 
Carroll,  maintained  their  ground  as  long  as  it  was  possible  to 
maintain  it,  and  it  brought  consternation  and  confusion  into  the 
center  of  the  army ;  a  consternation  which  was  not  easily  re- 
moved, and  a  confusion  which  could  not  be  soon  restored  to 
order.  There  was  then  left  to  repulse  the  enemy,  the  few  who 
remained  of  the  rear  guard,  the  artillery  company,  and  Captain 
Russell's  company  of  spies.  They  however  realized  and  exceeded 
my  highest  expectations.  Lieutenant  Armstrong,  who  com- 
manded the  artillery  company  in  the  absence  of  Captain  Dead- 
erick  (confined  by  sickness),  ordered  them  to  form  and  advance 
to  the  top  of  the  hill,  whilst  he  and  a  few  others  dragged  up  the 
six-pounder.  Never  was  more  bravery  displayed  than  on  this 
occasion.  Amidst  the  most  galling  fire  from  the  enemy,  more 
than  ten  times  their  number,  they  ascended  the  hill,  and  main- 
tained their  position  until  their  piece  was  hauled  up,  when  hav- 
ing leveled  it,  they  poured  upon  the  enemy  a  fire  of  grape,  re- 
loaded and  fired  again,  charged  and  repulsed  them. 

"  The  most  deliberate  bravery  was  displayed  by  Constantine 
Perkins  and  Craven  Jackson,  of  the  artillery,  acting  as  gunners. 
In  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  in  separating  the  gun  from  the 
limbers,  the  rammer  and  picker  of  the  cannon  was  left  tied  to  the 
limber.  No  sooner  was  this  discovered,  than  Jackson,  amidst 
the  galling  fire  of  the  enemy,  pulled  out  the  ramrod  of  his 
musket  and  used  it  as  a  picker  ;  primed  with  a  cartridge  and 
fired  the  cannon.  Perkins  having  pulled  off'  his  bayonet,  used 
his  musket  as  a  rammer,  drove  down  the  cartridge;  and  Jackson 
using  his  former  plan,  again  discharged  her.  The  brave  Lieu- 
tenant Armstrong,  just  after  the  first  fire  of  the  cannon,  with 
Captain  Hamilton,  of  East  Tennessee,  Bradford,  and  McGavock, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  161 

all  fell,  the  lieutenant  exclaiming  as  he  lay,  'My  brave  fellows, 
some  of  you  may  fall,  but  you  must  save  the  cannon,'  About 
this  time,  a  number  crossed  the  creek  and  entered  into  the  chase. 
The  brave  Captain  Gordon,  of  the  spies,  who  rushed  from  the 
front,  endeavored  to  turn  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  in  which  he 
partially  succeeded,  and  Colonel  Carroll,  Colonel  Higgins,  and 
Captains  Elliot  and  Pipkins,  pursued  the  enemy  for  more  than 
two  miles,  who  fled  in  consternation,  throwing  away  their  packs, 
and  leaving  twenty-six  of  their  warriors  dead  on  the  field.  This 
last  defeat  was  decisive,  and  we  were  no  more  disturbed  by  their 
yells.  I  should  do  injustice  to  my  feelings  if  I  omitted  to  men- 
tion that  the  venerable  Judge  Cocke,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five, 
entered  into  engagement,  continued  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy 
with  youthful  ardor,  and  saved  the  life  of  a  fellow-soldier  by 
killing  his  savage  antagonist. 

"  Our  loss  in  this  affair  was  —  killed  and  wounded.  Among 
the  former  was  the  brave  Captain  Hamilton,  from  East  Tennes>- 
see,  who  had,  with  his  aged  father  and  two  others  of  his  com- 
pany, after  the  period  of  his  engagement  had  expired,  volun- 
teered his  services  for  this  excursion,  and  attached  himself  to  the 
artillery  company.  No  man  ever  fought  more  bravely,  or  fell 
more  gloriously  ;  and  by  his  side  fell,  with  equal  bravery  and 
glory.  Bird  Evans  of  the  same  company.  Captain  Quarles,  who 
commanded  the  center  column  of  the  rear  guard,  preferring 
death  to  the  abandonment  of  his  post,  having  taken  a  firm  stand 
in  which  he  was  followed  by  twenty-five  of  his  men,  received  a 
wound  in  his  head  of  which  he  has  since  died. 

"  In  these  several  engagements,  our  loss  was  twenty  killed 
and  seventy-five  wounded,  four  of  whom  have  since  died.  The 
loss  of  the  enemy  can  not  be  accurately  ascertained  ;  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine  of  their  warriors  were  found  dead  ;  but  this 
must  fall  considerably  short  of  the  number  really  killed.  Their 
wounded  can  only  be  guessed  at. 

"  Had  it  not  been  for  the  unfortunate  retreat  of  the  rear 
guard  in  the  affair  of  the  24th  inst.  I  think  I  could  safely  have 
said  that  no  army  of  militia  ever  acted  with  more  cool  and 
deliberate  bravery ;  undisciplined  and  inexperienced  as  they 
were,  their  conduct  in  the  several  engagements  of  the  22d  could 
not  have  been  surpassed  by  regulars.  No  men  ever  met  the 
approach  of  an  enemy  with  more  intrepidity,  or  repulsed  them 
with  more  energy.     On  the  24th,  after  the  retreat  of  the   rear 

11— G 


162  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

guard,  they  seemed  to  have  lost  all  their  collectedness,  and  were 
more  difficult  to  be  restored  to  order  than  any  troops  I  had  ever 
seen.  But  this  was  no  doubt  owing  in  a  great  measure,  or 
altogether,  to  that  very  retreat,  and  ought  rather  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  want  of  conduct  in  many  of  their  officers,  than  any  cow- 
ardice in  the  men,  who  on  every  occasion  have  manifested  a 
willingness  to  perform  their  duty,  so  far  as  they  knew  it. 

"  All  the  effects  which  were  designed  to  be  produced  by  this 
excursion,  it  is  believed  have  been  produced.  If  an  attack  was 
meditated  against  Fort  Armstrong,  that  has  been  prevented.  If 
General  Floyd  is  operating  on  the  east  side  of  the  Tallapoosa,  as 
I  suppose  him  to  be,  a  most  fortunate  diversion  has  been  made 
in  his  favor.  The  number  of  the  enemy  has  been  diminished, 
and  the  confidence  they  may  have  derived  from  the  delays  I 
have  been  made  to  experience,  has  been  destroyed.  Discontent 
has  been  kept  out  of  my  army,  while  the  troops  who  would  have 
been  exposed  to  it,  have  been  beneficially  employed.  The 
enemy's  country  has  been  explored,  and  a  road  cut  to  the  point 
where  their  force  will  probably  be  concentrated,  when  they  shall 
be  driven  from  the  country  below.  But  in  a  report  of  this  kind, 
and  to  you  who  will  immediately  perceive  them,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  state  the  happy  consequences  which  may  be  expected  to 
result  from  this  excursion.  Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  it  will 
be  found  to  have  hastened  the  termination  of  the  Creek  War, 
more  effectually  than  any  measure  I  could  have  taken  with  the 
troops  under  my  command. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  with  sentiments  of  high  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

While  this  report  claims  a  great  deal  for  this  ex- 
pedition from  Fort  Strother,  there  is  throughout  it  the 
appearance  of  a  strained  effort  on  the  part  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson  to  make  much  out  of  little.  The  report, 
especially  towards  the  close,  wears  the  face  of  an 
argument  and  defense.  Indeed,  it  must  here  again  be 
said,  that  if  an  Indian  historian  had  been  making  a 
report  of  this  raid  the  crow  would  not  have  been  on 
General  Jackson's  side.     In  fact,  the  Indians  always 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  163 

did  claim  that  they  whipped  Jackson  both  at  Emuckfau 
and  Enotachopco. 

They  ran  both  times,  it  is  true.  But  what  does 
that  signify  in  looking  at  the  matter  from  the  Indian 
side  ?  Running  is  a  part  of  his  war  tactics.  The  In- 
dian runs  to  fight  again.  General  Jackson  returned 
to  Fort  Strother  much  after  the  manner  of  one  who, 
if  he  had  not  been  whipped,  was  afraid  that  he 
would  be.  The  Indians  were  not  only  the  assailants 
in  both  cases,  but  they  also  harassed  the  retreating 
Tennesseeans,  and  finally  made  a  desperate  assault 
upon  them  which  was  disastrous  enough,  and  about  all 
they  could  bear.  General  Jackson  undoubtedly  con- 
ducted the  expedition  with  the  caution  of  an  Indian 
fighter,  but  his  little  force  was  not  able  to  resist  a 
woods  full  of  these  savages,  keen  for  the  fray. 

The  General  had,  in  this  unexpectedly  difficult 
trip,  another  occasion  to  display  his  temper,  and  in  it 
more  than  intimated  an  inclination  to  kill  Colonel 
Stump  on  the  spot,  for  cowardice.  Several  brave  men 
fell  in  the  two  engagements,  and,  altogether,  the  expe- 
dition did  not  result  as  could  have  been  desired, 
although  General  Jackson  had  gratified  his  wish  to 
give  the  new  recruits  and  the  unoccupied  officers  some 
employment. 

John  Coffee  and  several  other  brave  fellows  greatly 
distinguished  themselves.  Coffee  was  wounded  in  the 
first  engagement,  but  at  Enotachopco  he  rose  from 
the  stretcher  on  which  he  was  carried,  and  appeared 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fray.  When  Jackson  saw  him 
urging  forward  the  men,  it  is  said  that  he  shouted, 
"  We  '11  conquer  the  enemy ;  the  dead  have  arisen  and 
come  to  our  aid." 


164  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

On  the  27th,  Jackson  reached  Fort  Strother,  and 
soon  afterwards  the  sixty-day  men  were  sent  home. 
Not,  however,  until  Colonel  Perkins  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  John  Stump  had  been  tried  before  a  court- 
martial,  and  the  latter  cashiered. 

In  the  meantime  General  Floyd  had  not  been  idle. 
On  the  27th  of  January,  while  lying  in  camp  (Camp 
Defiance),  some  distance  west  of  the  Chattahoochee 
River,  near  the  Callibee  Swamps,  a  large  body  of  In- 
dians fell  upon  him,  and  a  desperate  conflict  ensued, 
with  the  following  result,  as  expressed  in  his  report : — 

' '  The  steady  firmness  and  incessant  fire  of  Captain  Thomas's 
artillery  and  Captain  Adams's  riflemen  preserved  our  front  line; 
both  of  these  sufiered  greatly.  The  enemy  rushed  within  thirty 
yards  of  the  artillery,  and  Captain  Bi'oadnax,  who  commanded 
one  of  the  picket  guards,  maintained  his  post  with  great  bravery, 
until  the  enemy  gained  his  rear,  and  then  cut  his  way  through 
them  to  the  army.  On  this  occasion,  Timpoochie  Barnuel,  a 
half-breed,  at  the  head  of  the  Uchies,  distinguished  himself,  and 
contributed  to  the  retreat  of  the  picket  guard ;  the  other  friendly 
Indians  took  refuge  within  our  lines  and  remained  inactive,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  who  joined  our  ranks.  So  soon  as  it  be- 
came light  enough  to  distinguish  objects,  I  ordered  Major  Wat-  ■ 
son's  and  Freeman's  battalions  to  wheel  up  to  right  angles,  with 
Majors  Booth's  and  Cleveland's  battalions,  who  formed  the  right 
wing,  to  prepare  for  the  charge.  Captain  Duke  Hamilton's  cav- 
alry (who  had  reached  me  but  the  day  before)  was  ordered  to 
form  in  the  rear  of  the  right  wing,  to  act  as  circumstances  should 
dictate.  The  order  for  the  charge  was  promptly  obeyed,  and  the 
enemy  fled  in  every  direction  before  the  bayonet.  The  signal 
was  given  for  the  charge  of  the  cavalry,  who  pursued  and  sabered 
fifteen  of  the  enemy,  who  left  thirty-seven  dead  on  the  field. 
From  the  eff'usion  of  blood,  and  the  number  of  head-dresses  and 
war-clubs  found  in  various  directions,  their  loss  must  have  been 
considerable,  independent  of  the  wounded. 

**I  directed  the  friendly  Indians,  with  Merriwether's  and 
Ford's  rifle  companies,  accompanied  by  Captain  Hamilton's  troop, 
to  pursue  them  through  Callibee  Swamp,  where  they  were  trailed 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  165 

by  their  blood,   but  succeeded  in  overtaking  but  one  of  their 

wounded. 

"Colonel  Newman  received  three  balls  in  the  commencement 
of  the  action,  which  deprived  me  of  the  services  of  that  gallant  and 
useful  officer.  The  assistant  Adjutant-General  Narden  was  inde- 
fatigable in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  and  rendered  important 
services ;  his  horse  was  wounded  under  him.  The  whole  of  the 
staff  was  prompt,  and  discharged  their  duty  with  courage  and 
fidelity ;  their  vigilance,  the  intrepidity  of  the  officers,  and  the 
firmness  of  the  men,  meet  my  approbation,  and  deserve  the 
praise  of  their  country.  I  have  to  regret  the  death  of  many  of 
my  brave  fellows,  who  have  found  honorable  graves  in  the  vol- 
untary support  of  their  country. 

"My  aid-de-camp,  in  executing  my  orders,  had  his  horse 
killed  under  him.  General  Lee  and  Major  Pace,  who  acted  as 
additional  aids,  rendered  me  essential  services,  with  honor  to 
themselves  and  usefulness  to  the  cause  in  which  they  have  em- 
barked. Four  wagon  and  several  other  horses  were  killed,  and 
two  of  the  artillery  horses  wounded.  While  I  deplore  the  losses 
sustained  on  this  occasion,  I  have  the  consolation  to  know 
that  the  men  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  command  have  done 
their  duty." 

Floyd  retreated  after  this  engagement,  in  which 
his  losses  had  been  considerable,  under  the  impression 
that  his  force  was  not  sufficient ;  and  Red  Eagle,  or 
Weathersford,  who  commanded  the  Indians  in  person, 
claimed  the  Callibee  as  another  score  for  them  over 
the  pale-faces. 


166  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  XI. 

END  OF  THE   CREEK   WAR— BATTLE    OF    TOHOPEKA— JOHN 
WOODS— RED  EAGLE— THE  CONQUEROR  BECOMES    . 
A    MAJOR-GENERAL— TREATY    OF 
FORT  JACKSON. 

ALTHOUGH  General  Jackson  had  been  left  at 
Fort  Strother  with  a  handful  of  men,  his  pros- 
pects were  brightening,  and  the  Creek  War  was  rap- 
idly approaching  an  end. 

Governor  Blount  had  been  supported  in  his  course 
by  the  Administration  at  Washington,  and  had  used 
every  means  to  raise  an  army  of  sufficient  strength  to 
bring  the  campaign  to  a  speedy  close.  General  Cocke 
had  succeeded  in  raising  two  thousand  men  in  East 
Tennessee,  and  more  than  that  number  were  collected 
at  Fayetteville  under  General  Johnston.  But  better 
than  all  this.  Judge  Hugh  L.  White  had  succeeded  in 
securing  the  services  of  the  39th  Regiment  of  United 
States  regulars,  consisting  of  six  hundred  men  under 
Colonel  John  Williams.  On  the  6th  of  February,  this 
regiment  reached  Fort  Strother,  and  by  the  close  of 
the  month  General  Jackson  had  an  army  of  over  four 
thousand  men.  The  Choctaw  Indians  had  also  offered 
their  services  to  him. 

The  great  desire  to  bring  a  speedy  end  to  the  war 
had  brought  about  this  wonderful  result.  There  were 
yet  difficulties  in  supplying  the  army,    but   this    was 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  167 

mainly  overcome  in  Jackson  ordering  the  quarter- 
masters to  secure  provisions  where  they  could,  and 
leave  the  contractors  to  settle  the  bills.  In  assembling 
this  force  the  final  difficulty  occurred  with  General 
Cocke  with  the  result  as  shown  in  a  previous  chapter. 
Two  things  were  especially  prominent  in  this  case, 
the  misrepresentations  of  persons  in  and  out  of 
Cocke's  command,  and  the  outrageous  fury  and  haste 
with  which  Jackson  acted.  As  to  any  lack  of  patriot- 
ism, or  any  misconduct  on  the  part  of  General  Cocke 
more  than  would  arise  from  such  irritating  circum- 
stances, the  evidence  is  not  so  clear.  The  Court- 
martial  in  acquitting  him,  did  him  only  simple  justice, 
no  doubt.  In  subsequent  discussions  of  this  affair, 
the  advantage  was  given  to  General  Jackson,  Nor 
was  he  much  to  be  blamed,  as  his  actions  were  the 
result  of  many  very  doubtful  representations.  The 
whole  contemptible  difficulty  with  Cocke  should  be 
put  down  as  a  Jackson  '''' faux  pas''  But  one  of  Jack- 
son's difficulties  was  hardly  settled  until  another  was 
founded,  and  it  would  be  useless  for  the  reader  to 
look  forward  to  a  period  in  the  General's  career  when 
he  could  hope  for  a  departure  from  this  rule. 

Before  starting  with  this  respectable  army  on  his 
last  Creek  expedition,  an  occurrence  of  some  impor- 
tance greatly  disturbed  General  Jackson's  camp  at 
Fort  Strother.  This  was  the  execution  of  John 
Woods,  a  private  in  the  28th  regiment  of  West  Ten- 
nessee infantry.  The  company  to  which  Woods 
belonged  had  formally  enlisted  under  Colonel  Roberts 
and  rejecting  what  they  believed  to  be  General  Jack- 
son's determination  to  hold  them  for  six  months,  when, 
under  a  written  agreement,  they  were  to  be  discharged 


168  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

in  three,  they  accordingly  without  leave  or  ceremony 
had  gone  home.  The  biographers  have  erred  in  pal- 
liating the  case  for  Jackson,  by  saying  that  Woods 
was  a  deserter.  Woods  did  not  belong  to  the  com- 
pany during  its  first  organization  under  Colonel 
Roberts,  and  only  appeared  in  it  at  this  time  as  a 
substitute  for  his  brother,  who  had  been  in  the  first 
organization. 

On  arriving  at  Fort  Strother,  Woods  being  on 
guard  duty  one  cold  rainy  day,  was  given  a  few  min- 
utes to  return  to  the  quarters  of  his  mess  to  eat  the 
meal  left  for  him.  While  thus  engaged  an  officer  came 
along  and  ordered  him  to  clean  up  the  untidy  quarters. 
Woods  said  he  was  a  guard,  and  refused  to  do  the 
work.  He  was  then  ordered  to  return  to  his  station, 
and  this  he  also  declined  to  do.  Words  followed,  and 
Woods  was  ordered  under  arrest.  But  he  resisted 
this  order  too,  and  the  cry  of  mutiny  rang  over  the 
camp.  It  is  said  that  on  hearing  this  cry  Jackson  ran 
out  of  his  tent  hollooing :  "  Which  is  the  rascal ! 
Shoot  him  !  Shoot  him  !  Blow  ten  balls  through  the 
villain's  body  !" 

Characteristic  conduct,  indeed,  whether  the  Gen- 
eral performed  the  undignified  feat  or  not. 

But  poor  Woods  was  tried  by  a  court-martial  and 
sentenced  to  die ;  and  although  nobody  believed  it 
would  come  to  that,  he  was  actually  shot  dead  by 
General  Jackson's  order.  Woods  was  only  eighteen 
years  old.  Jackson  said  that  the  army  needed  an 
example  of  the  kind  to  disprove  the  common  impres- 
sion that  a  militia  officer  could  not  or  would  not  dare 
to  do  such  an  act,  and  because  the  discipline  of  his 
army  would  be  improved  by   this    systematic   killing. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  169 

No  man  could  ever  have  committed  a  greater  mistake 
than  to  suppose  that  General  Jackson  would  not  dare, 
as  a  militia  officer,  to  do  such  a  thing.  What  would 
he  not  dare  in  any  capacity  ?  In  1828,  this  matter 
became  a  theme  of  bitter  partisan  discussion,  the 
friends  of  General  Jackson  using  every  possible,  rea- 
sonable, and  unreasonable  ground  of  apology  and  jus- 
tification. It  was  much  easier  at  that  day,  perhaps, 
to  induce  the  people  of  this  country  to  believe  that 
the  nature  of  the  offense  and  the  discipline  of  the 
army  demanded  the  execution  of  the  boy,  than  it 
would  be  at  this  day.  From  one  end  of  Jackson's 
life  to  the  other  there  were  salient  points  which  his 
friends  were  often  at  their  wits'  end  to  defend  or  jus- 
tify. It  was  easy  for  him  to  do  what  became  more 
than  a  Herculean  task  for  his  defenders  to  undo. 
Both  friends  and  enemies  were  ever  on  the  alert  for 
some  Jackson  ^'faux  pas"  which  they  might  at  any 
time  expect. 

After  the  army  had  the  pleasure  (  ! )  ^^  seeing  the 
execution  of  young  Woods  on  the  14th  of  March,  or- 
ders were  given  to  break  camp.  The  General  had 
been  for  some  time  apprised  that  the  Red  Sticks  were 
gathering  and  fortifying  at  a  great  bend  in  the  Talla- 
poosa River,  in  Tallapoosa  County,  Alabama.  At 
that  point  the  river  makes  a  bend,  shaped  like  a  horse- 
shoe, and  for  that  reason  was  called  Tohopeka.  A 
small  body  of  a  hundred  acres  of  land  with  rocky  and 
woody  heights,  well  suited  to  the  Indian's  idea  of  a 
battle-field,  was  embraced  in  this  bend,  the  neck  lead- 
ing into  it  not  being  over  three  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  long.  Here  the  Indians  had  determined  to  for- 
tify themselves,  a  strange  step  to  be  taken  by  them, 


170  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  to  make  a  last  effort  to  recover  their  fortunes,  of 
which  they  felt  more  sanguine  after  the  engagements 
of  Emuckfau,  Enotachopco,  and  Callibee.  They  knew 
how  well  the  reports  of  those  battles  had  been  colored 
in  favor  of  the,  whites.  Unfortunately,  the  written 
history  of  Indian  wars,  like  everything  else  pertaining 
to  the  red  race,  has  always  been  the  work  of  white 
men.  It  was  held  that  the  Spanish  and  British  were 
concerned  in  the  selection  of  the  position  at  Horseshoe, 
and  that  their  agency  was  very  apparent  in  the  well- 
built  log  breastworks  extending  entirely  across  the 
neck  from  river  to  river.  This  breastwork  was  pierced 
with  two  rows  of  port-holes,  and  was  the  most  consid- 
erable affair  of  the  kind  ever  constructed  by  the  sav- 
ages in  their  wars  with  the  whites.  A  thousand  war- 
riors with  three  hundred  women  and  children  were 
gathered  on  this  peninsula.  Their  prophets  had  led 
them  to  believe  that  they  would  here  be  conquerors, 
and  that  no  harm  could  befall  them,  as  the  Great 
Spirit  would  now  revenge  and  uphold  them.  They 
believed,  too,  that  they  would  be  put  to  death  if  they 
were  captured,  and  death  being  inevitable  in  any  case, 
they  determined  not  to  ask  quarter  nor  to  surrender. 
If  beaten  at  their  breastworks  they  could  retire  into 
the  natural  defenses  of  the  "  bend,"  and  if  forced  to 
the  last  resort  they  could  take  their  canoes,  arranged 
in  a  great  fleet  in  the  river,  and  seek  safety  in  the 
wilderness  on  the  opposite  shore.  But  all  of  this  calcula- 
tion was  faulty,  and  their  position  could  not  have  been 
better  selected  for  their  destruction,  as  will  appear. 

It  was  the  27th  of  the  month  before  Jackson  ar- 
rived before  Tohopeka,  although  it  was  but  fifty-five 
miles   from    Fort    Strother.     Much  of  this  time  was. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  171 

however,  taken  up  in  exploring  the  Coosa,  in  cutting 
roads,  and  establishing  forts.  At  the  mouth  of  Cedar 
Creek  he  built  Fort  Williams. 

General  Jackson  gave  the  following  account  of  the 
battle  of  Tohopeka  : — 

"  Battle  Ground,  Bend  of  Tallapoosa,  28th  March,  1814. 
•'  Maj.  Gen.  Pinckney  : 

«.  Sir,— I  feel  particularly  happy  in  being  able  to  communi- 
cate to  you  the  fortunate  eventuation  of  my  expedition  to  the 
Tallapoosa.  I  reached  the  head,  near  the  Emuckfau,  called  by 
the  whites  the  Horseshoe,  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  forenoon  of 
yesterday,  where  I  found  the  strength  of  the  neighboring  towns 
collected.  Expecting  our  approach,  they  had  gathered  in  from 
Oakfuskie,  Oakehoga,  New  Yorcau,  Hillibees,  the  Fish  Pond, 
and  Eufaulee  towns,  to  the  number,  it  is  said,  of  one  thousand. 
It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  situation  more  eligible  for  defense 
than  the  one  they  had  chosen,  or  one  rendered  more  secure  by 
the  skdl  with  which  they  had  erected  their  breastwork.  It  was 
from  five  to  eight  feet  high,  and  extended  across  the  point  in 
such  a  direction,  as  that  a  force  approaching  it  would  be  exposed 
to  a  double  fire,  while  they  lay  in  perfect  security  behind.  A 
cannon  planted  at  one  extremity  could  have  raked  it  to  no  ad- 
vantage. 

"Determining  to  exterminate  them,  I  detached  General 
Cofiee  with  the  mounted  men,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Indian 
force,,  early  on  the  morning  of  yesterday,  to  cross  the  river  about 
two  miles  below  their  encampment,  and  to  surround  the  bend  in 
such  a  manner,  as  that  none  of  them  should  escape  by  attempt- 
ing to  cross  the  river.  With  the  infantry,  I  proceeded  slowly, 
and  in  order,  along  the  point  of  land  which  led  to  the  front  of 
their  breastwork ;  having  planted  my  cannon,  one  six  and  one 
three  pounder,  on  an  eminence  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  to  two  hundred  yards  from  it,  I  opened  a  very  brisk 
fire,  playing  upon  the  enemy  with  muskets  and  rifles  whenever 
they  showed  themselves  beyond  it.  This  was  kept  up  with  short 
interruptions  for  about  two  hours,  when  a  part  of  the  Indian 
force,  and  Captain  Russell's  and  Lieutenant  Bean's  company  of 
spies,  who  had  accompanied  General  Coffee,  crossed  over  in 
canoes  to  the  extremity  of  the  bend,  and  set  fire  to  a  few  of  the 
buildings  which  were  there   situated ;'  they  then   advanced  with 


172  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

great  gallantry  towards  the  breastwork,  and  commenced  a  spir- 
ited fire  upon  the  enemy  behind  it. 

"Finding  that  this  force,  notwithstanding  the  bravery  they 
displayed,  was  wholly  insufficient  to  dislodge  them,  and  that 
General  Coffee  had  entirely  secured  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  I  now  determined  to  take  it  by  storm.  The  men  by  whom 
this  was  to  be  effected,  had  been  waiting  with  impatience  to  re- 
ceive the  order,  and  hailed  it  with  acclamation. 

"The  spirit  which  animated  them  was  a  sure  augury  of  the 
success  which  was  to  follow.  The  history  of  warfare,  I  think, 
furnishes  few  instances  of  a  more  brilliant  attack.  The  regulars, 
led  on  by  their  intrepid  and  skillful  commander.  Colonel  Williams, 
and  by  the  gallant  Major  Montgomery,  soon  gained  possession  of 
the  works,  in  the  midst  of  a  most  tremendous  fire  from  behind 
them ;  and  the  militia  of  the  venerable  General  Doherty's  brigade 
accompanied  them  in  the  charge  with  a  vivacity  and  firmness 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  regulars.  The  enemy  were 
completely  routed.  Five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  were  left  dead 
on  the  peninsula,  and  a  great  number  were  killed  by  the  horse- 
men in  attempting  to  cross  the  river  ;  it  is  believed  that  not  more 
than  twenty  have  escaped. 

"  The  fighting  continued  with  some  severity  about  five  hours, 
but  we  continued  to  destroy  many  of  them  who  had  concealed 
themselves  under  the  banks  of  the  river,  until  we  Avere  prevented 
by  the  night.  This  morning  we  killed  sixteen  who  had  been 
concealed.  We  took  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners,  all 
women  and  children,  except  two  or  three.  Our  loss  is  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  wounded,  and  twenty-five  killed ;  Major  Mcin- 
tosh (the  Cowetau),  who  joined  my  army  with  a  part  of  his 
tribe,  greatly  distinguished  himself.  When  I  get  an  hour's 
leisure,  I  will  send  you  a  more  detailed  account. 

"According  to  my  original  purpose,  I  commenced  my  return 
march  to  Fort  Williams  to-day,  and  shall,  if  I  find  sufficient  sup- 
plies there,  hasten  to  the  Hickory  Ground.  The  power  of  the 
Creeks  is,  I  think,  forever  broken. 

"I  send  you  a  hasty  sketch,  taken  by  the  eye,  of  the  situa- 
tion on  which  the  enemy  were  encamped,  and  of  the  manner  in 
which  I  approached  them. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

"  Andrew  Jackson. 
"  Maj.  Gen.  Pinckney." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  173 

This  was  a  dreadful  slaughter,  indeed  ;  and  although 
Jackson  did  all  he  could,  perhaps,  to  induce  the  In- 
dians to  surrender  when  the  result  was  apparent,  he 
was  severely  condemned  years  afterwards  for  what 
was  termed  the  murder  of  these  savages.  For  Talla- 
dega he  was  more  justly  censurable,  perhaps.  What 
could  be  done  with  an  enemy  that  would  not  surrender, 
and  would  only  fire  on  messengers  bearing  flags  of 
truce  and  terms  of  mercy  ? 

One  of  the  bravest  men  who  fought  at  Tohopeka 
was  young  Sam  Houston,  who  subsequently  cut  a  re- 
markable and  not  uninteresting  figure  in  the  politics 
of  Tennessee,  and  in  the  affairs  of  Texas.  Jackson 
was  fortunate  enough  to  have  something  happen  to 
him  at  Tohopeka  which  was  destined  to  be  puffed  into 
a  large  item  for  his  popularity  account. 

A  manly  young  Indian  wounded  and  captured,  and 
laboring  under  the  impression  which  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  all  these  deluded  people  at  Tohopeka,  that  they 
would  be  put  to  death  if  they  were  captured,  said  in 
the  presence  of  General  Jackson,  while  the  surgeon 
dressed  his  wound,  "  Cure  him,  kill  him  again."  The 
General  assured  him  that  such  was  not  the  design, 
and  then  took  such  a  fancy  to  him  as  to  send  him  to 
the  Hermitage,  where  he  lived  as  did  Lencoyer.  He 
finally  married  a  negro  and  learned  a  business  in 
Nashville. 

After  the  army  returned  to  Fort  Williams  the  Gen- 
eral issued  the  following  address  : — 

"SoLDiEr.8  OF  Tennessee, —  You  have  entitled  yourselves 
to  the  gratitude  of  your  country  and  your  General.  The  expedi- 
tion from  which  you  have  just  returned  has,  by  your  good  con- 
duct, been  rendered  prosperous  beyond  any  example  in  the  history 
of  our  warfare ;  it  has  redeemed  the  character  of  our  State,  and 


174  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  that  description  of  troops  of  which  the  greater  part  of 
you  are. 

"You  have,  within  a  few  days,  opened  our  way  to  Tallapoosa, 
and  destroyed  a  confederacy  of  the  enemy,  ferocious  by  nature, 
and  grown  insolent  from  impunity.  Relying  on  their  numbers, 
the  security  of  their  situation,  and  the  assurances  of  their  proph- 
ets, they  derided  our  approach,  and  already  exulted  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  victory  they  expected  to  obtain.  But  they  were 
ignorant  of  the  influence  of  government  on  the  human  powers, 
nor  knew  what  brave  men  and  civilized  force  could  effect.  By 
their  yells  they  hoped  to  frighten  us,  and  with  their  wooden 
fortifications  to  oppose  us.  Stupid  mortals!  their  yells  but 
designated  their  situation  the  more  certainly,  whilst  their  walls 
became  a  snare  for  their  own  destruction.  So  will  it  ever  be, 
when  presumption  and  ignorance  contend  against  bravery  and 
prudence. 

"The  fiends  of  the  Tallapoosa  will  no  longer  murder  our 
women  and  children,  or  disturb  the  quiet  of  our  borders.  Their 
midnight  flambeaux  will  no  more  illumine  their  council-house,  or 
shine  upon  the  victim  of  their  infernal  orgies.  In  their  places 
a  new  generation  will  arise  who  will  know  their  duty  better. 
The  weapons  of  warfare  will  be  exchanged  for  the  utensils  of 
husbandry ;  and  the  wilderness,  which  now  withers  in  sterility, 
and  mourns  the  desolation  which  overspreads  her,  will  blossom 
as  the  rose,  and  become  the  nursery  of  the  arts.  But  before  this 
happy  day  can  arrive,  other  chastisements  remain  to  be  inflicted. 
It  is,  indeed,  lamentable  that  the  path  to  peace  should  lead 
through  blood  and  over  the  bodies  of  the  slain ;  but  it  is  a  dis- 
pensation of  Providence,  and,  perhaps,  a  wise  one,  to  inflict  par- 
tial evils  that  good  may  be  produced. 

"Our  enemies  are  not  sufficiently  humbled;  they  do  not  sue 
for  peace.  A  collection  of  them  await  our  approach,  and  remain 
to  be  dispersed.  Buried  in  ignorance  and  seduced  by  their 
prophets,  they  have  the  weakness  to  believe  they  will  still  be 
able  to  make  a  stand  against  us.  They  must  be  undeceived,  and 
made  to  atone  their  obstinacy  and  their  crime  by  still  further  suflfer- 
ing.  The  hopes  which  have  so  long  deluded  them,  must  be  driven 
from  their  last  refuge.  They  must  be  made  to  know  that  their 
prophets  are  impostors,  and  that  our  strength  is  mighty,  and  will 
prevail.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  may  we  expect  to  make  with 
them  a  peace  that  shall  be  lasting." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  "  175 

Most  of  General  Jackson's  biographers  have  omitted 
from  this  address  the  words,  "and,  perhaps,  a  wise 
one."  It  did,  indeed,  put  the  General  in  a  ludicrous 
light.  His  first  venture  in  theology  was  not  fortunate, 
although,  after  his  fashion  in  all  other  things,  it  was 
strictly  dogmatic.  The  weak  point  in  the  matter,  with 
his  biographers,  was  the  apparent  doubt  the  giant  cast 
upon  the  wisdom  of  Providence.  But  the  truth  is 
that  it  was  the  General's  secretary  who  really  slipped 
in  this  case,  as  the  stubborn  old  hero's  theology,  even 
at  that  day,  was  more  substantial  and  trustworthy 
than  that  of  some  actual  and  eloquent  blind  leaders 
of  the  blind  at  the  present  time. 

"  By  the  Eternal "  was  Jackson's  constant  and 
highest  authority  in  all  circumstances,  and  that  with- 
out doubt  or  hesitancy.  If  any  man  had  said  "  pshaw  " 
to  Jackson's  theology,  he  would  have  "blown  his  head 
off"  the  same  as  for  any  thing  of  a  more  warlike 
character. 

Jackson  now  built  a  fort  at  the  junction  of  the 
Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  Rivers,  which  he  submitted  to 
have  called  Fort  Jackson.  But  there  was  now  little 
left  for  him  to  do,  as  Tohopeka  had  broken  the  spirit 
and  destroyed  the  war  power  of  the  Indians.  The 
brave  conflict  was  at  an  end. 

Those  who  were  yet  disposed  to  fight  fled  to  the 
protection  of  the  Spanish  authorities  in  Florida,  and 
there  found  many  British  friends  ready  to  advise  them 
in  the  way  to  ruin.  The  wiser  among  the  hostile 
leaders,  yet  left,  sought  the  American  camp  and  gave 
themselves  up,  with  prayers  for  the  suffering  and 
starving  of  their  misguided  nation,  but  usually  with- 
out a  word  for  mercy  upon  their  own  heads.     All  of 


176  '  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  friendly  Creeks,  and  those  who  now  surrendered, 
were  sent  north  of  Fort  Williams,  Jackson  telling 
them  that  all  who  gathered  quietly  in  the  northern 
part  of  Alabama  should  be  protected  and  fed  until 
they  could  again  supply  themselves.  They  were  re- 
quired by  the  General  to  deliver  up  Weathersford,  the 
leader  of  the  massacre  at  Fort  Minis,  and  the  chief 
who  had  stood  at  the  head  of  the  war  party. 

Weathersford  was  a  half-breed,  and  bore  the  En- 
glish name  of  his  father,  William  Weathersford.  His 
father  was  a  trader,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  wandering  among  the  Indians.  Although  he  took 
up  his  residence  with  the  Creeks,  he  married  a  Semi- 
nole woman.  She  was  the  mother  of  this  chief,  who 
was  by  no  means  a  savage.  Weathersford's  father 
acquired  considerable  property,  had  negro  slaves,  and 
was  a  person  of  some  consequence  among  the  wild 
people  with  whom  he  had  become  identified.  But  it 
is  not  meant  here  to  put  these  facts  to  the  credit  of 
Weathersford.  Low,  indeed,  would  be  the  spirit  and 
character  of  the  white  man  who  could  deliberately 
desert  his  own  race  and  its  elevating  civilization  to 
adopt  the  society  and  manners  of  the  savage. 

A  few  men  of  some  worth  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  in  dealing  with  the  Indians,  men 
of  some  standing  in  their  own  race,  have  married  these 
filthy  squaws,  and  spent  -most  of  their  lives  among 
their  beastly  kindred. 

The  Chief  Weathersford,  or  Red  Eagle  ( Lamo- 
chattee),  received  from  his  father,  it  is  but  fair  to 
say,  his  humane  character  and  other  traits  which 
served  to  distinguish  him  from  the  worst  of  savages. 
He   had   a   large    plantation    down    on   the   Alabama, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  177 

cultivated  it  with  slaves,  kept  fine  horses,  and  was  the 
most  heroic  character  among  the  Creeks  at  the  time 
of  this  war.  He  was  slow  in  embracing  the  doctrines 
of  Tecumseh,  and  did  not  do  so  until  assured  by  Brit- 
ish successes  at  the  north-west,  and  the  representations 
of  Spanish  and  British  agents  that  the  overthrow  of 
this  Government  was  certain.  This,  it  was  believed, 
would  put  an  end  to  the  advance  of  the  white  race 
upon  the  ancient  dominions  of  the  Indians. 

Weathersford  led  the  attack  upon  Fort  Mims  at 
the  outset,  and  was  to  the  Creeks  throughout  the  war 
what  Jackson  was  to  the  Americans.  The  first  battle 
at  Talluschatches  was  a  most  wonderful  display  of 
deathless  valor.  There  no  warrior  was  left  to  tell  the 
story.  On  the  part  of  the  Creek  it  was  to  be  a  con- 
flict of  no  quarter,  and  no  surrender.  At  Talladega 
they  fought  like  fiends  ;  they  followed  General  Jack- 
son from  Emuckfau  on  his  retreat  from  a  bare  victory, 
and  fell  upon  him  with  great  fury  at  Enotachopco ;  at 
Autossee  Floyd's  victory  over  them  did  not  save  him 
from  a  violent  assault  when  he  was  on  the  retreat  to 
safer  grounds ;  at  Callibee  Floyd  felt  their  desperate 
valor;  and  Tohopeka  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
battles  ever  recorded  in  the  annals  of  war.  As  the 
balls  from  the  American  cannons  were  buried  in  the 
wooden  breastworks,  the  Indians  laughed  and  believed 
themselves  safe  from  any  force.  With  nine  or  ten 
hundred  men  they  fought  without  doubt  or  fear  against 
more  than  double  that  number.  In  all  their  engage- 
ments after  Fort  Mims  they  contended  against  superior 
numbers  of  Americans.  Their  defense  of  their  Ala- 
bama homes  was  far  more  determined,  brave,  and 
praiseworthy    than   that   made   by  the    people  of  the 

12— G 


178  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

United  States  for  their  country  against  its  old  enemy 
in  the  War  of  1812. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  only  place  where 
these  people  failed  to  display  their  usual  bravery  was 
in  the  battle  with  General  Claiborne  towards  the  close 
of  1813,  on  their  Holy  Ground,  selected  by  Weathers- 
ford  to  be  a  retreat  for  their  warriors,  flying  from  de- 
feat, where  the  Great  Spirit  would  not  allow  the 
white  man  to  come  without  death.  After  thirty  or 
forty  of  their  warriors  were  slain  here,  they  fled,  and 
Weathersford  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field.  He  was 
seen  alone  on  his  gray  horse  after  the  wounded  had 
been  carried  off,  and  all  his  braves  had  escaped  in 
safety.  In  sight  of  the  Americans  he  passed  along 
the  bluff  a  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  Ala- 
baiiia  River,  rushed  headlong  down  a  ravine  worn  in 
it  until  it  came  out  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the 
water,  and  here  wildly  leaped  into  the  river.  Both 
horse  and  rider  went  down,  but  they  came  up,  and 
again  mounting  the  horse  he  swam  to  the  opposite 
shore.  This  wonderful  leap  is  not  a  mere  legend  of 
the  Creek  war,  but  is  apparently  well  authenticated. 
It  was  also  fully  proven  that  Weathersford  made  a 
desperate  effort,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  to  save  the 
women  and  children  from  destruction  at  Fort  Mims, 
and  only  gave  way  when  the  tomahawks  of  his  mad- 
dened savages  were  raised  over  his  own  head. 

One  thing  was  now  left  to  this  fallen  chief,  to  sur- 
render to  General  Jackson,  or  fly  to  the  Spanish 
towns.  He  wisely  took  the  former  course.  He  did 
not  wait  to  be  taken  to  the  American  camp,  then  at 
Fort  Jackson,  on  the  site  of  Toulouse,  built  a  hundred 
years  before  by  the  French,  at  the  junction  of  the  two 


»  ANDREW  JACKSON.  179 

rivers  forming  the  Alabama,  but,  without  care  for  the 
result,  went  forward  and  gave  himself  up.  His  ap- 
pearance greatly  surprised  General  Jackson,  as  it  did 
everybody  in  the  American  camp.  Jackson  is  said  to 
have  rushed  in  fury  from  his  tent,  and  asked  Weath- 
ersford  how  he  could  dare  to  ride  up  to  his  tent  after 
the  murder  of  the  inhabitants  of  Fort  Mims. 
To  this  the  chief  boldly  replied  : — 

"General  Jackson,  I  am  not  afraid  of  you.  I  fear  no  man, 
for  I  am  a  Creek  warrior.  I  have  nothing  to  request  in  behalf 
of  myself.  You  can  kill  me  if  you  desire.  But  I  come  to  beg 
you  to  send  for  the  women  and  children  of  the  war  party,  who 
are  now  starving  in  the  woods.  Their  fields  and  cribs  have  been 
destroyed  by  your  people,  who  have  driven  them  to  the  woods 
without  an  ear  of  corn.  I  hope  that  you  will  send  out  parties 
who  will  conduct  them  safely  here,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
fed.  I  exerted  myself  in  vain  to  prevent  the  massacre  of  the 
women  and  children  at  Fort  Mims.  I  am  now  done  fighting. 
The  Red  Sticks  are  nearly  all  killed.  If  I  could  fight  you  any 
longer,  I  would  most  heartily  do  so.  Send  for  the  women  and 
children.  They  never  did  you  any  harm.  But  kill  me,  if  the 
white  people  want  it  done." 

This  speech  was  of  the  style  to  excite  the  admira- 
tion of  General  Jackson,  which  it  would  more  readily 
have  done  had  he  then  known  that  Weathersford  really 
did  all  in  his  power  to  save  the  white  women  and 
children  at  Fort  Mims.  But  he  told  Weathersford 
that  his  life  should  be  spared,  invited  him  into  his 
tent,  and  there  gave  him  the  present  terms  of  peace 
for  his  nation. 

To  these  the  chief  said  : — 

"I  have  done  the  white  people  all  the  harm  I  could  ;  I  have 
fought  them,  and  fought  them  bravely ;  if  I  had  an  army,  I 
would  yet  fight  and  contend  to  the  last,  but  I  have  none  ;  my 
people  are  all  gone.     I  can  now  do  no  more  than  weep  over  the 


180  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  » 

misfortunes  of  my  nation.  But  I  may  be  well  addressed  in  such 
language  now.  There  was  a  time  when  I  had  a  choice,  and 
could  have  answered  you ;  I  have  none  now,  even  hope  has 
ended.  Once  I  could  animate  my  warriors  to  battle ;  but  I  can 
not  animate  the  dead.  My  warriors  can  no  longer  hear  my 
voice ;  their  bones  are  at  Talladega,  Talluschatches,  Emuckfau, 
and  Tohopeka.  I  have  not  surrendered  myself  thoughtlessly. 
Whilst  there  were  chances  of  success  I  never  left  my  post  nor 
sujjplicated  peace.  But  my  people  are  gone,  and  I  now  ask  it 
for  my  nation  and  for  myself.  On  the  miseries  and  misfortunes 
brought  upon  my  country,  I  look  back  with  the  deepest  regret, 
and  wish  to  avert  still  greater  calamities.  If  I  had  been  left  to 
contend  with  the  Georgia  army,  I  would  have  raised  my  corn  on 
one  bank  of  the  river,  and  fought  them  on  the  other ;  but  your 
people  have  destroyed  my  nation.  You  are  a  brave  man.  I 
rely  upon  your  generosity.  You  will  exact  no  terms  of  a  con- 
quered people  but  such  as  they  should  accede  to ;  whatever  they 
may  be,  it  would  now  be  madness  and  folly  to  oppose.  If  they 
are  opposed,  you  shall  find  me  amongst  the  sternest  enforcers  of 
obedience.  Those  who  would  still  hold  out,  can  be  influenced 
only  by  a  mean  spirit  of  revenge;  and  to  this  they  must  not  and 
shall  not  sacrifice  the  last  remnant  of  their  country.  You  have 
told  us  where  we  might  go  and  be  safe.  This  is  a  good  talk, 
and  my  nation  ought  to  listen  to  it.     They  shall  listen  to  it." 

This  was  true  eloquence,  distinguished  by  the  sim- 
ple sentiments  of  a  patriot  and  hero.  Weathersford 
lived  for  several  years  in  peace  among  the  whites  on 
his  farm  in  southern  Alabama.  He  died  in  1826,  too 
soon  to  see  General  Jackson  in  the  Chair  of  the  Great 
Fathers  at  Washington. 

The  Georgia  troops  had  united  with  those  of  Ten- 
nessee at  Fort  Jackson,  and  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1814,  General  Pinckney  arrived  and  took  command  of 
them.  Many  congratulations  were  exchanged  by  the 
general  officers,  and  according  to  the  custom  of  all 
barbarous  and  semi-barbarous  people  in  celebrating 
fortunate    events,  sometimes    even    unfortunate  ones, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  181 

two  drinking  feasts  were  given,  one  by  General  Pinck- 
ney,  and  one  by  the  militia  General  Jackson.  The 
philosophy  or  manliness  of  this  custom  is  beyond 
mortal  ken. 

That  men  should  eat  and  drink  themselves  into 
fools  for  their  good  luck,  or  into  forgetfulness  for  their 
misfortunes,  is  brutish.  And  yet  in  the  very  centers 
of  learning  and  refinement,  so-called,  at  this  day,  the 
vulgar  and  unreasonable  practice  prevails.  Even  in 
the  literary  schools,  and  at  the  "  commencements  "  of 
medical  colleges,  among  a  class  of  men  who  should  be 
models  of  health-giving  deportment,  young  men  are 
sent  out  with  the  last  lesson  one  of  incorrect  and  un- 
seasonable eating  and  drinking,  if  no  worse.  These 
are  never  feasts  of  reason,  but  of  vulgar  jests  and 
platitudes,  and  simpering  and  strained  compliments. 

On  the  21st  the  Tennessee  troops  began  their 
homeward  march.  At  Fort  Williams  Jackson  wrote  as 
follows  to  Governor  Blount : — 

"Fort  Williams,  April  25tli,  at  night. 

**  Sm, — General  Pinckney  joined  me  at  Fort  Jackson  on  the 
20th.  The  enemy  continuing  to  come  in  from  every  quarter, 
and  it  being  now  evident  that  the  war  was  over,  I  received  an 
order  at  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  on  the  21st,  to  march  my  troops 
back  to  Fort  Williams,  and  after  having  dispersed  any  bodies  of 
the  enemy  who  may  have  assembled  on  the  Cahawba,  or  within 
striking  distance,  and  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  posts 
between  Tennessee  and  Fort  Jackson,  to  discharge  the  remainder. 
Within  two  hours  after  receiving  this  order,  I  was  on  the  line  of 
march  ;  and  reached  this  place  last  evening,  a  distance  of  about 
sixty  miles. 

"To  Brigadier-General  Doherty,  I  shall  assign  the  duty  of 
keeping  up  the  posts,  which  form  the  line  of  communication 
between  Tennessee  and  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa  and  Talla- 
poosa, making  the  necessary  arrangements  to  enable  him  to  do 
so.     About  four  hundred  ot  the  East  Tennessee  militia  will  be 


182  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

left  at  this  place,  two  hundred  and  fifty  at  Fort  Strother,  and 
seventy-five  at  Fort  Armstrong  and  New  Deposit.  Old  Deposit 
will  be  maintained  by  Captain  Hammond's  company  of  rangers. 

"To-morrow  I  detail  five  hundred  of  the  militia,  under  the 
command  of  Brigadier-General  Johnson,  to  the  Cahawba,  with 
instructions  to  unite  with  me  at  Fort  Deposit,  after  having  dis- 
persed any  bodies  of  the  enemy  they  may  find  there  assembled. 

"  The  commissioners  who  have  been  appointed  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  Creeks,  need  have  nothing  to  do  but  assign  them 
their  proper  limits.  Those  of  the  friendly  party,  who  have  asso- 
ciated with  me,  will  be  easily  satisfied  ;  and  those  of  the  hostile 
party,  they  consider  it  a  favor  that  their  lives  have  been  spared 
them,  and  will  look  upon  any  space  that  may  be  allowed  them 
for  their  future  settlement  as  a  bounteous  donation.  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  point  out  what  I  think  ought  to  be  the 
future  line  of  separation,  with  which  I  will  hereafter  make  you 
acquainted.  If  they  should  be  established,  none  of  the  Creeks 
wiU  be  left  on  the  west  of  the  Coosa. 

"Accompanying  this,  I  send  you  a  report  made  by  the 
adjutant-general,  of  the  killed  and  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Tohopeka,  which  was  omitted  to  be  sent  by  the  former  express. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc.  Andrew  Jackson." 

Early  in  May  Jackson  arrived  at  Nashville,  where 

he   was   met   as   the    conqueror    of    a    nation.  Felix 

Grundy  received  him  in  a  speech  on  the  part  of  the 
citizens,  and  the  General  made  this  reply  : — 

"Gentlemen, — The  favorable  sentiment  you  have  been 
pleased  to  express,  by  authority  of  your  fellow-citizens,  of  the 
brave  ofiicers  and  soldiers  who  composed  my  army  in  the  late 
expedition  against  the  Creek  Indians,  are  received  with  the  live- 
liest sensibility. 

"  We  had  indeed  borne  with  many  outrages  from  that  bar- 
barous and  infatuated  nation  before  the  massacre  at  Fort  Mims 
raised  our  energies  to  revenge  the  wrongs  we  had  sustained.  I 
participated  in  the  common  feeling,  and  my  duty  to  my  country 
impelled  me  to  take  the  field.  >  I  endeavored  to  discharge  that 
duty  faithfully  ;  my  best  exertions  were  used,  my  best  judgment 
exercised. 

"  In  the  prosecution  of  such  a  war  difiiculties  and  privations 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  183 

were  to  be  expected.  To  meet  and  sustain  these  became  the 
duty  of  every  officer  and  soldier ;  and  for  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  this  duty  they  are  amply  rewarded  in  the  expression 
of  their  country's  approbation. 

"The  success  which  attended  our  exertions  has  indeed  been 
very  great.  We  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lasting  peace  to 
those  frontiers  which  had  been  so  long  and  so  often  infested  by 
the  savages.  We  have  conquered.  We  have  added  a  country 
to  ours,  which,  by  connecting  the  settlements  of  Georgia  with 
those  of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  and  both  of  them  with  our 
own,  will  become  a  secure  barrier  against  foreign  invasion,  or 
the  operation  of  foreign  influence  over  our  red  neighbors  in  the 
South,  and  we  have  furnished  the  means  not  only  of  defraying 
the  expenses  of  the  war  against  the  Creeks,  but  of  that  which  is 
carrying  on  against  their  ally  Great  Britain.  How  ardently, 
therefore,  is  it  to  be  wished  that  Government  may  take  the 
earliest  opportunity,  and  devise  the  most  effectual  means,  of  pop- 
ulating that  section  of  the  Union. 

"  In  acquiring  these  advantages  to  our  country  it  is  true  we 
have  lost  some  valuable  citizens,  some  brave  soldiers.  But  these 
are  misfortunes  inseparable  from  a  state  of  war  ;  and  while  I 
mingle  my  regret  with  yours  for  the  loss,  I  have  this  consolation, 
in  common  with  yourselves,  that  the  sons  of  Tennessee  who  fell 
contending  for  their  rights  have  approved  themselves  worthy 
the  American  name  ;  worthy  descendants  of  their  sires  of  the 
Revolution." 

This  Creek  war  had  lasted  only  a  little  more  than 
half  a  year,  but  its  conclusion  and  results  were  of 
great  benefit  to  the  country.  By  this  war  the  dealings 
of  the  Government  with  these  Indians  was  much  sim- 
plified at  later  periods.  But  especially  in  view  of  the. 
approaching  conflict  with  the  British  on  the  Gulf  was 
this  fortunate  conclusion  of  the  war  and  peace  with 
these  Indians,  of  great  value  to  this  country. 

Several  remarkable  things  characterized  this  Indian 
war  :  the  inability  of  the  States  concerned  to  provide 
even  necessary  food  for  the  small  armies  sent  into  the 
field  ;  the  characteristic  independence   and   insubordi- 


184  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

nation  of  the  private  soldiers;  the  want  of  co-o[)era- 
tion  between  the  different  commanders ;  the  almost 
constant  quarrels  between  General  Jackson  and  the 
Tennessee  general  officers  ;  and  the  numerous  difficul- 
ties between  Jackson  and  his  troops,  resulting  finally 
in  the  murder  of  John  Woods  as  an  example  to  stub- 
born soldiers. 

Notwithstanding  these  unfortunate,  and,  to  a  great 
extent,  unjustifiable  and  inexplicable  things,  the  cam- 
paign was  of  incalculable  benefit  to  General  Jackson. 
While  it  allowed  a  complete  exhibition  of  all  the  traits 
long  well  known  in  him,  it  also  furnished  the  oppor- 
tunity for  bringing  out  qualities  before  little  or  not 
at  all  known  in  his  character.  He  now  appeared  as 
a  man  of  extraordinary  executive  ability,  and  as  a 
soldier  of  superior  merit.  His  national  reputation 
began  with  the  close  of  the  Creek  war.  Before,  he 
was  known  in  Tennessee  only,  and  that  by  his  evil 
deeds,  perhaps,  more  than  his  good  ones.  But  he  had 
turned  a  new  leaf  in  his  career  which  was  attractive 
reading  to  Western  people,  and  the  8th  of  the  next 
January  was  all  that  was  now  lacking  to  complete  his 
capital  stock  in  the  race  for  the  Presidency,  of  which, 
however,  he  had  no  thought  at  that  time.  Indeed,  no 
man  could  say  that  Jackson  conducted  the  Creek  cam- 
paign with  a  view  to  personal  aggrandizement  or  fame. 
He  did  not  allow  anything  to  come  in  the  way  of  the  ex- 
ecution of  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty.  Everything 
he  did,  however  bad  it  was,  like  his  daring  adventures 
with  his  men,  and  his  really  praiseworthy  acts,  some- 
how went  in  with  the  general  facts  to  increase  his 
popularity.  It  would  be  utterly  out  of  the  question 
to  assign   to  Andrew  Jackson  a  degree  of  prescience 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  185 

which  could  enable  him  to  so  mix  his  good,  evil,  wise, 
unwise,  extraordinary,  selfish,  unselfish,  tyrannical, 
patriotic,  and  chivalrous  deeds  as  to  produce  the  pop- 
ular turmoil  which  would  carry  him  to  every  stage  of 
exaltation,  politically,  to  which  an  American  could 
attain.  At  this  time,  and  for  years  afterwards,  he 
simply  acted  out  his  vehement  nature  without  refer- 
ence to  consequences,  especially  to  himself. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  Administration  showed 
a  disposition  to  take  advantage  of  the  qualities  Jack- 
son had  recently  displayed  as  a  soldier.  About  the 
time  of  his  return  to  Nashville  a  brigadier-general's 
vacancy  occurred  in  the  regular  army,  and  this  was 
offered  to  him.  This  position  he  looked  upon  as  below 
his  deserts  and  abilities,  but  while  he  was  considering 
the  course  to  take  in  the  case,  on  the  last  day  of 
May,  1814,  he  received  notice  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  of  his  appointment  as  a  major-general  to  fill  the 
place  of  General  Wm.  H.  Harrison,  resigned.  This 
he  gladly  accepted,  although  he  was  yet  suffering  from 
the  effects  of  his  Indian  campaign,  and  his  dastardly 
rencounter  with  the  Bentons.  It  was,  perhaps,  a  bold 
experiment  for  the  Administration  to  make  this  ap- 
pointment, based  upon  the  Creek  campaign  and  what 
was  otherwise  known  of  Jackson's  character  and  tem- 
per, and  yet  it  was  subsequently  a  cry  of  his  advo- 
cates that  Mr.  Madison  was  slow  or  willfully  averse 
to  recognizing  his  military  qualities.  The  material 
for  great  soldiers  was  never  more  slowly  developed  in 
this  country  than  during  the  War  of  1812.  But  no 
appointment  could  have  been  more  fortunate  for  the 
United  States  than  this  one  ;  and  had  the  Administra- 
tion taken  up  with  Jackson's  suggestion  and  sent  him 


186  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

to  Canada  after  his  return  from  Natchez  in  the  spring 
of  1813,  the  country  would  have  been  benefited 
greatly  by  the  step,  in  all  probability.  During  the 
summer  of  that  year,  with  ten  thousand  soldiers 
Jackson  would  have  marched  from  Buffalo  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  taken  possession  of 
all  Canada,  although  the  really  golden  opportunity  for 
this  master  stroke  was  lost  in  the  fall  of  1812. 

General  Jackson  was  now  ordered  to  take  charge 
of  the  southern  division  of  the  army,  an  assignment 
which  evidently  signified  at  that  moment  how  little 
stress  the  authorities  at  Washington  still  placed  upon 
his  military  ability,  or  it  showed  that  his  appointment 
had  been  submitted  to  from  the  pressing  demands 
of  the  General's  friends  rather  than  a  conviction  of  his 
superior  suitableness.  The  assignment  was  little  less 
than  an  insult,  to  all  appearances,  as  the  Southern 
Division,  as  it  was  called,  contained  only  fragments 
of  three  regiments,  and  was  without  an  enemy  to 
fight.  General  Jackson  was  utterly  unfit  to  be  a 
mere  quiet  post  commander.  In  taking  charge  of  this 
division  he  was,  however,  authorized,  in  connection 
with  Colonel  Benjamin  Hawkins,  who  had  lived  with 
the  Creeks  as  their  agent  since  the  Presidency  of 
Washington,  by  whom  he  had  been  appointed,  to  form 
a  "treaty"  with  the  Indians.  But  even  with  this  the 
prospect  was  dull  enough  for  a  man  who,  having  found 
the  Red  Sticks  no  match  for  himself,  panted  for  the 
opportunity  to  strike  foes  of  better  metal  and  more 
worthy  of  the  hate  he  had  for  them.  There  was  no 
telling  what  the  future  would  bring  forth. 

On  the  10th  of  July,  General  Jackson  arrived  at 
Fort  Jackson,  and  began  what  was  called  the  "  treaty." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  1^7 

He  had  received  from  Washington  the  general  terras, 
and  very  well  knew  in  what  sense  it  would  be  a  treaty. 
The  Administration  and  its  agents  merely  treated  the 
Indians  to  certain  'demands  and  conditions,  and  they, 
poor,  helpless   people,  submitted. 

This  has  always  been  the  method  of  making  trea- 
ties with  the  Indians.     General   Jackson  fooled  with 
these   people  a   whole  month,  and   then  told  them  to 
sign  what  he  had  prepared  as  the  treaty.     But  it  all 
looked  like  fairness  to  the  Indian,  and,  humoring  him 
with  the  modes^  and  rights  of  a  free  and  equal  party 
to  the  discussion,  was,  perhaps,  for  the  best.     This  de- 
lusion  the    Government   has  always   felt   disposed  to 
keep  up.     While  it  has  been  politic,  it  has  been  a  bit 
of  benevolence  which  the  sad  case  has  ever  merited. 
The    commissioners,  as  they  may  be  politely  termed, 
made   known   to    the    Indians    the    conditions    of    the 
treaty,  in    other  words,   the   demands  of   the  United 
States.     A  vast  part  of  their  territory  was  to  be  ceded 
to  the  United  States  as  indemnity  for  the  war ;  they 
were  to  be  denied  all  intercourse  with  the  Spaniards 
of  Florida ;  to  have  no  traders  or  agents  except  those 
authorized  by  the  United  States ;  to  have  posts,  roads, 
etc.,  built  anywhere  in  their  own  or  reserved  territory 
at  the  discretion  of  the  United  States,  and  they  were 
to  deliver  up  the  instigators  of  the  war. 

All  of  this  they  could  do  except  to  part  with  so 
much  land,  a  matter  they  took  into  long  consideration. 
After  all  the  speeches  had  been  heard,  and  as  much 
time  spent  as  was  deemed  necessary,  General  Jack- 
son made  the  following  cool  and  specious  address  :— 
"You  know  that  the  portion  of  your  country  which  you  desire 
to  retain  is  that  through  which  the  intruders  and  mischief-makers 


188  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

from  the  lakes  reached  you,  and  urged  your  nation  to  those  acts 
of  violence  that  have  involved  your  people  in  wretchedness  and 
your  country  in  ruin.  Through  it  leads  the  path  Tecumseh  trod 
when  he  came  to  visit  you ;  that  path  must  be  stopped.  Until 
this  be  done  your  nation  can  not  expect  happiness,  nor  mine 
security.  I  have  already  told  you  the  reasons  for  demanding  it ; 
they  are  such  as  ought  not,  can  not  be  departed  from.  This 
evening  must  determine  whether  or  not  you  are  disposed  to  be- 
come friendly.  Your  rejecting  the  treaty  will  show  you  to  be  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States,  enemies  even  to  yourselves. 

"When  our  armies  came  here,  the  hostile  party  had  even 
stripped  you  of  your  country ;  we  retook  it,  and  now  offer  it  to 
you ;  theirs  we  propose  to  retain.  Those  who  are  disposed  to 
give  effect  to  the  treaty  will  sign  it.  They  will  be  within  our 
territory,  will  be  protected  and  fed,  and  no  enemy  of  theirs  or 
ours  shall  molest  them.  Those  who  oppose  it,  shall  have  leave 
to  retire  to  Pensacola.  Here  is  the  paper,  take  it,  and  show  the 
President  who  are  his  friends.  Consult,  and  this  evening  let  me 
know  who  will  sign  it,  and  who  will  not.  I  do  not  wish,  nor  will 
I  attempt  to  force  any  of  you  ;  act  as  you  think  proper." 

A  strange  feature  of  this  Creek  treaty  was  the 
gift  of  lands  to  Jackson,  Hawkins,  George  Mayfield, 
and  Alexander  Cornells.  In  the  point  of  generosity 
the  Indians  were  not  disposed  to  be  outdone.  After 
submitting  to  the  cession  of  their  lands,  willing  or 
unwilling,  they  wanted  to  indicate  their  friendly  feel- 
ings towards  Jackson,  their  affection  for  Hawkins  and 
Lavinia,  his  wife,  and  the  two  interpreters,  one  of 
whom,  Cornells,  was  a  half-breed,  by  stipulating  that 
a  part  of  the  ceded  lands  should  be  deeded  by  the 
United  States  to  these  friends.  General  Jackson  and 
Colonel  Hawkins  were  to  have,  each,  "  three  miles 
square,"  and  the  others  a  mile  square.  In  the  imper- 
fect language  of  the  gift.  Colonel  Hawkins's  "  three 
miles  square "  was  defined  as  three  square  miles,  for 
it  was  to  be  taken  in  three  bodies,  each  a  mile  square, 
which  really,  but  undesignedly,  gave  him   six   square 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  189 

miles  less  than  General  Jackson  was  to  receive.  The 
gifts  were  accepted,  and  two  years  afterwards,  in  a 
message  to  Congress,  Mr.  Madison  recommended  that 
provision  be  made,  in  this  exceptional  instance,  for 
carrying  out  this  whim  of  the  Indians.  But  Con- 
gress deemed  it  dangerous,  even  in  this  case,  to  admit 
presents  to  be  made  to  agents  and  negotiators  of 
treaties,  and  after  looking  over  the  matter  a  little,  it 
was  dropped,  and  no  notice  of  it  ever  taken  again. 


190  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA  HEARS  FROM  THE   NEW   REP- 
RESENTATIVE OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— BATTLE 
AT  FORT   BOWYER— BARATARIA— JEAN 
LAFITTE,  THE  PIRATE  AND 
PATRIOT. 

SOON  after  closing  this  Indian  business,  General 
Jackson  proceeded,  with  his  staff,  to  Mobile, 
which  for  a  time  became  his  head-quarters.  His  first 
step  was  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  affairs  on  the 
Gulf,  and  especially  did  he  make  it  his  business  to 
find  out  what  the  Indians  and  their  pretended  friends, 
the  Spanish  and  British,  were  doing  in  Florida. 

Mobile  was  in  no  state  of  defense,  and  the  fort  at 
the  Point  thirty  miles  below,  on  the  beautiful  Bay, 
was  not  in  use,  and  was  possessed  of  an  old  arma- 
ment in  no  wise  formidable.  Jackson  saw  that  this 
fort,  with  its  rusty  cannon  and  piles  of  rusty  cannon- 
balls,  was  the  point  from  which  to  make  the  defense. 
Mobile  itself,  a  town  of  only  a  few  hundred  people, 
was  not  worth  fighting  for  ;  but  it  was  then,  as  now, 
a  great  cotton-market,  and  was  extremely  valuable  as 
a  point  of  defensive  operations  to  a  vast  extent  ot 
coast,  and  next  to  New  Orleans  would  have  been  the 
first  object  of  interest  to  the  British  in  carrying  into 
effect  their  scheme  of  invasion  from  the  South,  and 
forming  a  connection  with  Canada  by  the  Mississippi. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  191 

Jackson  at  once  set  about  repairing  Fort  Bowyer, 
since  called  Fort  Morgan,  at  Mobile  Point,  and  in  it 
he  placed  Major  Wm.  Lawrence,  of  the  Second  Regi- 
j[ient  of  United  States  infantry,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty  men.  These  soldiers  knew  nothing  of  artillery 
fighting,  and  with  them  everything  was  to  be  learned 
and  to  be  done  to  make  Fort  Bowyer  what  it  was 
desired  to  be,  a  complete  defense  to  the  entrance  of 
Mobile  Bay.  ♦ 

General  Jackson  now  occupied  himself  in  putting 
before  the  Administration  the  state  of  affairs  at  the 
South,  and  in  urging  on  the  troops  then  collecting  in 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  for  his  army. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  Colonel  Edward  Nich- 
ols appeared  before  Fort  Bowyer  with  a  small  body 
of  English  and  Indians,  the  latter  actually  having 
submitted  to  be  drilled  as  white  soldiers  at  Pensacola. 
On  the  same  day  four  British  war-vessels  also  ap- 
peared, and  a,nchored  without  the  Point.  A  day  or 
two  the  enemy  now  spent  in  reconnoitering  and  firing 
an  occasional  shot.  On  the  14th  Major  Lawrence  sent 
a  messenger  to  General  Jackson,  notifying  him  of 
the  state  of  afl'airs.  This  messenger  met  the  General 
on  his  way  to  visit  the  fort.  He  returned  in  great 
haste  in  his  barge  to  Mobile,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
had  Captain  Laval  with  eighty  men  on  his  way  down 
to  re-enforce  Lawrence.  Laval  reached  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  fort  when  the  fighting  was  going  on,  and 
supposing  himself  too  late  to  be  of  service,  put  back 
to  Mobile  to  tell  the  General  the  unwelcome  news. 

But  Lawrence  and  his  men  took  an  oath  to  stand 
by  the  post,  and  fight  while  there  was  any  hope.  The 
whole  British  force,  land   and    naval,    was   under    the 


192  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

direction  of  Captain  W.  H.  Percy,  of  the  ship  Hermes. 
At  4  o'clock,  on  the  15th,  the  Hermes  entered  the 
narrow  channel  leading  to  the  bay,  and  anchored 
within  short  range  of  the  fort ;  the  other  vessels 
followed,  and  the  battle  began. 

Broadside  after  broadside  was  poured  into  the 
fort,  and  the  inexperienced  Americans  answered  back 
as  best  they  could.  An  occasional  shot  from  them 
kept  the  land  force  at  a  respectful  distance,  and  the 
battle  was  yet  mainly  with  the  ships,  on  the  British 
side.  In  an  hour  and  a  half  the  flag  of  the  Hermes 
went  down,  and  Lawrence,  thinking  or  hoping  she  had 
struck,  ceased  firing ;  but  when  the  smoke  cleared 
away  he  saw  his  mistake,  and  resumed  the  contest. 
A  fortunate  shot  now  cut  the  anchor  of  the  Hermes, 
when  she  became  unmanageable  and  soon  ran  aground, 
but  not  until  most  of  her  crew  had  been  killed  or 
wounded.  At  this  juncture  the  flag  of  the  fort  was 
shot  down,  which  discovery  led  Woodbine,  who  had 
charge  of  the  Indians,  to  think  the  garrison  was 
beaten,  and  the  time  had  come  for  scalps  and  spoils ; 
and  accordingly,  with  a  howl  these  gentle  allies  rushed 
towards  the  fort.  But  a  little  grape  and  canister 
speedily  changed  their  view  of  the  case,  and  sent 
them  behind  the  hills  again.  Another  of  the  enemy's 
vessels  now  appeared  to  be  crippled,  and  showed  a 
disposition  to  give  up  the  contest ;  and  soon  the}''  all 
moved  out  of  the  bay,  and  before  midnight  the  Hermes 
blew  up.  When  morning  dawned  nothing  could  be 
seen  of  the  gallant  Britons  but  their  three  ships,  and 
before  night  they  too  had  disappeared. 

On  the  same  morning  Laval  arrived  at  Mobile  with 
the  news  Jackson  was  loath  to  receive.     And  what  was 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  193 

left  for  him  to  do  ?  Retake  the  fort,  of  course,  and 
restore  the  loss  as  well  as  possible.  To  this  end  he 
began  at  once  preparing  to  move  his  entire  force.  But 
at  this  moment  the  right  turn  was  given  to  affairs  by  a 
courier  from  Major  Lawrence  bearing  the  following 
information  : — 

"Fort  Bowyer,  September  15,  1814,  12  o'clock  at  night. 

"Sm, — After  writing  the  inclosed  I  was  prevented  by  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy  from  sending  it  by  express.  At  meridian 
they  were  under  full  sail,  with  an  easy  and  favorable  breeze, 
standing  directly  for  the  fort,  and  at  4  P.  M.  we  opened  our 
battery,  which  was  returned  from  two  ships  and  two  brigs  as  they 
approached.  The  action  became  general  at  about  twenty  min- 
utes past  four,  and  was  continued,  without  intermission  on  either 
side,  until  seven,  when  one  ship  and  two  brigs  were  compelled  to 
retire.  The  leading  ship,  supposed  to  be  the  commodore,  mount- 
ing twenty-two  thirty-two-pound  carronades,  having  anchored 
nearest  our  battery,  was  so  much  disabled,  her  cable  being  cut 
by  our  shot,  that  she  drifted  on  shore,  within  six  hundred  yards 
of  the  battery,  and  the  other  vessels  having  got  out  of  our  reach, 
we  kept  such  a  tremendous  fire  upon  her,  that  she  was  set  on 
fire  and  abandoned  by  the  few  of  the  crew  who  survived.  At 
ten  P.  M.  we  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  the  explosion  of  her 
magazine.  The  loss  of  lives  on  board  must  have  been  immense, 
as  we  are  certain  no  boats  left  her  except  three,  which  had  pre- 
viously gone  to  her  assistance,  and  one  of  these  I  believe  was 
sunk ;  in  fact,  one  of  her  boats  was  burned  alongside  of  her. 

"The  brig  that  followed  her,  I  am  certain,  was  much  dam- 
aged both  in  hull  and  rigging.  The  other  two  did  not  approach 
near  enough  to  be  much  injured,  but  I  am  confident  they  did 
not  escape,  as  a  well-directed  fire  was  kept  on  them  during  the 
whole  time. 

' '  During  the  action  a  battery  of  a  twelve-pounder  and  a 
howitzer  was  opened  on  our  rear,  but  without  doing  any  execu- 
tion, and  was  silenced  by  a  few  shot.  Our  loss  is  four  privates 
killed  and  five  privates  wounded. 

"Towards  the  close  of  the  action  the  flag-staff  was  shot  away; 
but  the  flag  was  immediately  hoisted  on  a  sponge-staff"  above  the 
parapet.     While  the  flag   was  down,  the  enemy  kept  up  their 

13— G 


194  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

most  incessant  and  tremendous  fire ;  the  men  were  withdrawn 
from  the  curtains  and  north-east  bastion,  as  the  enemy's  own  shot 
completely  protected  our  rear,  except  the  position  they  had  chosen 
for  their  battery. 

"Where  all  behaved  well,  it  is  unnecessary  to  discriminate. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  every  officer  and  man  did  his  duty;  the  whole 
behaved  with  that  coolness  and  intrepidity  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  true  American,  and  which  could  scarcely  have  been  ex- 
pected from  men,  most  of  whom  had  never  seen  an  enemy,  and 
were  now,  for  the  first  time,  exposed  for  nearly  three  hours  to  a 
force  of  nearly  or  quite  four  guns  to  one. 

"We  fired  during  the  action  between  four  and  five  hundred 
guns,  most  of  them  double  shotted,  and  after  the  first  half  hour 
but  few  missed  effect. 

"Upon  an  examination  of  our  battery  the  following  morn- 
ing, we  found  upwards  of  three  hundred  shot  and  shot-holes  in 
the  inside  of  the  north  and  east  curtains,  and  north-east  bastions, 
of  all  calibers,  from  musket-ball  to  thirty-two-pound  shot.  In 
the  north-east  bastion  there  were  three  guns  dismounted ;  one  of 
which,  a  four-pounder,  was  broken  off"  near  the  trunnions  by  a 
thirty-two  pound  shot,  and  another  much  battered.  I  regret  to 
say  that  both  the  twenty-four  pounders  are  cracked  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  render  them  unfit  for  service. 

"I  am  informed  by  two  deserl^ers  from  the  land  force,  who 
have  just  arrived  here,  and  whom  I  send  for  your  disposal,  that  a 
re-enforcement  is  expected,  when  they  will,  doubtless,  endeavor  to 
wipe  off"  the  stain  of  yesterday. 

"If  you  will  send  the  Amelia  down,  we  may  probably  save 
most  or  all  of  the  ship's  guns,  as  her  wreck  is  lying  in  six  or  seven 
feet  water,  and  some  of  them  are  just  covered.  They  will  not, 
however,  answer  for  the  fort,  as  they  are  too  short. 

"By  the  deserters  we  learn  that  the  ship  we  have  destroyed 
was  the  Hermes,  but  her  commander's  name  they  did  not  recollect. 
It  was  the  commodore,  and  he,  doubtless,  fell  on  his  quarter-deck, 
as  we  had  a  raking  fire  upon  it,  at  about  two  hundred  yards  dis- 
tance, for  some  time. 

"To  Captain  Sands,  who  will  have  the  honor  of  handing  you 
this  dispatch,  I  refer  you  for  a  more  particular  account  of  the 
movements  of  the  enemy  than  may  be  contained  in  my  letters; 
his  services,  both  before  and  during  the  action,  were  of  great  im- 
portance, and  I  consider  fully  justify  me  in  having  detained  him. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  195 

Captain  Walsh  and  several  men  were  much  burned  in  the 
accidental  explosion  of  two  or  three  cartridges.  They  are  not 
included  in  the  list  of  the  wounded  heretofore  given. 

"The  enemy's  fleet,  this  morning  at  daybreak,  were  at  anchor 
in  the  channel,  about  four  miles  from  the  fort ;  shortly  after  it 
got  under  way  and  stood  to  sea  ;  after  passing  the  bar  they  hove 
to,  and  boats  have  been  constantly  passing  between  the  disabled 
brig  and  the  others.  I  presume  the  former  is  so  much  injured  as 
to  render  it  necessary  to  lighten  her. 

"At  fifteen  minutes  after  1  P.  M.  the  whole  fleet  made  sail, 
and  stood  to  sea.         I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

' '  William  Lawrence. 

"Major-General  Andrew  Jackson,  etc." 

General  Jackson  sent  back  a  very  complimentary 
reply  to  Major  Lawrence,  and,  on  the  17th,  started  a 
letter,  setting  forth  the  good  news,  on  its  long,  doubt- 
ful journey  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

This  was  an  important  engagement  for  several 
good  reasons ;  but  one  of  its  effects  was  to  decide  for 
General  Jackson  a  question  which  had,  for  a  long 
time,  been  uppermost  in  his  mind,  that  was  as  to  the 
propriety  of  his  marching  to  Pensacola,  in  the  Spanish 
territory,  and  breaking  up  the  nest  of  British  and 
Indians  collected  there  under  the  false  neutrality  of 
Spain.  The  Creeks  who  refused  to  come  under  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  and  who  were  yet  hostile  to 
the  United  States,  had  taken  refuge  under  the  Spanish 
flag  at  Pensacola,  where  they  were  not  only  supplied 
with  arms  by  the  Spanish  Governor,  but  also  incited 
to  continue  their  warfare  by  promises  of  other  aid. 
Of  this  Jackson  had  early  been  convinced. 

The  following  letter,  written  September  29, 1813,  to 
Weathersford  and  the  other  chiefs  of  the  war  party  by 
Gonzales  Manxique,  then  Governor  of  Florida,  which 
fell  into   his   hands,  only  confirmed   him  in   what  he 


196  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

had  always  felt  to  be  true  as  to  Spanish  intrigue  with 
the  Indians  and  hostility  to  the  United  States  : — 

"Gentlemen, — I  received  the  letter  that  you  wrote  me  in 
the  month  of  August,  by  which,  and  with  great  satisfaction,  I  was 
informed  of  the  advantages  which  your  brave  warriors  obtained 
over  your  enemies. 

"I  represented,  as  I  promised  you,  to  the  Captain-General  of 
the  Havana  the  request  (which  the  last  time  I  took  you  by  the 
hand)  you  made  me  of  arms  and  ammunitions ;  but  until  now  I 
can  not  yet  have  an  answer.  But  I  am  in  hopes  that  he  will  send 
me  the  effects  which  I  requested,  and  as  soon  as  I  receive  them  I 
shall  inform  you. 

"I  am  very  thankful  for  your  generous  offers  to  procure  to  me 
the  provisions  and  warriors  necessary  in  order  to  retake  the  post 
of  Mobile,  and  you  ask  me,  at  the  same  time,  if  we  have  given 
up  Mobile  to  the  Americans?  To  which  I  answer,  for  the  pres- 
ent, I  can  not  profit  of  your  generous  offer,  not  being  at  war  with 
the  Americans,  who  did  not  take  Mobile  by  force,  since  they  pur- 
chased it  from  the  miserable  oflBcer,  destitute  of  honor,  who  com- 
manded there,  and  delivered  it  without  authority;  by  which 
reasons  the  sale  and  delivery  of  that  place  is  entirely  void  and 
null,  and  I  hope  that  the  Americans  will  restore  it  again  to  us, 
because  nobody  can  dispose  of  a  thing  that  is  not  his  own  prop- 
erty ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  Spaniards  have  not  lost  their 
right  to  it ;  and  I  hope  you  will  not  put  in  execution  the  project 
you  tell  me  of,  to  burn  the  tmvn,  since  those  houses  and  properties 
do  not  belong  to  the  Americans  but  to  true  Spaniards. 

"To  the  bearers  of  your  letter  I  have  ordered  some  small 
presents  to  be  given,  and  I  remain  forever  your  good  father 
and  friend.         (Signed,)  Manxique." 

From  Fort  Jackson,  soon  after  beginning  the  In- 
dian Treaty,  the  General  had  sent  responsible  men,  at 
different  times,  to  discover  what  was  going  on  at  Ap- 
palachicola,  Fort  Barrancas,  and  Pensacola.  The  state 
of  the  case  was  placed  before  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  finally  in  one  of  his  letters  he  wrote  : — 

"If  the  hostile  Creeks  have  taken  refuge  in  Florida,  and  are 
there  fed,  clothed,  and  protected  ;  if  the  British   have   landed   a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  197 

large  force,  and  munitions  of  war,  and  are  fortifying  and  stirring 
up  the  savages;  will  you  only  say  to  me,  raise  a  few  hundred 
militia,  which  can  be  quickly  done,  and  with  such  regular  force 
as  can  be  conveniently  collected,  make  a  descent  upon  Pensacola, 
and  reduce  it?  If  so,  I  promise  you  the  war  in  the  South  shall 
have  a  speedy  termination,  and  English  influence  be  forever 
destroyed  with  the  savages  in  this  quarter." 

But  he  got  no  answer  from  the  Secretary.  On  the 
15th  of  July  a  reply  had  been  written  by  General 
Armstrong,  but  it  did  not  reach  Jackson,  for  some 
reason,  until  after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  the 
country  was  at  peace  with  all  her  enemies.  Although 
it  did  not  contain  the  authority  for  which  General 
Jackson  asked,  it  did  intimate  what  would  have  led 
him  to  the  step  which  Fort  Bowyer  settled  as  advisa- 
ble for  him.  It  acknowledged  that  if  the  Spanish 
authorities  were  doing  as  he  represented,  and  if  the 
Indians  were  gathering  in  force  in  Spanish  territory 
to  fall  upon  the  people  of  this  country,  and  if  the 
British  were  using  this  neutral  territory  to  organize 
warfare  on  the  United  States,  then  he  would  be  jus- 
tified in  entering  Spanish  territory  with  his  army. 
This  was  exactly  what  he  discovered  to  be  the  state 
of  affairs,  and  would  have  acted  on  the  argument  as 
authority  for  his  course.  But  a  hint  would  have  been 
enough  for  him. 

But  General  Jackson  first  concluded,  as  he  gener- 
ally did,  to  try  the  virtue  of  words.  He  began  an 
interesting  correspondence  with  the  Governor  of  Pen- 
sacola, now  Maurequez,  which  lasted  some  time,  and 
resulted  in  nothing.  The  General  wrote  in  his  stiff, 
dictatorial  style,  and  the  Spaniard  just  bubbled  over 
with  dignity,  contemptuousness,  and  warlike  defiance. 
He  would  not  give  up  the   Indians   nor    do   anything 


198  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

that  Jackson  asked.     Finally,  to  end  the  useless   cor- 
respondence, the  General  said  : — 

"Were  I  clothed  with  diplomatic  power  for  the  purpose  of 
discussing  the  topics  embraced  in  the  wide  range  of  injuries  of 
which  you  complain,  and  which  have  long  since  been  adjusted,  I 
could  easily  demonstrate  that  the  United  States  have  been  always 
faithful  to  their  treaties,  steadfast  in  their  friendships,  nor  have 
ever  claimed  anything  that  was  not  warranted  by  justice.  They 
have  endured  many  insults  from  the  governors .  and  other  officers 
of  Spain,  which,  if  sanctioned  by  their  sovereign,  amounted  to 
acts  of  war,  without  any  previous  declaration  on  •  the  subject. 
They  have  excited  the  savages  to  war,  and  afforded  them  the 
means  of  waging  it;  the  property  of  our  citizens  has  been  cap- 
tured at  sea,  and  if  compensation  has  not  been  refused,  it  has  at 
least  been  withheld.  But  as  no  such  powers  have  been  delegated 
to  me,  I  shall  not  assume  them,  but  leave  them  to  the  represen- 
tatives of  our  respective  governments. 

"  I  have  the  honor  of  being  intrusted  with  the  command  of 
this  district.  Charged  with  its  protection  and  the  safety  of  its 
citizens,  I  feel  my  ability  to  discharge  the  task,  and  trust  your 
excellency  will  always  find  me  ready  and  willing  to  go  forward 
in  the  performance  of  that  duty,  whenever  circumstances  shall 
render  it  necessary.  I  agree  with  you,  perfectly,  that  candor 
and  polite  language  should,  at  all  times,  characterize  the  commu- 
nications between  the  officers  of  friendly  sovereignties;  and  I 
assert,  without  the  fear  of  contradiction,  that  my  former  letters 
were  couched  in  terms  the  most  respectful  and  unexceptionable. 
I  only  requested,  and  did  not  demand,  as  you  have  asserted,  the 
ringleaders  of  the  Creek  confederacy,  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
your  town,  and  who  had  violated  all  laws,  moral,  civil,  and 
divine.  This  I  had  a  right  to  do,  from  the  treaty  which  I  sent 
you,  and  which  I  now  again  inclose,  with  a  request  that  you 
will  change  your  translation,  believing,  as  I  do,  that  your  former 
one  was  wrong,  and  has  deceived  you.  What  kind  of  an  answer 
you  returned,  a  reference  to  your  letter  will  explain.  The  whole 
of  it  breathed  nothing  but  hostility,  grounded  upon  assumed 
facts  and  false  charges,  and  entirely  evading  the  inquiries  that 
had  been  made. 

' '  I  can  but  express  my  astonishment  at  your  protest  against 
the   cession    on    the   Alabama,    lying   within    the    acknowledged 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  199 

jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  which  has  been  ratified  in 
due  form  by  the  principal  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  nation. 
But  my  astonishment  subsides,  when,  on  comparing  it,  I  find  it 
upon  a  par  with  the  rest  of  your  letter  and  conduct;  taken 
together,  they  aflTord  a  sufiicient  justification  for  any  conse- 
quences that  may  ensue.  My  Government  will  protect  every 
inch  of  her  territory,  her  citizens,  and  their  property,  from  insult 
and  depredation,  regardless  of  the  political  revolutions  of 
Europe ;  and  although  she  has  been  at  all  times  sedulous  to  pre- 
serve a  good  understanding  with  all  the  world,  yet  she  has  sacred 
rights  that  can  not  be  trampled  upon  with  impunity.  Spain  had 
better  look  to  her  own  intestine  commotions,  before  she  walks 
forth  in  that  majesty  of  strength  and  power  which  you  threaten 
to  draw  upon  the  United  States. 

"Your  excellency  has  been  candid  enough  to  admit  your 
having  supplied  the  Indians  with  arms.  In  addition  to  this,  I 
have  learned  that  a  British  flag  has  been  seen  flying  over  one  of 
your  forts.  All  this  is  done  whilst  you  are  pretending  to  be  neu- 
tral. You  can  not  be  surprised,  then,  but  on  the  contrary  will 
provide  a  fort  in  your  town  for  my  soldiers  and  Indians,  should 
I  take  it  in  my  head  to  pay  you  a  visit. 

"  In  future,  I  beg  you,  withhold  your  insulting  charges 
against  my  Government,  for  one  more  inclined  to  listen  to  slan- 
der than  I  am ;  nor  consider  me  any  more  as  a  diplomatic 
character,  unless  as  proclaimed  to  you  from  the  mouths  of  my 
cannon." 

Besides  the  testimony  of  the  agents  the  General 
had  sent  out,  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  Gov- 
ernor, the  British  officers  made  no  secret  of  their 
movements.  At  all  events,  Edward  Nichols,  the  com- 
mander of  the  land  force,  used  every  means  under 
his  control  to  make  his  purposes  generally  known. 

On  the  25th  of  August  several  British  war-ves- 
sels arrived  at  Pensacola,  and  threw  a  strong  garrison 
into  the  fort  below.  A  few  days  subsequently  Nichols 
issued  a  proclamation,  which  he  desired  to  have  cir- 
culated throughout  the  country,  addressed  especially 
to   the    people    of    Louisiana   and   Kentucky,   and    in 


200  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

which  he  made  some  wild  promises  in  a  kind  of  mean- 
ingless verbosity. 

Nichols's  bombastic  address  to  his  soldiers  was  also 
circulated  through  General  Jackson's  camp,  and  sent 
throughout  the  country.  But  all  of  this  folly  had  an 
effect  quite  contrar}'-  to  his  design.  The  Americans 
were  indignant,  and  a  general  desire  arose  in  favor 
of  Jackson  proceeding  against  this  audacious  fellow  on 
grounds  that  were  very  clearly  neutral  only  in  name. 

At  this  time  another  name  of  some  historic  interest, 
not  wholly  bad,  became  involved  in  the  war  on  the  Gulf. 
It  was  that  of  Jean  Lafitte,  who  was  called  the  "Pi- 
rate of  the  Gulf."  Lafitte  had  been  a  blacksmith  in 
New  Orleans,  and  was  a  Frenchman  by  birth.  In 
the  general  disorganization  of  the  power  of  Europe 
in  the  Western  World,  which  followed  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  the  waters 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea  espe- 
cially became  the  center  of  a  vast  system  of  priva- 
teering, which  often  degenerated  into  the  worst  kind 
of  piracy.  When  Colombia,  South  America,  declared 
her  determination  to  be  free  from  Spain,  she  issued 
commissions  to  great  numbers  of  adventurous  men  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  to  prey  upon  Spanish 
commerce.  Many  of  the  citizens  of  New  Orleans  be- 
came interested  in  this  new  road  to  fortune,  and 
many  of  the  great  estates  of  Louisiana  were,  perhaps, 
founded  on  the  results  of  this  freebooting  business. 

Although  it  was  contrary  to  the  neutrality  laws  in 
letter  and  spirit,  and  the  rules  regulating  the  reve- 
nues of  the  Government,  it  is  true  that  most  of  the 
citizens  of  New  Orleans  who  engaged  in  this  piracy 
forever  went  free  of  censure  or  condemnation. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  201 

Jean  Lafitte  and  his  brother  Pierre  early  fell  into 
this  contraband  pursuit,  at  first  acting  only  as  agents 
in  New  Orleans  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  this 
privateering.  But  the  field  was  too  inviting  for  men 
of  such  character,  and  soon  the  blacksmith  left  his 
anvil,  and  being  a  man  of  really  fine  parts  and  admi- 
rable address,  he  was  not  long  in  becoming  the  leader 
of  a  band  of  robbers  on  the  Gulf.  They  established 
their  depot  on  the  Island  of  Grande  Terre,  and  called 
it  Barataria. 

This  "Home  of  the  Pirates"  was  situated  about 
forty  miles  south  of  New  Orleans,  and  was  connected 
with  that  city  by  a  narrow,  tortuous  bayou,  which 
several  times  in  its  course  expanded  into  lakes,  at  its 
north  end  terminated  a  mile  or  two  above  New  Or- 
leans, and  as  far  from  the  Mississippi,  and  at  the 
other  end  had  two  narrow  entrances  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  The  little  bay  of  Barataria  was  secure  from 
the  larger  vessels  of  war,  and  had  an  admirably  safe 
retreat  for  the  fleet,  daring  craft  that  operated  from  it. 
At  the  time  General  Jackson  took  charge  of  the  south- 
western department  the  operations  of  these  warlike 
smugglers  had  become  a  matter  of  general  concern. 

The  bayou  terminating  near  New  Orleans  had  be- 
come a  great  thoroughfare  of  trade.  People  were 
making  fortunes  trading  with  the  "  Pirates."  But  so 
open  was  the  violation  of  international  laws  and  the 
revenue  laws  of  the  Nation,  that,  for  the  honor  of 
Louisiana,  only  recently  become  a  part  of  the  Re- 
public, it  was  deemed  necessary  to  break  up  the  retreat 
at  Barataria.  Jean  Lafitte's  fame  was  already  wide- 
spread, and,  although  he  was  neither  a  soldier  nor  a 
sailor,  he  was  both  feared  and  courted. 


202  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

On  the  second  or  third  day  of  September,  1814, 
Captain  Lockyer  with  his  vessel,  the  Sophia,  appeared 
off  the  entrance  to  Barataria.  He  was  on  a  mission 
to  Lafitte,  the  "  Pirate."'  The  British  Government 
never  hesitated  as  to  the  manner  of  men  she  could 
bring  to  the  support  of  her  cause. 

In  the  Revolutionary  war  she  had  acquired  this 
reputation.  In  this  war  she  had  already  fully  main- 
tained her  former  standing.  On  the  Canadian  border 
the  savage  allies  had  sustained  their  place  in  the 
esteem  of  their  British  friends.  At  this  very  time 
Woodbine,  at  Pensacola,  was  drilling  several  hundred 
Creeks,  ridiculously  incased  in  the  red  coats  of  the 
British  soldier,  to  form  a  corps  of  scalpers  for  the 
royal  army  about  to  be  transferred  from  the  conquest 
of  Napoleon  to  the  conquest  of  America.  And  now 
they  wanted  to  buy  the  services  of  a  person  whom 
they  deemed  one  of  the  most  dangerous  men  of  the 
age.  Captain  Lockyer  and  two  other  officers  held  a 
consultation  on  shore  with  Lafitte,  and  Percy  offered 
him  a  commission  as  captain  in  the  British  navy  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  if  he  would  enter  their  service 
against  the  United  States.  Percy  set  forth  the  case 
in  a  letter  to  him  ;  and  he  was  given  a  copy  of  Nich- 
ols's proclamation,  and  shown  a  letter  from  the  redoubt- 
able Irish  knight. 

Captain  Lockyer  also  informed  him  of  the  British 
designs  as  to  the  capture  of  New  Orleans,  etc.,  and 
assured  him  that  his  rendezvous  should  be  broken  up  if 
he  did  not  comply  with  the  British  demand.  Lafitte 
asked  two  weeks  in  which  to  decide  and  prepare,  con- 
veying the  impression,  however,  that  at  that  time  he 
would  be  ready  to  accept  the  offer.     The  sloop  with 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  203 


Lockyer  then  sailed  away. with  a  promise  to  return 
in  fifteen  days.  How  Lockyer  and  his  vessel  were 
employed    in    the    meantime    has,    to    some    extent, 

been  seen.  . 

Lafitte  at  once   set   a,bout  putting    his   information 
before   Governor  Claiborne,    of  Louisiana.     Whatever 
else  Lafitte  was,  he  was  a  friend  of  America.     Not  less 
so   perhaps,   as    he   now  showed  by  his  actions,  than 
Edward   Livingston,  who   had  long  been  his  attorney, 
or   than    many   others   whose  acts   and  conduct  were 
never  suspected.     Lafitte  believed  his  pursuit  was  the 
natural  result   of   defective    laws    more  than   a  crime 
against  his  adopted  country.     He  also  operated  under 
a  commission  from  a  government  that  the  Umted  States 
was  greatly  disposed  to  favor.     At  any  rate  he  hoped 
to  recover  his  lost  honor  as  a  citizen  by  his  patriotism 
exhibited  under  circumstances  furnishing  enticing  temp- 
tations to  a  very  opposite  course. 

He  immediately  sent  to  the  Governor  the  papers  he 
had  received  from  Captain  Lockyer,  and  gave  him  all 
other  information  as  to  the  designs  of  the  British. 
And  in  his  own  defense  he  wrote  to  Blanque,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Louisiana  Legislature  :— 

«  You  will  see  the  advantages  I  might  have  derived  from  that 
kind  of  association.     I  may  have  evaded  the  payment  of  dutie 
to  the  custom-house,  but  I  have  never  ceased  to  be  a  good  citizen; 
and  all  the  offenses  I  have  committed  I  was  forced  to  by  certain 
vtes  in  our  laws.     In  short,  sir,  I  make  you  the  depositary  of 
Te  secret  on  which  perhaps  depends  the  tranquillity  of  our  ccnin- 
t;; ;  please  to  make  such  use  of  it  as  y^-^^-^^^f.^^^^^^'X, 
I  might  expatiate  on  this  proof  of  patriotism,  but  I  let  the  fact 
spTak  for  itself.     I  presume,  however,  to  hcpe  that  such  proceed- 
ngs   may   obtain  amelioration  of  the  situation   of  my  unhappy 
brother    with  which  view  I  recommend  him  particularly  to  your 
influen  e.     It  is  in  the  bosom  of  a  just  man,  of  a  true  American 


204  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

endowed  with  all  other  qualities  that  are  honored  in  society,  that 
I  think  I  am  depositing  the  interests  of  our  common  country, 
and  what  particularly  concerns  myself. 

"Our  enemies  have  endeavored  to  work  on  me  by  a  motive 
which  few  men  would  have  resisted.  They  represented  to  me  a 
brother  in  irons — a  brother  who  is  to  me  very  dear ;  whose  deliv- 
erer I  might  become,  and  I  declined  the  proposal.  Well  persuaded 
of  bis  innocence,  I  am  free  from  apprehension  as  to  the  issue  of 
a  trial ;  but  he  is  sick,  and  not  in  a  place  where  he  can  receive 
the  attention  his  state  requires.  I  recommend  him  to  you  in  the 
name  of  humanity." 

In  his  letter  to  the  Governor,  he  said  : — 

*  *  In  the  firm  persuasion  that  the  choice  made  of  you  to  fill  the 
office  of  first  magistrate  of  this  State  was  dictated  by  the  esteem 
of  your  fellow-citizens,  and  was  conferred  on  merit,  I  confidently 
address  you  on  an  affair  on  which  may  depend  the  safety  of  this 
country. 

"I  offer  to  you  to  restore  to  this  State  several  citizens,  who, 
perhaps,  in  your  eyes  have  lost  that  sacred  title.  I  offer  you 
them,  however,  such  as  you  could  wish  to  find  them,  ready  to  ex- 
ert their  utmost  efforts  in  defense  of  the  country.  This  point  of 
Louisiana  which  I  occupy  is  of  great  importance  in  the  present 
crisis.  I  tender  my  services  to  defend  it ;  and  the  only  reward  I 
ask  is  that  a  stop  be  put  to  the  proscription  against  me  and  my 
adherents,  by  an  act  of  oblivion  for  all  that  has  been  done  hitli- 
erto.  I  am  the  stray  sheep  wishing  to  return  to  the  sheepfold. 
If  you  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  my  offenses 
I  should  appear  to  you  much  less  guilty,  and  still  worthy  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  a  good  citizen.  I  have  never  sailed  under 
any  flag  but  that  of  the  republic  of  Carthagena,  and  my  vessels 
are  perfectly  regular  in  that  respect.  If  I  could  have  brought 
my  lawful  prizes  into  the  ports  of  this  State  I  should  not  have 
employed  the  illicit  means  that  have  caused  me  to  be  proscribed. 
I  decline  saying  more  on  the  subject  until  I  have  the  honor  of 
your  excellency's  answer,  which  I  am  persuaded  can  be  dictated 
only  by  wisdom.  Should  your  answer  not  be  favorable  to  my 
ardent  desires,  I  declare  to  you  that  I  will  instantly  leave  the 
country,  to  avoid  tlie  imputation  of  having  co-operated  towards 
an  invasion  on  this  point  which  can  not  fail  to  take  place,  and  to 
rest  secure  in  the  acquittal  of  my  own  conscience." 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


205 


Already  one  of  Lafitte's  brothers  was  in  prison  in 
New  Orleans,  and  indictments  were  pending  against  all 
Barataria.  Indeed,  the  authorities  had  determined  to 
break  up  the  "  Pirates'  Retreat." 

The  letters  and  papers  from  the  British  officers, 
and  the  whole  case  presented  by  Lafitte  was  generally 
believed  to  be  a  scheme  of  his  own  to  preserve  his  vast 
ill-gotten  gains,  and  restore  himself  to  the  favor  of  his 
State.  But  Governor  Claiborne  believed  Jean  was 
telling  the  exact  truth,  and  accordingly  placed  the 
matter  before  General  Jackson,  who  took  the  same 
view,  but  failed  to  see  the  virtues  of  the  patriot  pri- 
vateer. The  feeling  against  the  pirates  was  too  great 
to  be  easily  set  aside.  The  expedition  against  Bara- 
taria was  sent  under  command  of  Commodore  Patter- 
son, who  found  his  task  an  easy  one.  These  bold, 
fearless  adventurers  refused  to  fight  against  the  flag  of 
their  country.  Some  of  them  sought  safety  in  flight, 
others  gave  themselves  up.  The  booty  was  immense, 
but  by  no  means  such  as  had  been  set  forth  in  the 
many  lying  tales  of  the  "  Pirates'  Retreat." 

It  has  been  held,  unfortunately  with  no  little  show 
of  truth,  that  this  expedition  for  the  destruction  of 
Barataria  was  instigated  more  by  cupidity  than  by 
patriotism  or  any  of  the  moral  virtues ;  more  from  the 
desire  to  get  possession  of  the  fabulous  wealth,  how- 
ever it  may  have  been  obtained,  than  from  detestation 
of  the  skill  that  evaded  the  law,  or  the  sophistry 
which  attempted  to  reconcile  the  crime  to  the  common 
notion  of  citizenship,  correct  and  well  enough  when 
untried.  Edward  Livingston  and  others,  who  had  full 
confidence  in  the  representations  of  Lafitte,  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  arousing  the  people  of  New  Orleans  to  take 


206  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

steps  for  their  defense.  But  Lafitte's  good  service  in 
this  case  brought  him  little  benefit,  although  the  trial 
of  the  pirates  left  no  certain  evidence  of  the  crime  of 
piracy.  One  thing,  at  least,  may  be  said  of  Lafitte, 
that  however  unfortunate  the  result  of  his  case,  and 
however  great  his  disappointments,  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  his  cherished  hope  of  restoration  to  honor- 
able citizenship,  he  never  ceased  to  be  patriotically 
devoted  to  his  adopted  country.  Poor  Jean  was  not 
destitute  of  good  qualities  among  his  many  bad  ones. 
In  1817,  with  all  his  earthly  possessions,  he  left  the 
United  States  to  seek  a  home  where  his  name  might 
not  be  a  source  of  terror  to  those  around  him  ;  but  in 
a  great  storm  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  he  lost  his  life. 
Lafitte  was  not  wicked  from  choice,  nor  did  he  exert 
his  ability  to  injure  the  world.  The  great  evil  the  race 
received  from  him  was  in  the  flood  of  infernal  poison 
in  the  shape  of  piratical  romances  to  which  his  real, 
supposed,  and  imaginary  career  gave  rise. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  207 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  VISITS  PENSACOLA  WITH  THREE  THOU- 
SAND MEN— DRIVES  THE    BRITISH  OUT   OF   FLORIDA— 
THE  ONE  MAN  AT  NEW  ORLEANS— THE  BRITISH 
ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  -PREPARATIONS  FOR 
THE    CONFLICT. 

SOON  after  the  battle  of  Fort  Bowyer,  General  Jack- 
son received  Governor  Claiborne's  report  of  the  dis- 
closures of  Lafitte ;  and  on  the  21st  of  September  he 
issued  a  characteristic  proclamation,  in  which  he  says  : — 

"  Louisianians  !  The  Government  of  your  choice  is  engaged 
in  a  just  and  honorable  contest  for  the  security  of  your  individual 
and  her  national  rights — on  you,  a  part  of  America,  the  only 
country  on  earth  where  every  man  enjoys  freedom — where  its 
blessings  are  alike  extended  to  the  poor  and  the  rich — she  calls 
to  protect  these  rights  from  the  invading  usurpation  of  Britain ; 
and  she  calls  not  in  vain.  I  well  know -that  every  man  whose 
soul  beats  high  at  the  proud  title  of  freeman  ;  that  every  Louis- 
ianian,  either  by  birth  or  adoption-,  will  promptly  obey  the  voice 
of  his  country,  will  rally  round  the  eagle  of  Columbia,  secure  it 
from  the  pending  danger,  or  nobly  die  in  the  last  ditch  in  its 
defense." 

This  intense  outburst  of  patriotism  was  not  with- 
out influence.  The  fiery  soldier  had  not  long  to  wait 
for  the  gathering  of  troops.  His  appeals  to  Tennes- 
seeans  were  everywhere  heeded,  but  somehow  the 
men  from  the  General's  own  State  were  greatly  prone 
to  be  mutinous.  At  this  time  while  waiting  for  the 
collection  of  an    army   occurred  the  notorious   mutiny 


208  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  Tennessee  militia  by  which  some  of  them 
lost  their  lives,  an  event  which  many  years  afterwards 
became  the  foundation  of  serious  charges  against  the 
conduct  and  character  of  Jackson. 

On  the  25th  of  October  General  John  Coffee 
arrived  at  Fort  St.  Stephen,  on  the  Mobile  River, 
with  2.800  men.  On  the  following  day  Jackson  him- 
self took  command  of  this  force.  No  word  of  instruc- 
tion had  yet  come  from  the  War  Department.  He 
had  now  seen  enough  to  convince  him  as  to  the  step 
he  should  take  ;  and  accordingly  determined  to  enter 
Florida  and  rout  the  British  and  Indians,  and  bring 
the  pompous  Spanish  Governor  to  a  sense  of  his  duty 
as  the  agent  of  an  ostensibly  neutral  nation.  He  con- 
cluded, very  patriotically,  that  the  worst  that  could 
come  of  his  assuming  this  responsibility  would  be  to 
suffer  for  it  himself.  That  the  Government  could  be 
seriously  involved  by  it  with  Spain,  he  did  not  believe. 
In  a  spasm  of  wild  enthusiasm  one  of  General  Jack- 
son's biographers  said  of  him  in  relation  to  this 
matter  : — 

"  Having  been  educated  as  a  jurist,  he  was  versed  in  princi- 
ples of  the  law  of  nations.  He  had  a  knowledge  of  the  obli- 
gations which  one  government  owes  to  another ;  he  was  aware  of 
the  acts  which  this  code  would  justify  in  a  belligerent  power,  and 
the  duty  it  enjoined  upon  a  power  that  was  professed  a  neutral 
one. 

Andrew  Jackson  educated  as  a  jurist,  and  skilled  in 
the  principles  of  the  laws  of  nations  ! !  The  simple 
state  of  the  case  was  that  General  Jackson  believed 
the  work  he  was  about  to  undertake  was  right  in  itself, 
and  hoped  the  country  would  carry  him  out  in  it.  His 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nations  did  not  go  further 
than  this,  nor  did  he  care  to  clog  his  steps  with  theories 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  209 

and  principles.  Then,  too,  the  people  at  the  South 
were  clamoring  for  the  execution  of  the  purpose  he 
had  in  view. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  with  three  thousand  menj 
General  Jackson  set  out  on  a  three  days'  march  to 
Pensacola,  where  he  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the 
6th.  But  the  Spanish  Governor  and  his  British 
friends  had  heard  of  the  approach  of  the  Americans, 
and  were  prepared  to  receive  them,  as  they  supposed. 
General  Jackson  without  delay  sent  Major  Pierre  with 
a  flag  of  truce,  but  the  bearer  was  fired  upon  and  not 
allowed  to  deliver  his  message.  Later  in  the  night  a 
Spaniard  who  had  fallen  into  the  army  the  day  before 
was  sent  to  the  Governor  whom  he  found  in  excite- 
ment and  doubt,  and  ready  to  save  himself  by  any 
proper  course.  It  was  also  ascertained  that  the  British 
had  fired  on  the  flag  of  truce,  although  the  Spanish 
flag  alone  was  displayed  over  Fort  St.  George.  Major 
Pierre  was  nov/  sent  again,  and  this  time  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Spanish  Governor  to  inform  him  that  the 
American  General  had  appeared  before  Pensacola,  not  as 
an  enemy  to  Spain,  but  for  the  purpose  of  ridding  the 
country  of  a  treacherous  foe,  and  to  take  charge  of  the 
fort  then  in  possession  of  the  British  with  all  muni- 
tions of  war,  and  that  the  fort  and  its  arms  would 
be  held  to  his  advantage  in  preserving  the  neutrality 
to  which  he  pretended.  The  Governor  was  allowed  an 
hour  in  which  to  make  his  decision,  and  in  order  to 
help  him  to  a  proper  conclusion,  he  was  reminded  that 
the  blood  shed  would  be  upon  his  head,  if  the  Ameri- 
cans were  compelled  to  resort  to  force.  Late  in  the 
night  Pierre  returned  to  General  Jackson  with  the 
answer  that  his  terms  were  not  acceptable. 

14— G 


210  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  following  letter  to  Governor  Blount  will  show 
what  then  happened  : — 

"  Head-quakters,  7th  Military  District,  1 
"Tensaw,  November,  1814.  ( 

"Sir, — On  last  evening  I  returned  from  Pensacola  to  this 
place.  I  reached  that  post  on  the  evening  of  the  6th.  On  my 
approach,  I  sent  Major  Pierre  with  a  flag  to  communicate  the 
object  of  my  visit  to  the  Governor  of  Pensacola.  He  approached 
Fort  St.  George,  with  his  flag  displayed,  and  was  fired  on  by  the 
cannon  from  the  fort ;  he  returned  and  made  report  thereof  to 
me.  I  immediately  went  with  the  adjutant-general  and  the 
major,  with  a  small  escort,  and  viewed  the  fort,  and  found  it 
defended  by  both  British  and  Spanish  troops.  I  immediately 
determined  to  storm  the  town  ;  retired  and  encamped  my  troops 
for  the  night,  and  made  the  necessary  arrangements,  to  carry  my 
determination  into  effect  the  next  day. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  I  marched  with  the  effective 
regulars  of  the  3d,  39th,  and  4th  Infantry  ;  part  of  General  Cof- 
fee's brigade;  the  Mississippi  dragoons,  and  part  of  the  West 
Tennessee  regiment,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ham- 
monds (Colonel  Lowry  having  deserted  and  gone  home),  and 
part  of  the  Choctaws  led  by  Major  Blue,  of  the  39th,  and  Major 
Kennedy,  of  Mississippi  Territory.  Being  encamped  on  the  west 
of  the  town,  I  calculated  they  would  expect  the  assault  from 
that  quarter,  and  be  prepared  to  rake  me  from  the  fort,  and 
the  British  armed  vessels,  seven  in  number,  that  lay  in  the 
bay.  To  cherish  this  idea,  I  sent  out  part  of  the  mounted  men 
to  show  themselves  on  the  west,  whilst  I  passed  in  rear  of  the 
fort  undiscovered  to  the  east  of  the  town.  When  I  appeared 
within  a  mile,  I  was  in  full  view.  My  pride  was  never  more 
heightened  than  in  viewing  the  uniform  firmness  of  my  troops, 
and  with  what  undaunted  courage  they  advanced,  with  a  strong 
fort  ready  to  assail  them  on  the  right,  seven  British  armed  ves- 
sels on  the  left,  strong  block-houses  and  batteries  of  cannon  in 
their  front;  but  they  still  advanced  with  unshaken  firmness, 
entered  the  town,  when  a  battery  of  two  cannon  was  opened 
upon  the  center  column,  composed  of  regulars,  with  ball  and 
grape,  and  a  shower  of  musketry  from  the  houses  and  gardens. 
The  battery  was  immediately  stormed  by  Captain  Levall  and 
company,  and  carried,  and  the  musketry  was  soon  silenced  by 
the  steady  and  well-directed  fire  of  the  regulars. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  211 

"  The  Governor  met  Colonels  Williamson  and  Smith,  who 
led  the  dismounted  volunteers,  with  a  flag,  begged  for  mercy, 
and  surrendered  the  town  and  fort,  unconditionally.  Mercy  was 
granted,  and  protection  given  to  the  citizens  and  their  property, 
and  still  Spanish  treachery  kept  us  out  of  possession  of  the  fort, 
until  nearly  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

"  Never  was  more  cool  determined  bravery  displayed  by  any 
troops  ;  and  the  Choctaws  advanced  to  the  charge  with  equal 
bravery. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  I  prepared  to  march  and  storm 
the  Barrancas,  but  before  I  could  move,  tremendous  explosions 
told  me  that  the  Barrancas,  with  all  its  appendages,  was  blown 
up.  I  dispatched  a  detachment  of  two  hundred  men  to  explore 
it,  who  returned  in  the  night  with  the  information  that  it  was 
blown  up ;  all  the  combustible  parts  burnt,  and  the  cannon 
spiked  and  dismounted,  except  two.  This  being  the  case,  I 
determined  to  withdraw  my  troops  ;  but  before  I  did,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  British  depart.  Colonel  Nichols  abandoned 
the  fort  on  the  night  of  the  6th,  and  betook  himself  to  his 
shipping,  with  his  friend  Captain  Woodbine,  and  their  red 
friends. 

"The  steady  firmness  of  my  troops  has  drawn  a  just  respect 
from  our  enemies.  It  has  convinced  the  Red  Sticks,  that  they 
have  no  strong  hold  or  protection,  only  in  the  friendship  of  the 
United  States.  The  good  order  and  conduct  of  my  troops  whilst 
in  Pensacola  has  convinced  the  Spaniards  of  our  friendship  and 
our  prowess,  and  has  drawn  from  the  citizens  an  expression  that 
our  Choctaws  are  more  civilized  than  the  British. 
"  In  great  haste,  I  am,  etc., 

"  Andrew  Jackson." 

Fort  Barrancas  was  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor, 
six  miles  below  Pensacola,  and  was  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  the  English.  When  the  fort  was  blown  up 
the  British  garrison  and  all  their  troops  were  carried 
out  in  the  ships  under  Percy.  General  Jackson  not 
knowing  where  they  would  next  turn  up,  and  fearing 
they  might  direct  their  attention  towards  Mobile  in 
his  absence,  at   once  withdrew  all  his   force   from  the 


212  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Spanish  territory,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  11th 
reached  Mobile. 

He  soon  afterwards  found  that  Nichols  and  all  the 
land  troops  had  been  conveyed  to  Appalachicola,  which 
they  were  preparing  to  make  their  base  of  operations. 
Having  taken  one  bold  step,  General  Jackson  was  not 
slow  to  take  another.  His  education  as  a  "jurist" 
greatly  helped  him !  Accordingly  a  body  of  Indians 
and  Americans  was  sent  immediately  against  Appa- 
lachicola,  and  without  much  trouble  the  British  In- 
dians were  dispersed,  and  Colonel  Nichols  driven  from 
Florida.  A  cry  was  now  raised  against  Jackson  for 
this  invasion  of  Florida,  as  being  an  unnecessary  in- 
fringement of  the  rights  of  peaceful  neutral  powers, 
and  as  likely  to  involve  the  United  States  in  a  war 
with  Spain.  And  many  years  afterwards,  in  Presi- 
dential campaigns,  this  so-called  unwarranted  and  cer- 
tainly unauthorized  invasion  of  Florida  was  brought 
with  every  possible  show  of  censure  before  the  public. 
But  little  was  accomplished  by  this.  Jackson's  popu- 
larity appeared  to  increase  by  opposition.  Nor  did  it 
amount  to  any  thing  serious  with  Spain.  And  in  all 
probability  General  Jackson  did  right.  One  thing  is 
quite  certain,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  an  American 
to-day  who  would  deliberately  pronounce  this  invasion 
of  Florida  a  Jackson  faux  pas. 

It  was  directly  urged  and  justified  by  the  attack 
on  Fort  Bowyer,  and  all  the  other  circumstances  in 
the  case  rendered  it  the  only  course  left  for  the  safety 
of  the  country.  It  was  a  necessity.  The  Spanish 
Governor  was  not  only  powerless  to  prevent  the  Brit- 
ish soldiers  and  adventurers  from  gathering  in  his  ter- 
ritory, but   was   also    in   sympathy    with    them,   and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  213 

was  aiding  and  abetting  them  in  making  it  a  safe 
rendezvous  for  them  to  prepare  for  invading  the  United 
States.  If  the  British  could  not  be  dislodged  from 
this  territory,  they  could  safely  make  it  the  point  of 
organizing  all  their  operations  in  the  South.  This 
charge  of  wrong-doing  against  General  Jackson  long 
ago  justly  fell  to  the  ground.  It  never  deserved  se- 
rious notice  among  Americans,  and  never  could  have 
attracted  any  except  in  partisan  conflicts  where  little 
regard  is  paid  to  truth  or  patriotism. 

On  the  22d  of  November,  General  Jackson  left 
Mobile  for  New  Orleans^  which  place  he  now  shrewdly 
believed  was  to  become  the  seat  of  war.  On  the  2d 
of  December,  he  reached  that  city,  and  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Daniel  Clark,  was  introduced  to  committees 
from  the  State  and  city  authorities,  headed  by  Gov- 
ernor W.  C.  C.  Claiborne.  He  was  received  in  an 
earnest  and  patriotic  speech  from  the  Governor,  and 
made  a  brief  reply,  which  was  translated  and  delivered 
in  French  by  Edward  Livingston,  a  member  of  the 
committee,  and  the  first  lawyer  of  New  Orleans. 

After  this  ceremony  the  General  proceeded  to  a 
building  on  Royal  Street,  which  the  appearance  of  the 
stars  and  stripes  soon  showed  to  be  the  head-quarters 
of  the  man  who  was  to  infuse  life  and  harmony  into 
the  conduct  of  a  confused  and  divided  community. 
New  Orleans  then  had  a  population  of  over  twenty 
thousand  people,  and  was  the  most  foreign-like  of  all 
the  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  majority  spoke 
the  French  language,  and  although  largely  American 
born,  were  characterized  by  the  French  national  traits. 
The  Spanish  residents  were  those  who  had  become 
citizens  under  the  old  Spanish  reign.     There  was  also 


214  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

a  considerable  sprinkling  of  Irish,  English,  and  other 
nationalities,  besides  the  Americans  who  had  settled 
there  at  times  from  various  parts  of  the  Union,  and 
who  were  at  the  head  of  the  business,  as  well  as  of 
the  patriotism  of  the  place. 

Although  immediately  after  the  valuable  disclosures 
made  by  Jean  Lafitte  were  publicly  divulged,  Septem- 
ber 12th,  Edward  Livingston  had  called  a  public  meet- 
ing to  devise  means  for  the  common  defense,  yet  little 
had  been  done.  It  was  a  community  of  suspicions  and 
dissensions.  A  majority  of  the  Legislature  was  at  war 
with  Governor  Claiborne,  and  opposed  all  of  his  meas- 
ures for  the  emergency  ;  not,  perhaps,  from  a  lack  of 
patriotism,  but  through  intense,  dastardly,  personal  ill- 
will.  Claiborne  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  a  man  of 
energy  and  ability,  and  of  undoubted  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  his  country;  bat  had  managed  to  gain  the  dis- 
pleasure of  many  of  these  unreliable  people. 

The  Legislature  was  largely  composed  of  Creoles, 
who  were  not  legislators,  nor  were  they  endowed  with 
any  qualities  which  especially  adapted  them  to  such 
an  emergency.  Claiborne  had  succeeded  in  becoming 
the  first  governor  of  the  State,  and  had  he  possessed 
the  confidence  of  the  people  and  Legislature,  as  he 
deserved  to  do,  no  man  in  Louisiana  could  better 
have  filled  the  place  he  occupied  at  this  important 
crisis.  But  the  old  Creole  and  Spanish  population 
had  no  confidence  in  the  new  American  or  Yankee 
element,  and  utterly  lacked  themselves  the  spirit  and 
faculty  to  accomplish  any  satisfactory  results.  The 
Americans  in  turn  distrusted  the  old  European  or 
monarchic  population,  and  did  not  believe  that  their 
devotion   to   this    Government  was    such   as    to   make 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  215 

them  reliable  in  the  day  of  need.  In  this  wretched 
state  of  affairs  little  could  be  accomplished.  But  the 
efforts  of  Livingston  and  others  had  not  been  entirely 
fruitless.  And  before  the  end  of  the  extraordinary 
campaign  it  was  sufficiently  proven  that  the  people  of 
New  Orleans,  as  a  whole,  were  not  wanting  in  devo- 
tion to  the  cause  of  America. 

The  man  above  all  others  fit  to  make  the  most  of 
their  qualities,  and  exactly  suited  to  the  emergency, 
was  now  with  them,  and  all  classes  of  them  were 
eager  to  show  him  that  they  recognized  these  facts. 
Their  services  were  offered  in  every  capacity  that 
suited  their  tastes.  Jackson  lost  no  time.  Advantage 
was  taken  of  every  circumstance  in  the  good  disposi- 
tions of  the  people. 

The  first  thing  the  General  did  was  to  make  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  military  and  topographical 
condition  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country.  He 
was  soon  able  to  see  how  defenseless  the  city  was, 
and  how  much  devolved  upon  him.  He  had  been  led 
by  Governor  Claiborne  and  others  to  entertain  the 
most  unfavorable,  but  really  advantageous,  idea  as  to 
the  evil-disposed  among  the  people.  The  military 
organization  consisted  of  two  small  militia  regiments, 
and  a  battalion  of  volunteers,  the  latter  uniformed  and 
commanded  by  Major  Planche.  There  were  also  some 
new  recruits,  and  a  battalion  of  colored  men,  about  two 
thousand  in  all. 

General  Jackson  had  already  sent  Colonel  A.  P. 
Hayne  to  examine  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  with 
a  view  of  making  a  defense  at  the  Balize ;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  3d  of  December,  Jackson  himself  in  a 
large  barge  with  his  engineers  and  aids  started  down 


216  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

to  Fort  St.  Philip,  sixty  miles  below  New  Orleans, 
This  he  decided  at  once  to  put  in  the  best  possible 
condition.  A  mile  above  this  fort,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  where  had  stood  Fort  Bourbon,  he 
ordered  a  battery  to  be  planted.  Twelve  miles  below 
the  city  he  also  ordered  other  works  to  be  commenced.: 
It  was  the  9th  of  the  month  before  he  returned  from 
this  tour  of  inspection.  The  other  great  avenue  to 
New  Orleans  was  by  means  of  Borgne  Bay,  or  Lake 
Borgne,  as  it  has  for  no  apparent  reason  been  called, 
and  Lake  Pontchartrain,  six  or  seven  miles  from  the 
city.  These  -are  merely  sounds  too  shallow  for  the 
navigation  of  the  largest  vessels,  and  are  connected  by 
a  narrow  strait,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Pontchartrain. 
These  the  General  visited  at  once,  and  was  then  able 
to  take  in  the  situation  from  his  own  view.  This  was, 
perhaps,  the  best  route  of  the  British,  considering  the 
defensible  condition  of  the  river.  At  all  events,  this 
approach  was  to  be  defended,  and  steps  towards  that 
end  were  at  once  begun. 

On  the  passage  from  Lake  Pontchartrain  to  Borgne, 
Fort  Petites  Coquilles  was  built  and  manned.  Six 
gun-boats  had  been  armed  by  Captain  Patterson  with 
twenty-three  guns  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-two 
men,  under  Lieutenant  Thomas  Ap-Catsby  Jones,  on 
Lake  Borgne,  with  orders  to  contest  the  entrance  by  the 
British.  But  this  precaution  had  been  taken  before 
the  General  arrived  to  assume  command  at  New  Or- 
leans. Various  bayous  leading  to  the  Mississippi  and 
surrounding  the  city  were  filled  with  trees  and  other 
debris,  rendering  their  use  by  the  enemy  more  diffi- 
cult; and  every  means  possible  was  provided  to  ob- 
struct their  movement.     On  the  Mississippi  were  also 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  217 

two  armed  vessels,  the   Caroline  and  Louisiana,  under 
Captain  Daniel  T.  Patterson. 

The  army  gathered  at  Mobile  had  melted  away 
after  the  return  from  Florida,  only  about  sixteen  hun- 
dred men  being  left  to  follow  the  General  to  New 
Orleans,  and  these  were  on  the  way  under  the  brave 
and  faithful  John  Coffee.  Tennessee  was,  however, 
rapidly  filling  her  quota  for  the  campaign.  Troops 
from  Kentucky  and  Mississippi  were  hastening  on  to 
this  strange,  new  seat  of  war. 

In  the  meantime  the  British  had  been  gathering  at 
the  rendezvous   fixed   upon,  in  Negril   Bay,  Jamaica. 
The   fleet,   under  Admiral   Alexander   Cochrane,  con- 
veying  the   army  of  Ross   from  defeat  at  Baltimore, 
and  a  considerable  force  from  England  under  General 
Edward  Keane,  had  assembled  at  this  place.     To  this 
force  was  added  Captain  Percy's  small  fleet.     Besides 
the  seven  or  eight  thousand  soldiers,  and  more  than 
that  many  sailors,  there  were   actually  accompanying 
the  expedition,  men  appointed  to  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  territory  which  was  to  be  conquered.     Among 
these  was    a  collector   for  the  port  of  New   Orleans. 
With  them  were  their  families,  and  many  supernumer- 
aries coming  out  to  share  in  the  rare,  romantic  adven- 
ture which  promised  so  much  with  so  little  hardship 
or  danger.     A  vast  fleet  transported  this  proud,  glit- 
tering, and  undoubting  host. 

Some  of  the  largest  ships-of-the-line,  huge  war- 
vessels  of  seventy  or  eighty  guns,  between  fifty  and 
seventy  vessels  of  all  sizes,  bearing  a  thousand  guns, 
made  a  brilliant  and  beautiful  picture  as  they  ap- 
proached the  American  coast  on  the  10th  of  Decem- 
ber   1814.     In  this  great  fleet  were  vessels  especially 


218  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

designed  for  bearing  to  England  the  two  or  three  millions 
of  dollars'  worth  of  cotton  and  sugar  stored  in  New  Or- 
leans, as  well  as  the  other  rich  booty  of  which  the  Brit- 
ons even  now  felt  themselves  to  be  the  owners.  With 
the  secrecy  with  which  the  great  expedition  had  been 
managed,  and  now  safe  on  the  most  remote  and  unpro- 
tected coast  of  the  United  States,  where  immediate 
succor  would  seem  impossible  to  any  small  body  of 
undisciplined  troops  which  might  collect  to  oppose 
their  way,  who  in  this  great  armada  could  have  dreamed 
of  misfortune  ? 

The  British  fleet  stood  in  for  Lake  Borgne,  and 
soon  reaching  a  depth  too  shallow  for  their  large  ves- 
sels, anchored  on  the  13th.  The  little  fleet  of  five  or 
six  gun-boats,  under  Captain  Jones,  was  at  this  time 
discovered,  and  to  put  this  out  of  the  way  was  the  first 
object  of  Admiral  Cochrane.  Twelve  hundred  men 
were  detailed  from  the  vessels  and  placed  in  forty-three 
open  boats,  with  forty-three  guns,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Lockyer,  to  demolish  the  American  gun- 
boats. Jones  had  been  ordered  to  fight  and  retreat,  and, 
finally,  when  pressed,  to  re-enter  the  Rigolets,  enter- 
ing to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  under  the  shelter  of 
the  mud-fort  of  Petites  Coquilles,  fight  to  the  last. 
But  change  in  the  wind  and  water  prevented  Jones 
from  entering  the  strait,  as  he  made  every  effort  to 
do,  as  he  saw  the  force  sent  against  him.  He,  accord- 
ingl}'^,  came  to  anchor  in  the  channel  between  the  main 
land  at  Point  Clear  and  Malheureux  Island,  and  pre- 
pared for  battle. 

On  the  following  day  his  little  squadron  was 
attacked,  and,  after  a  severe  engagement  of  three 
hours'  duration,   was   surrendered,  boat  after  boat,  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  -  219 

the  enemy.  Captain  Jones  and  most  of  his  officers 
in  all  the  boats  were  wounded,  and  fifty  or  sixty  of 
the  seamen  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  British  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  was,  probably,  over  twice 
that  number. 

On  that  very  day  General  Jackson  had  visited  the 
lakes,  but  before  he  reached  the  city  he  heard  of  the 
loss  of  the  little  gun-boat  fleet  which  was  designed  to 
effect  so  much. 

The  news  of  the  disaster  soon  reached  New  Or- 
leans, and  as  soon  threw  it  into  commotion.  And  now 
Jackson's  rare  ability  to  command  and  control  an 
incongruous,  excited,  and  doubtful  community  in  a 
great  emergency,  for  the  first  time,  as  well  as  to 
organize  an  undisciplined  army  and  fight  against  a 
superior  force  of  regulars  culled  from  the  British  army, 
was  brought  to  the  test.  This  was  the  most  fortunate 
occasion  in  his  life.  It  presented  the  very  conditions 
designed  to  bring  out  his  peculiar  powers.  General 
Jackson  could  only  be  great  on  great  occasions.  Where 
men  ordinarily  display  great  virtues  or  talents  Jackson 
appeared  to  no  advantage. 

His  first  thought  was  to  send  orders  for  the 
strengthening  of  the  fort  in  the  passage  from  Lake 
Pontchartrain  to  Borgne,  and  for  the  better  defense 
of  Chef  Menteur,  a  fine  bayou  terminating  near  the 
rear  of  the  city  and  opening  into  Lake  Borgne,  and 
along  which  a  road  led  to  the  city.  His  next  busi- 
ness was  with  the  excited  and  divided  people  of  New 
Orleans.  On  all  hands  there  came  loud  cries  of  dis- 
satisfaction, of  treason.  The  State  Legislature  was 
in  session,  and  a  more  careless,  quarrelsome,  unrelia- 
ble   legislative    body,    perhaps,    never    assembled    in 


220  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

America.  From  these  men  the  General  had  already 
learned  what  to  expect.  It  was  now  past  the  time 
for  dallying. 

During  the  night  of  the  14th,  Jackson  wrote  letters 
and  dispatched  messengers  to  John  Coffee  to  hasten 
on,  not  stopping  for  night  or  sleep ;  to  General 
Thomas  on  the  way  from  Kentucky ;  to  Colonel  Hinds, 
of  the  Mississippi  dragoons  ;  to  General  Winchester, 
at  Mobile,  notifying  him  of  the  condition  of  affairs, 
and  urging  him  to  the  defense  of  Fort  Bowyer,  and 
the  protection  of  his  posts. 

He  also  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  sent  a 
steamboat  up  the  river  to  hurry  on  General  Carroll, 
and  to  Fort  St.  Philip  he  sent  a  messenger  with  the 
order  to  hold  the  fort  to  the  last  man. 

Some  desperate  and  uncommon  measures  seemed 
now  necessary.  Commodore  (Captain)  Patterson  was 
unable  to  man  his  boats,  although  there  were  many 
sailors  unemployed  in  the  city.  The  offer  of  large 
bounties  did  not  bring  them.  Appeals  to  the  Legis- 
lature only  brought  delay  and  dissensions.  Patterson 
in  this  extremity  was  bold  enough  to  ask  the  Gover- 
nor, who  was  only  too  glad  to  favor  every  proposition 
which  would  advance  the  cause,  to  propose  to  the 
Legislature  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
pus. Among  the  American  or  Yankee  population 
especially,  the  probability  and  necessity  of  a  declara- 
tion of  martial  law  was  discussed.  Edward  Living- 
ston had  given  his  opinion  as  to  the  unlawfulness  of 
such  a  step,  placing  all  the  risk  and  responsibility  on 
the  General.  Jackson  decided.  That  was  sufficient. 
No  communication  could  be  held  with  the  Government, 
to  share  or  take  away  the  responsibility,  although  it  is 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  221 

not  evident  that  he  believed  the  city  to  be  liable  to 
attack  for  some  time,  considering  the  usual  manner 
of  moving  regular  armies  of  great  proportions. 

On  the  16th  the  following  proclamation  was 
issued  : — 

"  Major-General  Andrew  Jackson,  commanding  the  Seventh 
United  States  Military  District,  declares  the  city  and  environs  of 
New  Orleans  under  strict  martial  law,  and  orders  that  in  future 
the  following  laws  be  rigidly  enforced,  viz.: — 

"  Every  individual  entering  the  city  will  report  to  the  adju- 
tant-general's office,  and,  on  failure,  to  be  arrested  and  held  for 
examination. 

"No  persons  shall  be  permitted  to  leave  the  city  without  a 
permission  in  writing,  signed  by  the  General  or  one  of  his  staff. 

"No  vessels,  boats,  or  other  craft  will  be  permitted  to  leave 
New  Orleans  or  Bayou  St.  John  without  a  passport  in  writing 
from  the  General  or  one  of  his  staff,  or  the  commander  of  the 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  on  this  station. 

"  The  street  lamps  shall  be  extinguished  at  the  hour  of  nine 
at  night,  after  which  time  persons  of  every  description  found  in 
the  street,  or  not  at  their  respective  homes,  without  permission 
in  writing,  as  aforesaid,  and  not  having  the  countersign,  shall  be 
apprehended  as  spies  and  held  for  examination." 

The  Legislature  had  previously  shown  unanimity 
enough  to  pass  an  unlawful  embargo  act,  and  now  that 
body,  brought  under  the  spirit  of  Jackson,  and  to 
some  extent,  realizing  the  crisis,  passed  an  act  sus- 
pending processes  for  debt  for  several  months.  The 
Governor,  wanting  to  devote  his  attention  to  the 
defense  of  the  country,  urged  the  Legislature  to 
adjourn,  but  that  was  not  agreeable  to  the  majority 
of  its  members.  Nor  would  they  consent  to  suspend 
the  habeas  corpus.  This  Jackson  now  deemed  it  his 
duty  to  take  charge  of,  which  he  did  by  declaring  the 
writ  suspended,  and  sending  Judge  Hall,  who  resisted, 
out  of  the  city. 


222  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  city  was  now  a  military  camp.  Every  man 
who  was  able  was  put  on  some  duty.  The  old  men 
who  could  do  no  better  enrolled  themselves  for  police 
service.  The  women  even  became  warlike,  and  many 
of  the  spirited  Creole  beauties,  who  had  heard  the 
altogether  foundationless  rumor  that  the  British  watch- 
word was  "  Booty  and  beauty "  armed  themselves 
with  daggers. 

One  man  controlled  the  city.  Dissensions  were 
gone.  Harmony  prevailed.  Great  security  was  felt, 
and  with  a  remarkable  spirit  and  readiness  men  rushed 
to  obey  the  demands  of  the  hour.  The  prisons  were 
cleared.  Criminals  became  patriots,  and  were  mus- 
tered into  the  service  of  their  country.  Jean  Lafitte 
now  came  forward  and  offered  his  services  to  General 
Jackson,  which  were  reluctantly  received,  and  from 
the  swamps  and  the  prisons  two  companies  of  his  bold 
Baratarinn  buccaneers  were  formed  and  became  among 
the  most  efficient  of  the  brave  defenders  of  New  Orleans. 
Jackson  no  more   called   them   the   "  hellish  banditti." 

General  Jackson  never  neglected  the  pen,  one  of 
his  two  great  resources,  and  the  more  exciting  and 
desperate  the  occasion,  the  more  he  felt  sure  of  this 
method  of  accomplishing  his  purpose.  His  appeals 
were  mainly  to  the  prejudices,  passions,  fears,  pride, 
and  interests,  and  of  the  most  warm,  if  not  exagger- 
ated, character.  He  now  again  resorted  to  this  phin, 
and  on  the  18th  of  December,  assembled  and  reviewed 
the  troops  then  in  New  Orleans,  and  his  volunteer  aid 
and  secretary,  Edward  Livingston,  read  the  following 
addresses  : — 

"  To  THE  Embodied  Militia  :  Fellow-citixem  and  Soldiers, — 
The  General   commanding  in  chief  would   not  do  justice  to  the 


ANDKEW  JACKSON.  223 

noble  ardor  that  has  animated  you  in  the  hour  of  danger,  he 
would  not  do  justice  to  his  own  feeling,  if  he  suffered  the  ex- 
ample you  have  shown  to  pass  without  public  notice.  Inhabit- 
ants of  an  opulent  and  commercial  town,  you  have,  by  a  spon- 
taneous effort,  shaken  off  the  habits  which  are  created  by  wealth, 
and  shown  that  you  are  resolved  to  deserve  the  blessings  of  for- 
tune by  bravely  defending  them.  Long  strangers  to  the  perils 
of  war,  you  have  embodied  yourselves  to  face  them  with  the 
cool  countenance  of  veterans ;  and  with  motives  of  disunion  that 
might  operate  on  weak  minds,  you  have  forgotten  the  difference 
of  language  and  the  prejudices  of  national  pride,  and  united 
with  a  cordiality  that  does  honor  to  your  understandings  as  well 
as  to  your  patriotism.  Natives  of  the  United  States !  They 
are  the  oppressors  of  your  infant  political  existence  with  whom 
you  are  to  contend ;  they  are  the  men  your  fathers  conquered 
whom  you  are  to  oppose.  Descendants  of  Frenchmen !  natives 
of  France  !  they  are  English,  the  hereditary,  the  eternal  enemies 
of  your  ancient  country,  the  invaders  of  that  you  have  adopted, 
who  are  your  foes.  Spaniards!  remember  the  conduct  of  your 
allies  at  St.  Sebastian,  and  recently  at  Pensacola,  and  rejoice 
that  you  have  an  opportunity  of  avenging  the  brutal  injuries 
inflicted  by  men  who  dishonor  the  human  race. 

"Fellow-citizens,  of  every  description,  remember  for  what 
and  against  whom  you  contend.  For  all  that  can  render  life 
desirable,  for  a  country  blessed  with  every  gift  of  nature,  for 
property,  for  life,  for  those  dearer  than  either,  your  wives  and 
children,  and  for  liberty,  without  which,  country,  life,  property, 
are  no  longer  worth  possessing;  as  even  the  embraces  of 
wives  and  children  become  a  reproach  to  the  wretch  who 
would  deprive  them  by  his  cowardice  of  those  invaluable  bless- 
ings. You  are  to  contend  for  all  this  against  an  enemy  whose 
continued  effort  is  to  deprive  you  of  the  least  of  these  bless- 
ings; who  avows  a  war  of  vengeance  and  desolation,  carried 
on  and  marked  by  cruelty,  lust,  and  horrors,  unknown  to  civ- 
ilized nations. 

"Citizens  of  Louisiana!  the  General  commanding  in  chief 
rejoices  to  see  the  spirit  that  animates  you,  not  only  for  your 
honor  but  for  your  safety ;  for,  whatever  had  been  your 
conduct  or  wishes,  his  duty  would  have  led,  and  will  now  lead 
him  to  confound  the  citizen  unmindful  of  his  rights  with  the 
enemy  he  ceases  to  oppose.     Now,  leading  men  who  know  their 


224  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

rights,  who  are  determined  to  defend  them,  he  salutes  you,  brave 
Louisianians,  as  brethren  in  arms,  and  has  now  a  new  motive  to 
exert  all  his  faculties,  which  shall  be  strained  to  the  utmost  in 
your  defense.  Continue  with  the  energy  you  have  begun,  and 
he  promises  you  not  only  safety,  but  victory  over  the  insolent 
enemy  who  insulted  you  by  an  affected  doubt  of  your  attachment 
to  the  Coustitution  of  your  country. 

' '  To  THE  Battalion  of  Uniform  Companies  :  When  I 
first  looked  at  you  on  the  day  of  my  arrival  I  was  satisfied  with 
your  appearance,  and  every  day's  inspection  since  has  confirmed 
the  opinion  I  then  formed.  Your  numbers  have  increased  with 
the  increase  of  danger,  and  your  ardor  has  augmented  since  it 
was  known  that  your  post  would  be  one  of  perU  and  honor. 
This  is  the  true  love  of  country !  You  have  added  to  it  an  exact 
discipline,  and  a  skill  in  evolutions  rarely  attained  by  veterans; 
the  state  of  your  corps  does  equal  honor  to  the  skill  of  the 
officers  and  the  attention  of  the  men.  With  such  defenders,  our 
country  has  nothing  to  fear.  Every  thing  I  have  said  to  the 
body  of  militia  applies  equally  to  you  ;  you  have  made  the  same 
sacrifices ;  you  have  the  same  country  to  defend,  the  same  motive 
for  exertion ;  but  I  should  have  been  unjust  had  I  not  noticed, 
as  it  deserved,  the  excellence  of  your  discipline  and  the  martial 
appearance  of  your  corps. 

"To  the  Men  of  Color — Soldiers!  From  the  shores  of 
Mobile  I  collected  you  to  arms ;  I  invited  you  to  share  in  the 
perils  and  to  divide  the  glory  of  your  white  countrymen,  I  ex- 
pected much  from  you,  for  I  was  not  uninformed  of  those  qualities 
which  must  render  you  so  formidable  to  an  invading  foe.  I 
knew  that  you  could  endure  hunger  and  thirst  and  all  the  hard- 
ships of  war.  I  knew  that  you  loved  the  land  of  your  nativity, 
and  that,  like  ourselves,  you  had  to  defend  all  that  is  most  dear 
to  man.  But  you  surpass  my  hopes.  I  have  found  in  you, 
united  to  these  qualities,  that  noble  enthusiasm  which  impels  to 
great  deeds. 

"Soldiers!  The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  in- 
formed of  your  conduct  on  the  present  occasion,  and  the  voice  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  American  nation  shall  applaud  your 
valor,  as  your  General  now  praises  your  ardor.  The  enemy  is 
near.  His  sails  cover  the  lakes.  But  the  brave  are  united ; 
and  if  he  finds  us  contending  among  ourselves,  it  will  be  for  the 
prize  of  valor,  and  fame  its  noblest  reward." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  225 

Whether  these  colored  men  had  any  great  aspira- 
tions for  acquiring  this  "  noblest  reward  "  or  not,  they 
did  exhibit  an  enthusiasm  which  excited  admiration, 
even  in  those  who  had  more  scruples  than  Jackson  in 
the  means  employed.  The  question  of  making  soldiers 
of  negroes,  free  especially,  was  settled  by  him,  as  he 
settled  all  other  questions,  by  the  present  necessity  of 
the  case.  The  negro  battalion  was  commanded  by 
Major  Daquin,  a  brave  Creole,  and  they  were  among 
the  bravest  of  the  defenders  of  New  Orleans.  There 
was  no  disputing  about  their  services,  nor  would  it 
have  aifected  Jackson  in  the  least  if  there  had  been. 
The  brave  were  united.  All  of  this  had  its  effect. 
Fear  was  banished.  Jackson's  warlike  appearance  was 
not  lost  by  his  thinness  of  body,  and  his  frail  health. 
His  enthusiasm  was  contagious.  As  he  rode  in  re- 
view before  the  soldiers  on  the  18th,  vast  numbers  of 
the  people  saw  him  for  the  first  time,  and  the  very 
sight  of  him  renewed  their  confidence  and  courage. 
Few  soldiers  ever  appeared  to  better  advantage  than 
General  Jackson  on  horseback.  His  manners,  too, 
were  attractive  and  courtly.  Notwithstanding  his  at- 
tenuated form,  he  could  hardly  suffer  anywhere  by 
comparison. 

Although  the  city  was  a  military  camp  by  the  will 
of  one  man,  the  fact  decidedly  increased  military  ardor 
on  every  hand.  Lawyers,  judges,  men  of  wealth  and 
leisure,  formed  themselves  into  companies,  and  strove 
for  the  place  of  danger  in  the  coming  conflict.  Nor 
were  these  men  fame-seekers.  The  "  noblest  reward 
of  valor"  really  had  little  charm  for  them.  Patriotism 
and  duty  were  higher  and  truer  motives.  With  all  its 
variable  and  treasonable  population,  no  American  city 

15— G 


226  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

made  a  nobler  record  in  the  War  of  1812  than  this. 
The  infection  of  patriotism  extended  to  the  country 
and  far  up  the  Mississippi  River.  It  is  said  that 
Madame  Bienvenu,  of  Atakapas,  was  so  imbued  with 
the  general  feeling  that  she  sent  her  four  sons  into 
the  army,  and  then  actually  wrote  to  Governor  Clai- 
borne that  regretting  greatly  that  she  had  no  more 
sons  to  put  in  the  service  of  the  country  on  such  a 
perilous  occasion,  she  was  ready  to  come  to  the  city 
and  give  her  own  efforts  to  the  care  of  the  wounded, 
if  needed,  notwithstanding  her  age. 

After  the  capture  of  the  gun-boats  on  Lake  Borgne, 
Patterson  sent  Shields,  his  purser,  and  Dr.  Morrell 
with  a  fl.a^  of  truce  to  the  British  fleet  to  look  after 
Lieutenant  Jones  and  his  wounded.  Although  it  did 
not  suit  the  British  commander  to  allow  them  to  re- 
turn, their  mission  proved  greatly  beneficial  to  the 
Americans.  They  took  every  occasion  to  converse 
together  concerning  the  vast  army  now  collected  at 
New  Orleans,  and  of  the  swarms  of  riflemen  who  were 
daily  pouring  to  the  standard  of  Jackson,  and  of  the 
certain  ruin  that  awaited  the  British.  Although  the 
British  had  bought  the  friendship  of  some  fishermen 
with  whom  they  had  fallen  in,  and  who  had  given 
them  the  real  strength  of  the  Americans  and  the  de- 
fenseless condition  of  the  city,  they  were  now  thrown 
into  great  doubt,  and  from  this  time  on  their  move- 
ments were  cautious  and  slow.  A  circumstance  soon 
occurred  to  strengthen  their  caution,  and  start  fears 
of  the  failure  of  the  grand  expedition  which  was  to 
march  up  the  great  river,  and  take  possession  of  the 
whole  country  to  Canada. 

The  British  army  was  landed  on  Pine  Island,  fifty 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  227 

miles  or  more  from  the  main-land  where  it  had  been 
designed  to  disembark,  and  there  reorganized.  In  the 
meantime  some  officers  had  been  sent  in  disguise  to 
determine  the  most  desirable  place  to  effect  the  land- 
ing. These  officers  lauded  at  the  mouth  of  Bayou 
Bienvenu  which  extended  nearly  to  New  Orleans,  and 
was  a  good  channel  of  over  one  hundred  yards  wide. 
Of  this  bayou  the  British  had  previously  been  ap- 
prised by  some  renegade  Spaniards.  They  made  their 
way  across  the  swamps  by  this  shoot,  and  then  pass- 
ing over  the  belt  of  cultivated  land,  reached  the  Mis- 
sissippi only  nine  miles  below  New  Orleans,  after 
which  they  returned  to  pilot  the  expedition. 

On  the  22d  a  part  of  the  British  army  landed  at 
the  mouth  of  this  bayou.  "  General "  Villere,  a 
planter  in  the  region  of  Bayou  Bienvenu,  had  been 
left  by  General  Jackson  to  look  after  this  passage  to 
the  city.  And  although  Villere  had  entertained  some 
idea  of  its  importance,  the  little  squad  of  guards  he 
had  usually  kept  at  its  mouth  became  careless,  and 
the  first  detachment  of  English  which  landed  had  no 
difficulty  in  capturing  them.  But  the  capture  of  these 
careless  soldiers  was  not  especially  unfortunate  to  the 
Americans,  as  the  information  they  could  have  carried 
to  New  Orleans  would  have  been  of  no  benefit  in  bet- 
tering the  state  of  affairs.  They  had  no  true  knowl- 
edge of  the  strength  of  Jackson's  farce,  and  their 
loud  and  extravagant  conversation  among  themselves 
on  this  point  was  not  gratifying  to  the  British.  They 
thought  the  invaders  were  doomed,  and  were  open  in 
asserting  that  Jackson  had  a  force  of  twenty  or 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  which  was  hourly  increas- 
ing.    They    were    unaware,    perhaps,    of    the   service 


228  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

they  were  rendering  their  country  by  their  extrava- 
gant talk.  Their  stories  only  confirmed  the  represen- 
tations of  Dr.  Morrill  and  purser  Shields.  In  view 
of  these  unfavorable  reports,  which  they  had  no  means 
of  disproving,  the  British  became  more  cautious. 
Indeed  they  were  thus  entirely  misled,  and  based 
their  proceedings  largely  upon  this  cheat. 

If  the  English  commander  had  been  favored  by 
any  number  of  deserters  and  traitors  from  the  Ameri- 
can side  at  that  time,  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  draw  from  them  a  reliable  estimate  of  Jackson's 
force  and  resources.  It  was  a  part  of  his  policy  to 
conceal  as  well  as  exaggerate  his  true  condition.  As 
the  troops  arrived  most  of  them  were  halted  at  differ- 
ent distances  from  the  city,  and  every  means  taken 
to  fill  the  minds  of  the  excited  citizens,  of  the  swarms 
of  soldiers  that  were,  like  magic,  overflowing  the 
country.  The  citizens  had  themselves  all  been  con- 
verted into  soldiers  by  military  order.  And  the  very 
presence  and  enthusiasm  of  Jackson  intensified  the 
imaginations  of  the  people  and  soldiers  as  to  the 
invulnerability  of  their  circumstances.  The  General's 
faculty  of  making  much  out  of  little,  in  an  extraor- 
dinary emergency,  was  now  fully  exemplified. 

Notwithstanding  the  distance  of  Pine  Island  from 
the  point  of  landing,  and  the  difficulties  of  transferring 
the  troops,  General  Keane  determined  to  push  forward 
with  the  sixteen  hundred  men  landed  as  the  first 
detachment,  and  gain  the  Mississippi  before  his  land- 
ing even  was  known  at  New  Orleans.  He  actually 
performed  this  feat,  and  at  noon  on  the  23d  reached 
the  left  bank  of  the  river  only  about  nine  miles  below 
the  city.     On  one    side   of   this   little    army   lay    the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  229 

swamps  through  which  it  had  passed,  stretching  away 
to  the  lakes,  and    on   the   other    was    the   Mississippi 
River  with  its  high  levees  and  its    surface   above    the 
surrounding  country,  the  drainage  all    being    through 
the  ditches  and  bayous    to    the  lakes.     Between   the 
river  and  the  swamps  was  a  narrow  belt  of  rich  plan- 
tations crossed  in  various  ways  by  wide  ditches.     On 
one    of    these   plantations,    that    of    General    Villere, 
under  whom  Jackson  had  placed  the  command  of  this 
region,    the     British     army     was     posted.     "  Major " 
Gabriel   Villere   had    been   captured   by    them   at    his 
father's  house  before  it  was  known  that  they  had  left 
their    ships   in   Lake    Borgne.     The   British    had    not 
only  landed,  but  had  actually   planted   themselves   on 
the    Mississippi    within    two    hours'    march    of    New 
Orleans  without  the  American  commander  having  any 
knowledge  of  their  presence.      There  has  been  some  dis- 
puting about  the  trivial  matter  as  to  how  the  Ameri- 
can General  was  first  apprised  of  the  presence  of  the 
British.     But  the  important  factor  in  the  case  is  that 
General    Jackson   allowed    the    British    to    land    any- 
where on  Lake  Borgne  without  his   knowing   it,   and 
being    ready    to    receive    them.     To   this    extent   the 
English    commander   had    surprised   and    outgeneraled 
him.     A  very  romantic  story  is  told  by  some    of   the 
historians    of   New    Orleans    about    the    adventure    of 
young  Major  Gabriel  Villere,  who  knocked  down  some 
of  the    British    soldiers,  made   his  way    among    them 
while  they  sent  a  volley   of   musket-balls    after   him, 
gained  the  swamps,  crossed  the  river,  and    with    two 
of  his  friends  in  broad  day  before  the  eyes  of  General 
Keane  galloped  away  to  carry  the  news  to  New  Orleans. 
At  half-past  one  o'clock  they  reached  head-quarters  c.i 


230  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Royal  Street,  and  when  they  had  made  known  the 
true  state  of  the  case,  General  Jackson  is  said  to  have 
brought  into  requisition  his  favorite  oath,  and  a  very 
extravagant  assertion :  "  By  the  Eternal,  they  shall 
not  sleep  on  our  soil ;"  and  adding  to  his  aids  that 
they  must  fight  the  enemy  that  night. 

It  seems  likely  that  others  were  on  the  way,  or 
actually  did  convey  this  information  to  General  Jack- 
son ;  but  the  important  point  that  it  was  done,  is 
about  all  there  is  certain  in  relation  to  it.  No  claim 
to  this  honor,  however  ridiculous  it  might  be,  could 
be  set  up  without  the  support  of  perfectly  reliable 
witnesses. 

Hinds,  with  his  Mississippi  dragoons,  had  arrived. 
Coffee  was  lying  five  miles  above  the  city,  and  Car- 
roll, with  the  twenty-five  hundred  Tennesseeans  and 
a  cargo  of  muskets,  had  also  appeared.  Carroll  was 
ordered  to  the  Bienvenu,  and  did  not  participate  with 
any  of  his  men  in  the  engagement  of  the  night  of 
the  23d. 

From  Coffee's  brigade  there  were  663  men,  and  of 
Hinds's  dragoons  107  went  down  the  river  to  engage 
the  enemy  at  this  time.  Of  the  plan  of  the  battle 
Walker  says,  in  his  florid,  wordy  style  : — 

"  The  soldiers  had  all  moved  out  of  sight;  still  Jackson  main- 
tained his  position  on  the  levee.  It  was  evident  that  his  pro- 
gramme was  not  complete.  The  anxious  glances  which  he  threw 
across  the  river  betrayed  some  solicitude.  At  last,  howevej,  the 
frown  faded  from  his  brow,  as  he  observed  a  small  dark  schooner 
cast  off  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  and  begin  to  float 
slowly  down  with  the  current.  This  was  the  Carolina,  with 
Commodore  Patterson,  Captain  Henly,  and  a  gallant  band  of 
seamen  on  board.  Then  Jackson  put  spurs  to  his  charger,  and 
accompanied  by  his  aids,  .  .  .  galloped  rapidly  down  the 
road  which  had  been  followed  by  his  little  army. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  231 

"  Jackson's  plan  of  attack  was  simple,  judicious,  and  prac- 
tical. The  Carolina  was  ordered  to  drop  down  in  front  of  the 
British  camp,  and,  anchoring  at  musket-shot,  to  open  her  batteries 
on  them  at  half-past  seven  o'clock.  At  this  signal,  the  right,  under 
Jackson,  consisting  of  the  regulars,  Planche  and  Daquin's  battal- 
ions, McRea's  artillery,  and  the  Marines,  was  to  push  forward, 
being  guided  by  Major  Villere,  who  volunteered  for  the  occasion, 
and  attacked  the  enemy's  camp  near  the  river.  Whilst  they 
were  thus  engaged,  Coffee,  under  the  guidance  of  Colonel  De  la 
Ronde,  was  ordered  with  his  brigade,  with  Hinds's  Dragoons, 
and  Beale's  Rifles,  to  scout  the  edge  of  the  swamp,  and  advanc- 
ing as  far  as  was  safe,  to  endeavor  to  cut  off  the  communications 
of  the  enemy  with  the  lake,  and  thus  hem  in,  and,  if  possible, 
capture  or  destroy  them.  Such  was  the  simple  plan  of  the  battle 
of  the  23d  of  December,  1814." 

Of  course,  with  the  information  Jackson  had  at 
this  time,  he  could  not  have  told  with  certainty  the 
intentions  of  the  British,  nor  could  he  have  known 
what  part  of  the  enemy's  force  he  was  destined  to  en- 
counter. There  appeared  then  but  one  other  course 
for  the  British  to  take,  considering  the  point  from 
which  they  had  landed,  and  this  Jackson  provided  for 
the  best  he  could,  under  the  impression  that  the  pres- 
ence of  the  enemy  on  the  river  might  be  a  feint  to 
cover  the  movement  of  his  main  force.  For  this  rea- 
son it  was  that  he  sent  Carroll  with  all  the  troops  at 
his  disposal  to  the  head  of  Bayou  Bienvenu,  and  Gov- 
ernor Claiborne  with  his  militia  out  on  the  Gentilly 
road.     But  this  precaution  proved  to  be  unnecessary. 

Look  for  a  moment  at  the  wonderful  spectacle  as  it 
was  now  presented.  In  the  British  army  gathering 
below  New  Orleans  were  said  to  be  some  of  the  finest 
troops  England  had  ever  sent  to  the  battle-field.  Some 
of  them  had  fought  against  the  extraordinary  modern 
warrior,  Napoleon,  and  the  famous  Ninety-third  High- 
land regiment  was  the   pride   and   boast   of  England. 


232  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

And  while  all  of  this  army  had  not  covered  itself 
and  its  country  with  honor,  as  the  excesses  of  the 
Potomac  and  the  Chesapeake  would  testify,  it  was 
supposed  to  be  especially  adapted  to  a  great  and  bold 
adventure.  In  the  way  of  equipments  nothing  was 
wanting.  Over  a  million  dollars  it  had  cost  Britain  to 
organize  and  appoint  this  magnificent  expedition.  It 
was  not  the  odds  and  ends  of  a  poor  monarch's  last 
struggle.  It  was  the  glittering  pageant  of  a  proud, 
wealthy  nation.  The  dress  and  arms  of  the  common 
soldier,  the  style  and  pomp  of  the  knighted  officers, 
the  vast  armament  and  the  varied  and  perfect  equip- 
ment of  the  whole,  were  sources  of  wonder  and 
admiration. 

In  the  fleet  were  some  noble  names,  some  of  Eng- 
land's best.  Nor,  perhaps,  was  the  romantic  expedi- 
tion unfortunate  in  the  temporary  commander  of  its 
land  force,  in  the  person  of  General  John  Keane,  or 
the  really  responsible  commander,  Sir  Edward  Pack- 
enham.  General  Keane  had  certainly  succeeded  in 
gaining,  unmolested,  the  solid  earth  on  the  Mississippi 
above  its  obstructions,  and  although  he  did  not  push 
on  to  conquest,  as  some  have  claimed  he  should  have 
done  as  a  wise  general,  his  reasons  for  doing  so  were 
sufficient,  and  he  yet  had  maintained  his  fine  reputa- 
tion as  a  brave  and  daring  soldier. 

In  some  respects  how  changed  is  the  picture  in 
looking  on  the  American  side  !  Less  than  a  thousand 
regulars,  and  thes,e  scarcely  to  be  called  such,  were 
found  in  the  army  of  General  Jackson.  The  brave 
mounted  riflemen  under  John  Coffee  wore  slouch  hats, 
carried  tomahawks  and  dirks  in  their  belts,  and  had  the 
appearance  of  backwoodsmen  returning  from  a  long  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  233 

wearing  journey.  There  were  the  Mississippi  Dragoons, 
the  Louisiana  militia,  the  variously  clad  Tennesseeans, 
the  Baratarians,  and  the  negroes  of  Daquin,  mainly 
ununiformed,  and  armed  with  every  kind  of  weapon. 
The  whole  appointment  of  this  motley  crew  was  ridic- 
ulous in  comparison  with  that  of  the  foe.  Nor  had 
General  Jackson  or  any  of  his  soldiers  ever  met  a 
thoroughly  equipped  veteran  enemy.  It  was  a  strange 
collection  of  men  whose  qualities  were  unknown,  com- 
manded by  a  comparatively  raw  militia  General.  How- 
ever, had  the  whole  army  of  England  been  on  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  it  would  have  made  no  differ- 
ence with  "  Andrew  Jackson,  Esquire,"  as  the  Britons 
yet  called  him.  He  would  have  gone  out  to  meet 
them  all  the  same.  Nor  would  he  have  modified  his 
Quixotic  assurance  to  the  women  of  New  Orleans, 
that  the  British  would  never  enter  the  city  as  con- 
querors except  over  his  dead  body. 


234  LIFE  A^'D  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BATTLE    OF  THE   NIGHT  OF  THE    230— BRITISH   RECONNOIS- 

SANCE  OF  THE  28th— THE  BRAVE  BARATARIANS— 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  COTTON-BALES. 

BEFORE  Jackson  reached  the  scene  of  action,  the 
Inspector-General,  Colonel  Hayne,  had  reconnoi- 
tered  the  British  position  with  a  boldness  that  greatly 
surprised  them.  In  one  of  these  reconnoissances  a 
squad  of  horsemen  went  so  near  the  enemy's  lines  that 
two  of  them  were  wounded,  and  the  first  blood  was  shed 
in  the  campaign  before  New  Orleans.  With  Hinds's 
Dragoons,  Hayne  himself  rode  within  pistol-shot  of  the 
Britons,  and,  after  viewing  hastily  their  position,  scam- 
pered away  unhurt  amidst  a  shower  of  balls. 

The  night  came  on.  The  enemy's  fires  were 
brightly  burning.  The  camp-kettles  held  fresh,  savory 
morsels  from  the  hen-roosts  and  store-houses  of  the 
rich  planters.  But  the  security  and  quiet  of  the  Brit- 
ish army  were  those  that  night  lends  to  the  moment 
in  which  no  one  can  tell  what  the  day  may  bring. 

At  seven  o'clock  a  schooner  was  descried  coming 
slowly  down  the  river.  There  were  endless  conjec- 
tures as  to  her  object.  It  is  said  that  some  even 
hoped  that  she  might  be  bringing  provisions  from  the 
city,  and  the  information  that  no  resistance  would  be 
made  at  New  Orleans.  But  conjecture  was  vain.  She 
glided    on.     She   was  hailed,   but   deigned   no   reply. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  235 

Her  broadside  was  turned  towards  the  British  camp. 
At  about  half-past  seven  torches  were  seen  on  the 
vessel,  and  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  ominous 
words :  "  Take  that  for  the  honor  of  America."  Then 
the  wondering  Britons  knew  the  object  of  the  myste- 
rious vessel.  From  the  mouths  of  half  a  score  of 
cannons  from  the  Carolina  Commodore  Patterson  had 
given  the  signal  for  attack.  The  camp-fires  of  the 
British  told  in  the  darkness  the  whereabouts  of  those 
who  had  made  them. 

General  Jackson  had  planned  the  attack  to  begin 
at  this  moment.  And  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  com- 
pletely surround  and  capture  or  destroy  the  British 
army.  He  waited  but  a  few  minutes  to  impress  the 
enemy  with  the  idea  that  no  other  foe  would  appear 
that  night.  Coffee,  who  was  pressing  along  the  swamp 
to  fall  on  the  enemy's  rear,  had  not  yet  reached  his 
destination.  The  main  force  of  the  Americans  ad- 
vanced on  the  river  road  under  Jackson  himself,  and 
now  so  filled  up  the  narrow  slip  between  the  river  and 
the  swamp  that  Daquin's  colored  troops  were  pushed 
out  of  the  line  and  into  the  rear.  But  the  darkness 
concealed  the  break.  The  little  army  pressed  forward. 
Leaving  a  hundred  men  with  his  horses.  Coffee  dis- 
mounted and  rushed  forward.  A  sharp  firing  in  every 
direction  showed  the  British  that  they  had  work  to 
do  besides  hiding  from  the  raking  shots  of  the  Caro- 
lina. From  behind  the  levee,  where  they  had  sought 
shelter  from  the  destructive  fire  of  Patterson's  boat, 
they  were  now  sent  out  to  resist  the  attack  of  the 
land  force,  which  was  as  unexpected.  The  engage- 
ment now  became  general.  The  dim  moonlight  was 
of   littfe    service.     The   flashes    of  the   guns  and   the 


236  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

musketry  alone  revealed  the  location  of  the  enemy, 
and  even  these  failed  at  times.  Every  resource  was 
used  to  distinguish  friends  from  foes.  But,  on  several 
occasions,  the  men  on  each  side  were  found  firing  upon 
their  own  comrades.  The  confusion  was  terrible.  By 
nine  o'clock  the  fog  had  settled  densely  over  the 
field,  and  all  firing  had  ceased.  The  British  re-enforce- 
ments had  arrived  by  this  time  from  the  lake,  hav- 
ing been  guided  in  their  march  by  the  sound  of 
the  battle. 

Instead  of  preparing  to  renew  the  contest  at  day- 
break, General  Jackson  now  determined  to  retire  behind 
Rodriguez  Canal,  secure  his  position  as  much  as  possible, 
and  await  the  movements  of  the  enemy.  •  This  was  a 
most  fortunate  position  for  defense.  The  solid  plain 
narrowed  to  less  than  a  mile,  having  the  river  on  one 
side  and  the  swamp  on  the  other.  The  canal  had 
once  been  used  as  a  mill-race,  probably,  and,  although 
now,  to  some  extent,  filled  with  dirt  and  grass,  it  was 
readily  turned  to  good  use  by  the  American  army. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  at  this  day  to  give  an  ac- 
curate detailed  account  of  this  night  engagement,  if, 
indeed,  it  ever  was  possible  to  do  so.  There  are  no 
two  accounts  of  it  extant  that  do  not  differ  in  many 
essentials.  The  following  outline  report  of  General 
Jackson  to  the  Secretary  of  War  varies  from  all 
others,  and  adds  the  General's  honorable  mention  of 
officers  and  men  ; — 

"The  loss  of  our  gun-boats  near  the  pass  of  the  Rigolets, 
having  given  the  enemy  command  of  Lake  Borgne,  he  was  en- 
abled to  choose  his  point  of  attack.  It  became  therefore  an  ob- 
ject of  importance,  to  obstruct  the  numerous  bayous  and  canals, 
leading  from  that  lake  to  the  highlands  on  the  Mississippi.     This 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  237 

important  service  was  committed,  in  the  first  instance,  to  a  de- 
tachment of  the  Seventh  Regiment,  afterwards  to  Col.  De  la  Ronde, 
of  the  Louisiana  militia,  and  lastly,  to  make  all  sure,  to  Major 
General  Villere,  commanding  the  district  between  the  river  and 
the  lakes,  and  who,  being  a  native  of  the  country,  was  presumed 
to  be  best  acquainted  with  all  those  passes.  Unfortunately, 
however,  a  picket  which  the  General  had  established  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Bayou  Bienvenu,  and  which,  notwithstanding  my 
orders,  had  been  left  unobstructed,  was  completely  surprised,  and 
the  enemy  penetrated  through  a  canal  leading  to  his  farm,  about 
two  leagues  below  the  city,  and  succeeded  in  cutting  off  a  com- 
pany of  militia  stationed  there.  This  intelligence  was  communi- 
cated to  me  about  twelve  o'clock  of  the  twenty-third.  My  force, 
at  this  time,  consisted  of  parts  of  the  Seventh  and  Forty-fourth 
Regiments,  not  exceeding  six  hundred  together,  the  city  militia, 
a  part  of  General  Coffee's  brigade  of  mounted  gun  men,  and  the 
detached  militia  from  the  western  division  of  Tennessee,  under 
the  command  of  Major-General  Carroll.  These  two  last  corps 
were  stationed  four  miles  above  the  city.  Apprehending  a 
double  attack  by  the  way  of  Chief-Menteur,  I  left  General  Car- 
roll's force  and  the  militia  of  the  city  posted  on  the  Gentilly 
Road ;  and  at  five  o'clock  P.  M.  marched  to  meet  the  enemy, 
whom  I  was  resolved  to  attack  in  his  first  position,  with  Major 
Hinds's  dragoons,  General  Coffee's  brigade,  parts  of  the  Seventh 
and  Forty-fourth  Regiments,  the  uniformed  companies  of  militia, 
under  the  command  of  Major  Planche,  two  hundred  of  color, 
chiefly  from  St.  Domingo,  raised  by  Colonel  Savery,  and  acting 
under  the  command  of  Major  Daquin,  and  a  detachment  of 
artillery  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  McRhea,  with  two  six- 
pounders,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Spotts  ;  not  exceed- 
ing, in  all,  fifteen  hundred.  I  arrived  near  the  enemy's  encamp- 
ment about  seven,  and  immediately  made  my  dispositions  for  the 
attack.  His  forces,  amounting  at  that  time  on  land  to  about 
three  thousand,  extended  half  a  mile  on  that  river,  and  in  the  rear 
nearly  tothe  wood.  General  Coffee  was  ordered  to  turn  their  right, 
while,  with  the  residue  of  the  force,  I  attacked  his  strongest  position 
on  the  left,  near  the  river.  Commodore  Patterson,  having  dropped 
down  the  river  in  the  scht)oner  Caroline,  was  directed  to  open 
a  fire  upon  their  camp,  which  he  executed  at  about  half-past 
seven.  This  being  a  signal  of  attack,  General  Coffee's  men,  with 
their    usual    impetuosity,    rushed    on     the    enemy's     right,   and 


238  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

entered  their  camp,  while  our  right  advanced  with  equal  ardor. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt,  that  we  should  have  succeeded  on 
that  occasion,  with  our  inferior  force,  in  destroying  or  capturing 
the  enemy,  had  not  a  thick  fog,  which  arose  about  eight  o'clock, 
occasioned  some  confusion  among  the  difi'erent  corps.  Fearing 
the  consequence,  under  this  circumstance,  of  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  a  night  attack,  with  troops  then  acting  together  for  the 
first  time,  I  contented  myself  with  lying  on  the  field  that  night ; 
and  at  four  in  the  morning  assumed  a  stronger  position,  about 
two  miles  nearer  the  city.  At  this  position  I  remained  encamped, 
waiting  the  arrival  of  the  Kentucky  militia  and  other  reinforce- 
ments. As  the  safety  of  the  city  will  depend  on  the  fate  of  this 
army,  it  must  not  be  incautiously  exposed. 

"In  this  afl^air  the  whole  corps  under  my  command  deserve 
the  greatest  credit.  The  best  compliment  I  can  pay  to  General 
CoflTee  and  his  brigade,  is  to  say,  they  have  behaved  as  they  have 
always  done,  while  under  my  command.  The  Seventh,  led  by 
Major  Pierre,  and  Forty-fourth,  commanded  by  Colonel  Ross, 
distinguished  themselves.  The  battalion  of  city  militia,  com- 
manded by  Major  Planche,  realized  my  anticipations,  and  behaved 
like  veterans.  Savery's  volunteers  manifested  great  bravery ; 
and  the  company  of  city  riflemen,  having  penetrated  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy's  camp,  were  surrounded,  and  fought  their 
way  out  with  the  greatest  heroism,  bringing  with  them  a  number 
of  prisoners.  The  two  field-pieces  were  well  served  by  the  officers 
commanding  them. 

"All  my  officers  in  the  line  did  their  duty,  and  I  have  every 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  whole  of  my  field  and  staff.  Col- 
onels Butler  and  Piatt,  and  Major  Chotard,  by  their  intrepidity, 
saved  the  artillery.  Colonel  Hayne  was  everywhere  that  duty 
or  danger  called.  I  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  one  of  my 
aids,  Captain  Butler,  whom  I  was  obliged  to  station,  to  his  great 
regret,  in  town.  Captain  Reid,  my  other  aid,  and  Messrs.  Liv- 
ingston, Duplissis,  and  Davizac,  who  had  volunteered  their  serv- 
ices, faced  danger  wherever  it  was  to  be  met,  and  carried  my 
orders  with  the  utmost  promptitude. 

"  We  made  one  major,  two  subalterns,  and  sixty-three  pri- 
vates, prisoners;    and   the  enemy's  loss,  in   killed  and  wounded, 

must  have   been   at  least .     My  own  loss  I  have  not  as  yet 

been  able  to  ascertain  with  exactness,  but  suppose  it  to  amount 
to    one   hundred  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.     Among  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  239 

former,  I  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  Colouel  Lauderdale,  of  Gen- 
eral Coffee's  brigade,  who  fell  while  bravely  fighting.  Colonels 
Dyer  and  Gibson,  of  the  same  corps,  were  wounded,  and  Major 
Kavanaugh  taken  prisoner. 

"Colonel  De  la  Ronde,  Major  Villere,  of  the  Louisiana  militia, 
Major  Latour,  of  engineers,  having  no  command,  volunteered 
their  services,  as  did  Doctors  Kerr  and  Hood,  and  were  of  great 
assistance  to  me." 

General  Keane  gave  his  loss  in  this  night's  battle, 
forty-six  killed,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  wounded, 
and  sixty-four  prisoners  and  missing.     The  Americans 
generally    made    a   much    higher    estimate    for    them. 
Jackson's   loss   was   twenty-four    killed,   one    hundred 
and  fifteen  wounded,  seventy-four  prisoners  or  missing. 
Had  Keane  waited   at  the  mouth  of  Bienvenu  Bayou 
for   the   landing  of  his  entire  army,  this  battle  would 
have  been  avoided,  and  his  chances  for  the  capture  of 
New   Orleans  would   have   been   greatly   increased,  if 
not  assured  beyond  a  doubt.     The  whole  British  army 
could   have   been   landed  in  perfect  secrecy,  and  been 
far  on  its  way  to  New  Orleans  before  General  Jackson 
was    aware   of  its    presence.      The    first    step   of  the 
British  officer  on  American  soil  was  a  mistake.     The 
surprise   in   his    camp  at  night-fall  was  not  indicative 
of  generalship.     The  Irish- American  was  the  superior 
soldier  ;  and  by  the  view  of  the  over-generous  English- 
man, Cobbett,  he   was   the  most  wonderful    man   and 
soldier  in  the  world  then  or  at  any  other  period. 

Like  most  other  night  battles  this  was,  in  many 
respects,  a  failure.  But  it  was  now  only  a  failure  to 
the  British.  There  is  no  question  as  to  its  benefits  to 
the  American  cause.  It  assured  the  British  of  the 
fighting  quality  of  the  men  with  whom  they  had  to 
contend  ;  it  satisfied  those  men  of  their  own  ability  to 


240  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

resist ;  it  greatly  exaggerated  the  resources  and  strength 
of  the  American  General;  it  stopped  the  advance  of 
the  British  at  the  best  possible  point  for  defense ;  it 
gave  the  Americans  time  for  fortifying  and  preparation, 
and  the  addition  of  the  troops  from  Kentucky  ;  and 
although  the  delay  which  followed  this  battle  brought 
re-enforcements  to  the  British,  it  otherwise  diminished 
their  chances  of  success. 

Mr.  Frost  says  :  "  This  battle  saved  New  Orleans. 
It  checked  the  treacherous,  confirmed  the  wavering, 
inspired  the  true."  And  Lewis  says  in  his  Eulogy  on 
Jackson : — 

"The  British  had  reached  the  Mississippi,  and  had  encamped 
upon  its  banks,  as  composedly  as  if  they  had  been  seated,  on 
their  own  soil,  at  a  distance  from  all  danger.  They  felt  cer- 
tain of  success,  and  that  the  American  troops,  so  easily  routed  at 
Bladensburg,  would  scarcely  venture  to  resist  at  New  Orleans. 
Resting  thus  confidently,  they  would  have  moved  forward  the 
next  day,  and  might  have  accomplished  their  designs.  But 'Gen- 
eral Jackson,  with  a  force  inferior  by  one-half  to  that  of  the 
enemy,  at  an  unexpected  moment  broke  into  the  camp,  and  with 
his  undisciplined  yeomanry,  drove  before  him  for  nearly  a  mile, 
the  proud  conquerors  of  Europe !" 

At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  the 
Americans  took  their  new  position  and  began  to  in- 
trench and  fortify.  From  New  Orleans  was  brought 
every  available  instrument  for  the  work.  And  strangely 
enough  this  work  was  allowed  to  go  on  without  much 
interference  from  the  British,  until  Jackson  considered 
himself  proof  against  their  guns.  On  the  night  of  the 
27th  of  December,  the  fortification,  if  such  it  could  be 
called,  was  finished  from  river  to  swamp.  All  of  this 
time,  it  is  said,  Jackson  was  constantly  on  the  ground 
watching  every  movement  of  the  enemy,  and  pushing 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  241 

forward  the  work  at  every  step,  often  taking  his  food 
on  his  horse  as  he  rode  from  one  part  to  another,  and 
passing  four  days  and  nights  without  sleep. 

The  old  canal  or  ditch  was  dug  four  or  five  feet 
deep,  and  the  dirt  used  to  enlarge  the  bank  or  parapet 
to  protect  the  little  raw  army.  The  canal  was  filled 
with  water  and  a  part  of  the  plain  flooded  two  feet 
deep  by  cutting  the  levee.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
cut  the  levee  below  the  British  camp,  but  the  low  stage 
of  water  in  the  river  prevented  the  success  of  this 
scheme. 

After  the  British  reconnoissance  of  the  28th,  which 
the  Americans  chose  to  treat  as  of  no  benefit,  or  as 
amuse'ment  to  them,  bales  of  cotton  were  put  into  the 
embankment  behind  the  American  ditch.  It  was  found 
that  the  heavy  British  guns  tore  up  this  mud  and  stick 
structure  wonderfully,  and  Jackson  began  to  fear  that 
it  might  not  stand  more  than  dress  reconnoissances. 
But  the  cotton  proved  to  be  a  failure,  as  it  would  take 
fire,  and  from  the  smoke  and  otherwise  annoy  the  men. 
Before  the  8th  of  January  it  was  all  removed,  so  that 
the  history  of  the  wonderful  cotton-bale  fortification, 
behind  which  Jackson  fought  the  British,  falls  like 
many  other  historic  fictions.  Like  it,  too,  was  the  fine 
story  of  the  cotton-dealer  and  the  General. 

The  cotton  king  came  to  Jackson  and  complained 
that  his  cotton  was  used  in  the  embankment,  and  he 
wanted  to  see  what  protection  he  was  to  receive.  Where- 
upon the.  General,  finding  that  this  man  was  not  doing 
any  kind  of  military  duty,  ordered  a  soldier  to  bring 
him  a  musket,  and  handing  it  to  the  patriot,  told  him  to 
take  his  post  by  his  own  cotton  in  the  embankment, 
saying  that  no  man  could   take  more   interest  in   the 

16— G 


242  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

protection  of  property  than  its  owner.  Now,  although 
this  affair  was  rather  Jacksonian  in  character,  unfortu- 
nately for  the  "  Hero  of  New  Orleans,"  it  was  Edward 
Livingston  who  had  the  transaction  with  the  cotton 
merchant,  and  merely  suggested  that  as  the  owner  of 
the  property,  he  should  take  a  gun  and  step  into 
the  line. 

On  the  25th  Sir  Edward  M.  Packenham  arrived 
and  took  command  of  the  British  army.  Although  this 
event  greatly  elevated  the  hopes  of  this  fine  force,  it 
had  no  such  effect  upon  the  young  knight  who  came  to 
win  and  govern  a  province.  When  he  had  looked  over 
the  ground  he  feared  that  his  army  had  been  placed  in 
a  situation  where  it  could  not  be  successful.  From  this 
fear  he  never  recovered.  It  is  held  that  at  that  time 
he  would  have  withdrawn  to  Lake  Borgne,  and  made 
the  assault  from  some  other  direction.  But  from  this 
view  he  was  dissuaded  by  the  counsels  of  Cochrane 
and  other  officers,  who  despised  the  American  fortifi- 
cations, and  considered  it  shameful  to  talk  of  them 
among  men  who  had  successfully  carried  at  the  bayo- 
net's point  some  of  the  most  scientifically  constructed 
military  works. 

With  Packenham  came  also  General  Samuel  Gibbs 
to  be  second  in  command,  who  like  Packenham  had 
distinguished  himself  in  the  war  against  Napoleon. 
There  had  arisen  general  and  loud  complaint  against 
Keane,  and  the  change  in  the  command  brought  great 
relief  to  the  army  of  invasion.  Nor  was  Keane  less 
indisposed  to  get  rid  of  the  responsibility.  Before, 
fortune  had  marked  his  way.  In  America,  it  appeared, 
he  had  entered  the  road  to  ruin.  His  first  step  after 
reaching  the  shore  of  Borgne  was  wrong,  although  he 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  243 

had  executed  it  with  success.  His  next  mistake  never 
was  corrected,  never  could  be.  That  was,  in  allowing 
the  Americans  to  build  a  breastwork  from  the  river 
into  the  swamp  on  the  level  plain,  behind  which  they 
could  resist  the  advance  of  a  vastly  superior  army 
with  little  danger  to  themselves. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  poor  Keane  with  his 
three  or  four  thousand  men  should  have  moved  on  to 
New  Orleans.  It  was  not  improbable  that  he  could 
have  driven  the  miscellaneous  army  before  him.  Al- 
though it  was  composed  of  brave  men,  they  were  not 
all  Baratarians,  and  were  subject  to  the  inexplicable 
chances  that  beset  militia,  and  inexperienced  and  un- 
soldierly  men  in  great  emergencies.  General  Keane 
was  a  brave  man,  but  no  great  general.  Nor  was  Eng- 
land at  all  fortunate  in  selecting  general  officers  for 
this  grand  expedition.  Noble-spirited,  brave  men  they 
were,  but  not  great  leaders. 

However,  had  it  been  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who 
arrived  on  the  25th,  instead  of  Sir  Edward  Packen- 
ham,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  he  would  not  have 
pursued  the  same  course  with  a  similar  result. 

Wellington  believed  the  soldiers  sent  on  this  expe- 
dition were  equal  to  any  task.  They  would  do  what 
was  in  the  power  of  man  if  they  were  led.  British 
pride  had  much  to  do  in  the  failure  of  this  invasion. 
In  the  conduct  of  General  Braddock  and  his  sad 
defeat  on  the  Monongahela  in  1754,  this  pride  was 
the  prominent  factor.  And  until  after  the  War  of 
1812,  it  stood  at  the  head  of  all  their  dealings  with 
America.  These  proud  naval  and  military  heroes, 
gathered  in  the  swamp  and  on  the  plain  below  New 
Orleans,  while  they  really  feared   the  uncertain  force 


244  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

that  obstructed  their  way  to  the  city,  affected  to 
despise  any  work  they  could  erect  for  their  own  pro- 
tection, as  they  did  the  undisciplined  mob  that  com- 
posed the  American  army.  No  such  things  were  ever 
to  be  considered  in  estimating  British  valor.  No 
Briton  was  less  affected  with  this  infatuation  than 
the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Wellington  was  not  unwill- 
ing to  come  over  here  to  head  this  grand  adventure. 
But  the  British  Cabinet  decided  that  it  was  quite 
sufficient  for  a  man  of  less  note  to  do  this  work  in 
America.  It  was  the  same  towering  spirit  of  pride. 
All  things  here  were  underestimated.  Nor  is  America 
under  any  obligations  of  gratitude  to  the  English 
Ministry  in  withholding  Wellington. 

His  fate  would  have  been  the  same.  His  splendid 
career  would  have  had  an  inglorious  ending  on  the 
low  plains  of  the  Mississippi.  As  it  was,  he  lived  to 
respect  the  name  and  character  of  Jackson,  the  rough 
soldier  who  would  have  had  the  misfortune  and  honor 
of  defeating  him  at  New  Orleans.  That  other  brave 
and  noble  Englishmen  fell  here,  is  sad  enough,  and  that 
Wellington,  in  whom  Englishmen  and  their  descend- 
ants in  America  all  have  a  proud  interest,  escaped  is 
even  now  a  source  of  gratulation. 

On  the  night  of  the  26th  the  British  erected  a 
battery  on  the  levee  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the 
Carolina,  and  her  companion,  the  Louisiana.  Packen- 
ham  saw  that  these  batteries  in  the  river  must  first 
be  removed.  At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the 
27th,  some  hot  shots  were  thrown  into  the  Carolina, 
and  she  was  set  on  fire,  and,  abandoned  by  her  crew, 
soon  blew  up.  Three  days  before  the  Louisiana 
had   completed   her   armament   and    taken  a   position 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  245 

above  the  Carolina^  and  with  great  effort  she  was 
got  out  of  the  way  of  the  British  battery,  and  an- 
chored above  Jackson's  ditch,  where  she  was  soon 
given  an  opportunity  to  try  the  skill  of  her  inexpe- 
rienced crew. 

While  affairs  were  progressing  in  this  indecisive  way 
with  the  main  army,  Jackson  was  not  unmindful  of 
other  points.  The  right  bank  of  the  river  was  placed 
in  a  state  of  defense  sufficient  for  the  demand,  it  was 
thought.  The  swamp  on  that  side  approached  nearer 
the  river,  and  a  line  of  defense  was  constructed  from 
the  river  to  it  similar  to  that  on  the  left  bank.  Com- 
modore Patterson  erected  a  battery  on  that  side,  too, 
and  took  charge  of  it  with  the  crew  of  the  Carolina. 
A  small  detachment  under  the  guidance  of  Jean 
Lafitte  was  sent  to  look  after  the  bayous  leading  to 
Barataria  Bay  through  which  it  was  thought  the 
British  might  attempt  to  steal  upon  the  city.  The 
passages  to  the  lakes  were  also  carefully  guarded. 
By  the  destruction  of  the  Carolina  it  became  apparent 
that  the  enemy  was  really  clearing  the  way  for  an 
advance  on  the  American  line.  General  Jackson 
believed  it  was  the  intention  of  the  British  to  try  his 
works  on  the  following  day. 

And  in  this  he  was  not  mistaken.  On  the  night 
of  the  23d  Jackson  had  but  two  cannons,  six  pound- 
ers, and  one  of  these  would  have  been  lost  had  it  not 
been  for  his  own  efforts.  These  were  planted  in  his 
line  of  works,  and  on  the  night  of  the  27th  a  twelve 
and  a  twenty-four  pounder  were  also  put  in  position, 
and  early  the  next  morning  another  twenty-four 
pounder.  The  Louisiana  also  had  a  good  battery.  On 
this  night  all  the  available  American  force  was  ordered 


246  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

to  join  the  main  army.     Amomg  these  were  the  crew 
of  the  Carolina^  and  the  Baratarians. 

These  bold  men  since  their  release  and  pardon  had 
been  at  Fort  St.  John.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the 
28th  they  came  in,  having  run  all  the  way,  anxious  to 
have  any  opportunity  to  show  their  attachment  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  They  were  given 
charge  of  one  of  the  twenty -four  pounder  guns,  and  were 
soon  in  action.  The  Baratarians  were  among  Jackson's 
best  soldiers,  and  none  of  the  defenders  of  New  Or- 
leans would  have  sold  their  lives  more  dearly  than 
these  men.  Yet  they  were  forever  proscribed.  They 
had  been  guilty  of  two  crimes,  if  they  had  not  been 
pirates.  Pirates  they  hardly  were,  as  they  operated 
under  commissions  of  an  organized  government.  But 
they  were  smugglers,  and  they  had  made  their  ren- 
dezvous in  a  part  of  the  territory  of  this  country  when 
at  peace  with  the  nation  against  which  their  depreda- 
tions were  mainly  directed.  But  the  kind  of  piracy 
they  had  waged  against  Spain  in  favor  of  South  Amer- 
ica, was  at  this  time  authorized  by  the  United  States 
against  England.  The  Chesapeake  Bay  was  called  a 
pirate  nest  from  1812  to  1815,  and  great  fortunes  were 
smuggled  into  Baltimore.  Old  families  now  in  that 
city,  as  well  as  others  on  the  Atlantic  border,  can  trace 
their  wealth  to  this  privateering  and  smuggling  busi- 
ness during  the  War  of  1812,  as  could  some  of  those 
of  New  Orleans  to  the  less  respectable  operations  of 
Jean  Lafitte. 

At  8  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  28th,  the  British 
army  moved  in  two  divisions  under  Gibbs  and  Keane. 
Every  means  was  taken  to  impress  the  Americans  with 
the  grandness  and  vastness  of  the  display.     The  whole 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  247 

army  was  in  full  view  on  the  plain.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
glittering,  thrilling  sight.  Keane's  division  on  the  left 
moved  forward  partly  protected  by  two  farm-houses. 
But  these  were  soon  in  flames  from  hot  American  shot. 
The  Louisiana  now  made  good  use  of  her  battery,  and 
the  five  guns  in  the  earth-works  poured  shot  after  shot 
into  the  advancing  columns.  From  the  sloop  alone 
eight  hundred  shots  were  fired. 

The  Britons  were  forced  to  take  to  the  muddy 
ditches  that  crossed  the  plain,  and  finally  in  broken 
line,  retreat  to  a  safe  distance.  On  the  right,  where 
the  fortification  was  yet  low  and  incomplete,  and  the 
ditch  narrow,  the  British  were  more  nearly  successful 
in  this  big  reconnoisance,  as  they  termed  it.  Here 
the  swamp  was  passable,  and  the  American  force  was 
weakest,  and  a  desperate  effort  of  the  right  division, 
here  at  a  moment  would  have  changed  the  fortunes 
of  that  day.  But  the  opportunity  was  not  taken  for 
some  cause,  and  by  three  or  four  o'clock  the  whole 
British  army  was  drawn  off  and  returned  to  camp,  full 
of  mortification  and  disappointment,  with  a  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  of  two  hundred  men,  perhaps. 
The  American  loss  on  this  day  was  nine  killed  and 
eight  wounded.  Many  of  the  Americans  felt  from 
this  day  that  they  had  whipped  the  British,  and  that 
what  was  yet  to  come  was  certain  victory  and  com- 
parative safety  to  them.  The  British  were  corre- 
spondingly depressed,  and  more  than  poor  brave  Keane 
felt  the  shadows  of  utter  ruin  gathering  about  them. 
Still  these  brave  men  began  to  remedy  what  they 
found  wanting,  and  prepare  for  the  struggle  they  were 
bound  to  make,  and  which  they  hoped  would  be  suc- 
cessful.    As   a   matter  of  course   the   excitement   had 


248  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

been  very  great  in  the  city,  on  this  day.  Conflicting 
rumors  swayed  the  people  from  one  thing  to  another. 
The  Legislature  had  sent  to  General  Jackson  to  know 
what  course  he  would  take,  if  forced  from  his  position. 
He  had  roughly  answered  that  he  did 'not  know,  and 
that  if  the  hair  of  his  head  could  divine  what  he 
should  do  he  would  cut  it  off,  but  if  driven  to  the 
city,  they  could  expect  a  warm  session.  During  the 
day  it  was  rumored  in  New  Orleans  that  the  British 
had  forced  the  line  and  were  pushing  forward.  The 
object  of  the  Legislature  was  to  save  the  city. 

To  General  Jackson  during  the  day  was  brought 
the  intelligence  that  the  Legislature  was  preparing  to 
convey  the  city  into  the  hands  of  the  British.  Al- 
though he  did  not  believe  this  report,  and  desired  to 
•treat  that  body  with  as  much  respect  as  possible,  he 
sent  word  to  Governor  Claiborne  to  look  into  the  case, 
and  if  he  considered  it  necessary,  to  put  a  guard 
around  that  body  when  in  session  to  prevent  any  con- 
nection from  without  to  disturb  them  in  their  onerous 
task  of  making  good  laws.  Claiborne  did  not  under- 
stand the  order,  or  did  not  care  to  understand  it, 
or  it  was  in  the  confusion  not  conveyed  to  him 
as  given.  At  all  events,  he  sent  a  squad  of 
militia  to  take  charge  of  the  State  House  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Legislature,  and  when  the  members  ap- 
peared they  were  not  allowed  to  enter.  Although  un- 
designed by  Jackson,  this  matter  was  long  a  source 
of  great  annoyance  to  him.  When  martial  law  was 
proclaimed  he  should  have  sent  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  to  their  homes.  Law-making  at  such  a 
time  was  a  farce,  and  would  have  been  so  even  in  a 
harmonious  and  able  body  of  patriotic  men. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  249 


CHAPTER   XV. 

BATTLE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS— 8th  OF  JANUARY,   1815. 

THE  British  Generals  now  concluded  that  their 
only  alternative  was  in  the  way  of  regular  siege, 
that  their  first  business  was  the  destruction  of  the 
American  earth-bank.  For  three  days  they  were  en- 
gaged in  bringing  heavy  guns  from  the  fleet,  and  by 
the  last  night  of  the  year,  they  had  succeeded  in  erect- 
ing six  batteries  or  redoubts  on  the  plain  within  from 
three  to  six  hundred  yards  of  the  American  line, 
mounting  thirty  pieces  of  eighteen  and  twenty-four- 
pounder  cannons. 

Nor  had  General  Jackson  been  idle.  He  had 
strengthened  his  works,  and  especially  on  the  left 
leading  to  the  swamp.  The  movements  of  the  enemy 
were  everywhere  closely  watched.  The  Louisiana  lost 
no  opportunity  to  use  her  big  guns;  and  the  batteries 
in  the  long  low  line  of  defense,  now  and  then,  tried 
their  skill  on  a  single  Red  Coat,  when  they  could  see 
nothing  better,  with  an  accuracy  that  amazed  and  ter- 
rified the  enemy.  On  New-Year's  morning,  a  dense 
fog  covered  the  plain.  What  the  British  had  done  in 
the  last  twelve  hours  was  a  matter  of  doubt,  but  it 
was  quite  certain  that  they  had  been  at  work  a  great 
part  of  the  night,  not  far  from  the  line,  and  it  was  be- 
lieved by  many  that  there  would  be  busy  times  on 
New-Year's    day.     Notwithstanding     this     knowledge 


250  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  American  army  was  not  ready  when  the  moment 
for  action  came. 

In  strange  contrast  with  General  Jackson's  sleepless 
watchfulness  hitherto,  was  his  conduct  on  this  morning. 
The  fashion  and  folly  of  gallanting  around  on  this  day 
could  not  be  wholly  dropped  in  this  little,  undrilled, 
miserably  equipped  army  in  the  face  of  a  splendid  foe 
on  the  very  point  of  attacking  it.  As  the  army  could 
not  go  to  the  town,  the  town  was  to  come  to  the  army. 
Everybody  was  to  appear  in  his  best,  and  there  was 
to  be  a  grand  review  by  the  General.  This  unaccount- 
able folly  would  have  been  at  great  cost  to  Jackson 
and  New  Orleans  had  there  been  more  discernment 
and  skill  in  the  British  army,  had  Lord  Cornwallis,  or 
the  father  of  its  chief  engineer,  Sir  John  Burgoyne, 
been  its  commander.  In  the  fog  of  that  morning  the 
whole  British  army  could  have  advanced  to  within 
fifty  yards  of  the  American  line  without  detection. 
They  knew  every  foot  of  the  ground  and  what  was 
before  them.  Through  the  swamp  or  over  the  em- 
bankment they  could  have  entered  the  American  camp 
when  the  careless  militia  were  preparing  New-Year's 
parade.  Still  it  is  of  little  matter  to  care  for  what 
might  have  been,  it  is  mainly  with  what  was  that  it 
is  necessary  to  deal  here. 

The  morning  was  far  advanced  before  the  fog  cleared 
away  from  the  American  camp.  About  ten  o'clock  it 
moved  off  in  a  minute,  and  the  sun  shone  warmly  and 
brightly  on  the  holiday  scene.  The  flags  were  flying, 
the  bands  were  playing,  officers  were  moving  in  every 
direction  in  gay  attire,  and  the  review  was  about  to 
take  place.  It  was  a  gay  scene  from  the  British  lines, 
and  one   that   many  a  subaltern   officer  thought  they 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  251 

ought  to  be  improving  in  a  different  manner,  to  their 
advantage.  Jackson's  review  did  not  take  place,  and 
many  who  came  from  town  that  day  returned  with  sore 
hearts  to  tell  of  the  great  artillery  contest  that  shook 
the  low,  baseless  delta. 

The  fog  had  hardly  moved  from  the  scene  until  the 
thirty  British  guns  began  a   furious  cannonade  of  the 
American  line.     With  much  confusion  the  gay  parade 
was   abandoned  and  the  soldiers   sought   their   places 
where   duty    and    safety  required,   behind  the  works. 
Grreat  showers  of  Congreve  rockets  filled  the  air  and 
fell    about    the     American     camp.     The     twenty-four 
pounders  buried  their  great  shots  in  the  mud  wall  and 
fired  the   cotton  bales  or   tore  them  to  pieces  at  the 
embrasures.     Jackson   walked    from   one    end    of    the 
fortifications   to  the  other  encouraging   the   men,   and 
observing  the  condition  of  the  defenses.     The  moment 
of  panic  had  subsided.     The  men  were  eager  for  the 
fray.     So    soon   as  the   situation   of  affairs  was  seen, 
and    the  bearings  of  the  low    batteries  of  the  enemy 
were  taken,  the  American   guns  opened  a  terrific  fire 
from  every  part  of  the  long  line.     Patterson  from  his 
battery  also  joined   in   the  fray.     For  an  hour  and  a 
half  these   conflicting   thunders    roared.     The    British 
firing  had  not  been  without  effect,  but  the  result  they 
anticipated  was  never  reached.     In  vain  did  more  than 
half  of  their  grand  army  stand  a  few  hundred  yards 
in  the  rear  of  the  fated  redoubts  waiting  and  watching  for 
the    contemptible    mud-works   and   their  contemptible 
defenders  to  be  scattered  before  the  great  guns,  that 
they  might  rush  forward  to  complete  the  work. 

But  brave,  unlucky  Britons,  the  moment  for  their 
services  never  came  !     The  firing  ceased.     The  smoke 


252  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

slowly  cleared  away.  The  sailors  who  had  worked  the 
six  batteries  were  seen  running  to  the  ditches  for  pro- 
tection. The  redoubts  were  torn  to  pieces,  and  fhe 
great  guns  lay  broken  and  harmless  on  the  plain.  In 
the  ditches  the  anxious  army  also  took  refuge,  and  not 
till  night  did  they  all  re^ch  their  old,  tentless,  comfort- 
less, provisionless  camp,  which  now  had  but  one  source 
of  consolation  in  it,  it  was  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
deadly  Yankee  guns.  Most  of  their  own  guns  were 
hauled  away  that  night.  A  few  only  of  them  were 
left  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Jackson  eight  days  after- 
wards. Their  loss  had  been  thirty  or  forty  killed  and 
as  many  wounded  in  this  battle  of  the  cannons,  in 
which  they  were  again  forced  to  acknowledge  the 
superiority  of  the  American  artillerists.  The  Amer- 
ican loss  was  eleven  killed  and  twenty-three  wounded, 
and  the  greater  number  of  these  was  of  the  New-Year's 
lookers-on. 

On  this  first  day  of  the  "  glad  new  year,"  there 
came  no  joy  to  the  British  army.  And  a  sad,  gloomy 
night  closed  over'  the  failure  of  their  cherished  scheme. 
In  speaking  of  this  day,  and  its  effects,  one  of  the 
fairest  of  the  British  writers  said  : — 

"  Of  the  fatigue  undergone  during  these  operations  by  the 
whole  army,  from  the  general  down  to  the  meanest  sentinel,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  form  an  adequate  conception.  For  two 
whole  nights  and  days  not  a  man  had  closed  an  eye,  except  such 
as  were  cool  enough  to  sleep  amidst  showers  of  cannon-ball ;  and 
during  the  day  scarcely  a  moment  had  been  allowed  in  which  we 
were  able  so  much  as  to  break  our  fast.  We  retired,  therefore, 
not  only  baffled  and  disappointed,  but  in  some  degree  disheartened 
and  discontented.  All  our  plans  had  as  yet  proved  abortive; 
even  this,  upon  which  so  much  reliance  had  been  placed,  was 
found  to  be  of  no  avail  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  something 
like  murmuring  began  to  be  heard  through  the  camp.     And,  in 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  253 

truth,  if  ever  an  array  might  be  permitted  to  murmur  it  was  this. 
In  landing  they  had  borne  great  hardships,  not  only  without  i-e- 
pining,  but  with  cheerfulness ;  their  hopes  had  been  excited  by 
false  reports  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  attempt  in  which  they 
were  embarked  ;^  and  now  they  found  themselves  entangled  amidst 
difficulties  from  which  there  appeared  to  be  no  escape,  except  by 
victory. 

"  In  their  attempts  upon  the  enemy's  line,  however,  they  had 
been  twice  foiled ;  in  artillery  they  perceived  themselves  to  be  so 
greatly  overmatched  that  their  own  could  hardly  assist  them ; 
their  provisions,  being  derived  wholly  from  the  fleet,  were  both 
scanty  and  coarse  ;  and  their  rest  was  continually  broken.  For 
not  only  did  the  cannon  and  mortars  from  the  main  of  the  enemy's 
position  play  unremittingly  upon  them  both  by  day  and  night, 
but  they  were  likewise  exposed  to  a  deadly  fire  from  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river,  where  no  less  than  eighteen  pieces  of  artillery 
were  now  mounted,  and  swept  the  entire  line  of  our  encampment. 
Besides  all  this,  to  undertake  the  duty  of  a  picket  was  as  danger- 
ous as  to  go  into  action.  Parties  of  American  sharpshooters 
harassed  and  disturbed  those  appointed  to  that  service,  from  the 
time  they  took  possession  of  their  post  until  they  were  relieved  ; 
whilst  to  light  fires  at  night  was  impossible,  because  they  served 
but  as  certain  marks  for  the  enemy's  gunners.  I  repeat,  there- 
fore, that  a  little  murmuring  could  not  be  wondered  at.  Be  it 
observed,  however,  that  these  were  not  the  murmurs  of  men  anx- 
ious to  escape  from  a  disagreeable  situation  by_  any  means.  On 
the  contrary,  they  resembled  rather  the  growling  of  a  chained  dog, 
when  he  sees  his  adversary  and  can  not  reach  him  ;  for  in  all  their 
complaints  no  man  ever  hinted  at  a  retreat,  whilst  all  were  eager 
to  bring  matters  to  the  issue  of  a  battle,  at  any  sacrifice  of  lives." 

This  had  been  what  is  usually  designated  a  glo- 
rious day  to  the  Americans.  Some  good  men  had 
been  killed  or  wounded,  but  a  great  victory  had  been 
won.  The  long  line  of  fortification  had  now  stood  the 
severest  test,  and  the  weak  points  in  it  had  been  dis- 
covered. More  than  all  this,  it  established  in  the 
Americans  the  absolute  conviction  of  their  final  suc- 
cess, and  made  them  fearless   and  invincible   in  their 


254  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

determination.  And  now  what  was  next  to  be  done  ? 
Nearly  a  week  passed  before  this  question  could  be 
answered  in  the  American  camp.  Jackson  was  greatly 
at  a  loss  now  to  decide  what  course  the, British  would 
pursue,  as  he  could  not  believe  they  would  again 
attempt  to  storm  his  line  of  defenses.  He  accord- 
ingly sent  off  a  squad  of  men  to  Lake  Borgne  to  dis- 
coA^er,  if  possible,  the  movements  of  the  enemy  at 
the  mouth  of  Bienvenu  Bayou,  and  also  down  the 
west  bank  opposite  the  British  camp  every  possible 
effort  was  made  to  ascertain  what  might  next  be 
expected. 

One  thing  was,  from  the  first,  by  all  these  recon- 
noissances,  quite  certain,  that  the  British  were  going  to 
fight  it  out  on  that  line  in  some  way.  On  the  4th, 
twenty-two  hundred  and  fifty  Kentuckians,  under 
General  James  Thomas,  arrived,  two-thirds  of  them 
without  arms,  and  one-half  of  them  without  clothes 
to  keep  them  warm  or  to  cover  their  bodies  even.  This 
was  deplorable.  Jackson  had  expected  much  from 
these  troops,  and  they  had  expected  to  find  arms  and 
clothes  in  abundance  awaiting  them  at  New  Orleans. 
Every  body  was  disappointed.  But  the  most  was  to 
be  made  out  of  a  hard  case.  The  Legislature,  which 
had  only  been  shut  out  of  the  State  House  for  a 
day,  now  came  nobly  forward  and  made  an  appropria- 
tion to  clothe  these  troops.  The  citizens  of  New  Or- 
leans and  the  soldiers  in  the  camp  subscribed  a  con- 
siderable sum  for  the  same  purpose.  The  greater 
part  of  the  money  was  spent  for  blankets,  and  these 
were,  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  made  into  coats  and 
pantaloons  by  an  army  of  patriotic  women  at  New 
Orleans,  and  twelve  hundred  soldiers  were  soon  sup- 


ANDEEW  JACKSON.  255 

plied  with  these,  as  well  as  the  needy  with  shoes  and 
other  necessities. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th,  Friday,  Jackson  began 
to  see  the  design  of  the  British.  Some  efforts  had 
been  made  to  put  the  right  side  of  the  river  in  a 
more  defensible  condition.  Men  had,  for  several  days, 
been  engaged  fortifying  and  strengthening  that  position, 
which  had  been  erroneously  and  greatly  neglected. 
The  batteries  erected  on  that  side  by  Commodore  Pat- 
terson had  been  more  for  operations  against  the  enemy 
on  the  left  bank,  and  were  hardly  prepared  for  defense. 
But  every  thing  was  done  that  could  now  be  done. 
Patterson  had  discovered,  as  he  thought,  that  the 
British  were  preparing  to  cross  the  river,  and  if  they 
could  do  that  and  drive  Morgan  before  them,  they 
would  turn  his  guns  on  Jackson,  and  there  would 
be  but  one  result  to  this  stratagem,  defeat  of  the 
Americans. 

On  Saturday  it  was  decided  to  send  four  or  five 
hundred  of  the  Kentuckians  to  the  aid  of  Morgan  and 
Patterson.  These  troops  rushed  off  to  New  Orleans 
hoping  to  find  arms  collected  by  that  time,  but  only 
about  two  hundred  of  them  were  supplied,  and  these 
crossed  the  river,  and  by  four  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  8th  reached  Morgan's  line.  About  twelve  hun- 
dred of  the  poorest  equipped  soldiers  were  now  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river,  with  two  cannons  in  their 
whole  line,  besides  Patterson's  fine  battery. 

The  great  line  on  the  left  had  been  strengthened, 
additional  cannons  mounted,  every  vestige  of  the 
cotton-bales  which  had  burned  and  smoked,  and  greatly 
annoyed  the  soldiers  on  the  1st,  had  been  removed, 
and    no    matter    what    had    been    neglected,  or   what 


256  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

done  on  the  west  bank  or  anywhere,  all  was  done 
that  could  be  now,  and  the  result  would  soon  be 
known.  The  time  had  come.  No  man  in  the  Amer- 
ican army  was  more  confident  of  the  result  than  the 
Commander-in-chief.  To  Governor  John  Adair,  to 
whom  the  command  of  the  Kentuckians  had  fallen  by 
the  sickness  of  General  Thomas,  Jackson  appealed  for 
his  opinion  of  the  defensibility  of  the  works  he  had  in 
so  short  a  time  erected.  Adair  was  not  lacking  in 
resources,  and  told  him  that  they  could  only  be  held 
against  the  desperate  British  assailants  by  having  a 
strong  reserve  to  beat  them  off  as  they  should  fall  on 
one  point  or  another. 

Jackson  approved  this  view,  and  put  the  service 
into  the  hands  of  Adair  and  his  unarmed  Kentuckians. 
Adair  at  once  set  about  gathering  arms  in  New  Or- 
leans, and  prepared  to  do  the  work  assigned  him. 
Thus  matters  stood  in  the  American  camp  on  Satur- 
day evening  before  the  final  battle.  All  this  night  the 
greater  part  of  the  men  were  in  arms  at  their  posts. 
The  morning  was  eagerly  awaited,  and  no  man  could 
tell  what  it  had  in  store  for  him. 

At  one  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  7th,  General 
Jackson  was  aroused  from  a  short  sleep,  at  his  head- 
quarters in  McCarty's  house,  by  a  messenger  from 
General  Morgan  and  Commodore  Patterson  to  assure 
him  that  the  British  were  crossing  troops  to  that  side 
of  the  river,  that  the  main  attack  would  be  made  over 
there,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  more  men 
to  be  sent  to  the  aid  of  Morgan.  To  this  request 
Jackson  replied :  "  Hurry  back,  and  tell  General 
Morgan  that  he  is  mistaken.  The  main  attack  will  be 
on  this  side,  and    I   have   no  men  to  spare.     He  must 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  257 

maintain  his  position  at  all  hazards."  This  Morgan 
tried  hard  to  do. 

The  General  now  called  his  aids,  and  by  four 
o'clock  the  entire-  army  was  in  line  of  battle.  The 
whole  American  force  on  the  left  side  of  the  river  was 
formed  into  three  divisions.  On  the  right  of  the  line 
the  command  was  given  to  Colonel  Ross,  and  the  left 
division  extending  into  the  swamp  to  General  Carroll. 
Under  Carroll  was  the  brigade  of  Coffee  and  the  great 
part  of  his  own  corps  from  Tennessee.  The  Third  Di- 
vision consisted  of  a  thousand  Kentuckians  with  all 
kinds  of  arms  under  General  Adair  and  directly  under 
commands  from  Jackson.  This  corps  was  formed  fifty 
yards  or  so  in  the  rear  of  Carroll  as  a  reserve  accord- 
ing to  Adair's  suggestion.  The  entire  army  under 
Jackson  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the 
morning  of  the  8th,  amounted  to  about  5,500  men. 
But  only  about  3,000  of  these  could  be  placed  in  the 
line,  and  less  than  2,000  were  actually  engaged  in  the 
battle.  Of  all  these  troops,  less  than  a  thousand  were 
of  the  regular  branch  of  the  service,  and  most  of  these 
were  new  recruits.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river 
General  Morgan  had  but  812  men.  Hence,  the  per- 
sistent misrepresentation  of  British  writers  in  placing 
the  Americnn  army  at  twice  the  strength  of  that  under 
Sir  Edward  Packenham.  And  several  of  them  were 
not  content  even  with  that,  but  actually  declared  that 
General  Jackson's  force  amounted  to  twenty-five  or 
thirty  thousand  men.  ^ 

For  the  number  of  men  engaged,  Jackson's  artillery 
force  was  strong.  In  the  line  from  the  river  to  the 
swamp  and  in  the  redoubt,  constructed  outside  of  his 
breastworks,  and  across  the  ditch  on  the  right  he  had 

17— G 


258  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

sixteen  guns  of  all  kinds  and  sizes ;  and  to  these 
should  be  added  Patterson's  battery  of  nine  guns,  sit- 
uated to  give  aid  to  Jackson.  General  Morgan  had 
three  guns,  making  twenty-eight  in  all.  Twenty-five 
of  these  were  used  in  the  main  engagement. 

The  British  army  was  put  into  four  divisions ;  the 
main  assailing  force  into  the  right  under  Gibbs,  the 
left  under  Keane,  and  the  reserve  under  General  John 
Lambert,  who  had  recently  arrived  with  about  two 
thousand  troops,  and  a  division  of  fourteen  hundred 
men  under  Colonel  W.  Thornton  to  be  sent  to  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  about  nine  thousand  in  all. 

Two  of  the  British  regiments  were  black  men  from 
the  West  Indies,  who  proved  to  be  much  worse  than 
nothing.  In  this  mild  winter  climate  they  were  freez- 
ing, and  from  cold  and  cowardice  they  were  worthless. 
Notwithstanding  this  one  of  these  black  cowardly  regi- 
ments was  designated  to  carry  ladders  for  scaling  the 
American  parapet,  and  bundles  of  sticks  for  bridging 
or  filling  the  ditch,  for  the  left  division.  Although 
their  fascines  were  not  needed  by  this  part  of  the 
army,  this  black  regiment  marched  behind  and  not 
before,  and  never  would  have  been  able  to  get  up  with 
their  sticks.  For  nearly  a  week  the  British  army 
had  been  opening  an  old  ditch  from  Bayou  Bienvenu 
to  the  river  through  which  they  expected  to  float  and 
drag  boats  in  which  to  transport  Thornton's  division 
to  the  other  side  of  the  river.  This  they  had,  after 
great  exertions,  finished,  but  the  river  falling  they 
were  not  able  to  get  into  boats  to  carry  over  one-half 
of  the  men  designed  for  that  part  of  the  assault. 
Thornton  was  delayed  in  getting  over  with  even  these, 
so  that  Packenham   determined   to   proceed   with   the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  259 

plan  of  attack  he  had  already  issued.  At  four  o'clock 
the  British  army  marched  out  and  took  the  positions 
assigned  them  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  fog,  on  the 
plain  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  American  lines. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  night  three  or  four  batteries 
had  been  erected  at  different  distances  from  the  Amer- 
ican works,  for  protecting  the  advance. 

The  fog  was  slow  in  clearing  away,  and  as  day- 
light approached,  the  British  army  with  great  difficulty 
maintained  its  organization  or  was  able  to  know  what 
was  taking  place.  With  great  forebodings  many  of 
these  brave  men  went  into  this  battle.  They  believed 
that  it  would  be  their  last.  About  six  o'clock  the 
fog  began  to  lift,  and  the  red  line  of  the  enemy  was 
seen  for  the  first  from  the  American  parapet.  Cheers 
went  up  from  both  sides.  The  cannons  in  the  Ameri- 
can line  now  began  the  work  of  death.  As  the  ad- 
vancing columns  were  rent  asunder  they  were  closed 
up,  and  marched  on.  When  the  division  of  the  right, 
under  Gibbs,  came  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the 
American  line,  Carroll  opened  with  his  rifles,  and  as 
one  column  fired  and  withdrew  from  the  breastworks, 
another  was  ready  to  take  its  place,  from  the  Ken- 
tucky reserve  as  well  as  from  the  Tennesseeans.  A 
constant  stream  of  fire  and  shot  rolled  from  the  low 
works.  When  the  British  column  slowly  approached 
it  was  observed  by  their  officers  that  the  Forty-fourth, 
a  good  regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Mullens,  a 
soldier  of  family,  which  was  to  carry  the  ladders  and 
fascines  for  the  right  wing,  was  advancing  without 
them. 

It  was  a  terrible  moment.  The  regiment  was  or- 
dered back  to  stack  their  arms  and  bring  their  burdens 


260  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

from  the  place  where  they  were  deposited  near  the 
American  works  beyond  the  picket  line,  early  in  the 
night.  The  column  again  pressed  forward  after  the 
momentary  pause.  At  this  juncture  Packenham  came 
up  with  the  Forty-fourth,  running  with  fascines  and 
ladders,  but  in  great  confusion.  This  brave  General 
cried  to  them  to  remember  that  they  were  British  sol- 
diers, and  hasten  forward.  But  it  was  too  late.  The 
advancing  column  had  halted  and  then  given  way 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  American  line.  As 
Packenham  rushed  towards  the  front  he  met  General 
Gibbs,  who  told  him  that  the  men  would  not  obey  or 
follow  him.  Packenham  waving  his  hat  rode  amidst 
the  shower  of  balls  in  front  of  the  column  and  urged 
the  men  forward,  until  a  ball  broke  and  shattered  his 
right  arm,  and  his  horse  fell  dead.  On  McDougal's 
horse  he  rushed  after  the  retreating  column. 

The  Ninety-third  Highlanders  now  came  forward 
under  Keane  to  fill  the  place  and  renew  the  effort  to 
assault  on  the  American  left,  where  it  was  supposed  to 
be  weakest.  Both  Packenham  and  Gibbs  cheered  for- 
ward this  body  of  noble  men.  But  Packenham,  with 
his  arm  dangling  at  his  side,  seemed  now  to  have  a 
premonition  of  what  was  coming,  and  ordered  the  Ad- 
jutant-General, Sir  John  Tylden,  to  call  up  the  reserve 
under  Lambert.  At  this  moment  a  shot  struck  his 
thigh  and  tore  it  open.  McDougal  was  again  at  his 
side,  and  as  he  bore  him  up  another  shot  struck  him  in 
the  groin.  He  was  borne  to  the  rear,  and  under  a  live- 
oak,  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  he  died.  Colonel  Dale 
soon  fell,  as  he  had  predicted,  mortally  wounded,  at 
the  head  of  the  Highlanders.  General  Gibbs  was 
borne  from  the  field  with  a  mortal  wound,  from  which 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  261 

he  died  the  next  day.  This  had  scarcely  occurred 
until  brave  Keane  was  carried  from  the  field  with  two 
severe  wounds. 

In  the  meantime  Sir  John  Tylden  had  given  the 
order  to  General  Lambert,  and  the  bugler  was  directed 
to  sound  the  advance  to  the  reserve.  But  the  poor 
bugler  was  shot  in  the  very  act  of  giving  the  call. 
The  Highlanders  never  reached  the  ditch.  When  two- 
thirds  of  their  number  were  shot  down  they,  too,  took 
to  flight.  All  hope  was  now  gone.  But  a  few  of  the 
brave  Britons  reached  the  ditch  where  they  remained 
under  the  protection  of  the  parapet  to  be  captured 
when  their  friends  had  given  up  the  dreadful  struggle. 

On  the  left  of  the  line  one  British  officer,  Lieuten- 
ant Lavack,  actually  gained  the  summit  of  the  para- 
pet unharmed,  and  coolly  asked  two  American  officers 
to  surrender  to  him,  without  knowing  that  his  men 
were  not  following  him.  On  the  American  right. 
Colonel  Rennie,  a  daring  Briton,  drove  the  men  on 
the  outposts  before  him  with  such  rapidity  that  it  was 
impossible  to  fire  upon  him  without  wounding  their 
own  soldiers.  In  this  way  he  rushed  after  and  among 
them  and  entered  the  circular  battery  across  the 
ditch,  and  drove  its  defenders  by  the  board  walk  to 
the  parapet,  which  he  and  two  of  his  officers  also 
reached,  and  where  they  remained  alive  long  enough  to 
cry  out :  "  Hurrah,  boys  !  the  day  is  ours."  By  eight 
o'clock  the  living  part  of  the  British  army  had  been 
entirely  withdrawn  from  the  field.  The  plain  was 
covered  with  the  dead  and  wounded.  The  firing 
ceased  along  the  American  line.  The  smoke  cleared 
away.  Through  the  American  camp,  and  far  to  the 
rear  where  hundreds  of  anxious  listeners  had  gathered. 


262  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

shout  after  shout  rent  the  air,  and  bore  the  glad 
tidings  to  the  saved  city.  The  great  work  was  done, 
and  with  as  little  loss  of  life  and  as  little  occasion  for 
sorrow  as  history  has  anywhere  recorded  among  great 
events. 

Now  for  the  first  Jackson  began  to  think  of  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  From  his  position  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  there  the  British  had  been  suc- 
cessful. This  was  an  unlooked-for  state  of  affairs, 
and  at  once  changed  the  aspect  of  things  in  the  vic- 
torious camp.  Sympathy  and  sorrow  for  the  wounded 
that  lay  on  the  plain  before  them  was  changed  for  the 
moment  to  apprehension  and  anger.  Something  was 
to  be  done.  Morgan's  men  were  flying  towards  the 
city,  and  in  a  moment  Patterson's  great  guns  might  be 
turned  to  the  destruction  of  his  own  countrymen. 
This  is  the  way  matters  went  on  the  right  side  of 
the  river. 

It  was  the  wise  plan  of  the  British  General  to 
carry  first  the  right  side  of  the  river  and  with  the 
captured  guns  of  the  Americans  and  those  accompany- 
ing their  own  corps,  thus  readily  clear  the  way  for 
his  assailing  main  force  on  the  east  side.  But  Thorn- 
ton had  been  delayed  and  could  not  get  over  to 
accomplish  his  easy  task  at  the  time  designated  for 
the  assault  on  the  main  line,  and  Packenham  deemed 
it  unnecessary  for  an  army  so  superior  and  splendid 
to  be  delayed  in  moving  upon  works  so  insignificant 
defended  by  hunters  and  "  chimney-sweeps."  Getting 
off  with  half  the  force  designed  for  the  expedition  at 
nearly  four  o'clock,  Thornton  set  out  in  his  boats  for 
the  opposite  side,  and  was  carried  a  mile  down  the  river 
by  the  rapid  current,  but  there  landed  without  opposi- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  263 

tion.     The  great  battle  had  begun  before  he  had  formed 
his  line  and  started  for  General  Morgan's  position. 

Morgan  had  thrown  out  an  advance  column  of 
between  two  and  three  hundred  men,  mostly  Kentuck- 
ians,  under  Colonel  Davis.  These  he  routed  without 
hindrance.  Davis  halted  his  men  and  took  position  at 
the  poor  line  of  defense  behind  which  Morgan  was 
stationed  with  his  main  force,  consisting  of  Louisiana 
militia.  Thornton  extended  his  front  so  as  to  embrace 
Morgan's  entire  line,  which  he  charged  at  once.  Mor- 
gan made  a  vigorous  defense  for  a  few  moments ;  his 
three  cannons  were  handled  with  skill,  and  the  British 
were  on  the  point  of  sharing  the  fate  of  their  friends 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  But  Thornton  was 
equal  to  the  occasion.  His  three  carronades  were 
immediately  opened  upon  Morgan's  batteries,  and  at 
the  head  of  a  division  of  his  men  he  soon  put  the 
Kentuckians  to  flight,  and  forcing  the  Louisianians  to 
give  way,  took  possession  of  their  line  of  defenses. 
In  the  meantime,  Patterson  seeing  how  things  were 
going,  turned  his  guns  to  bear  upon  the  advancing 
British.  But  Davis's  flying  braves  coming  in  the  way, 
he  was  compelled  to  spike  his  guns  and  retire  on  the 
road  towards  the  city.  Morgan  with  his  militia 
retreated  in  body  to  the  Louisiana,  which  they  suc- 
ceeded in  hauling  out  of  the  reach  of  the  enemy.  At 
this  juncture  Thornton,  who  had  been  wounded,  received 
the  news  of  the  great  disaster  to  the  main  army,  and, 
although  he  had  re(5eived  several  companies  of  re-en- 
forcements, and  was  preparing  to  make  the  most  of 
the  incalculable  advantages  he  had  gained,  he  was  soon 
afterwards  ordered  to  abandon  them  and  rejoin  the 
main  force  in  the  old  camp.     This  was  another  of  the 


264  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

chain  of  fatal  steps  taken  by  the  British  General  in 
this  campaign.  Thornton  was  now  situated  to  scatter 
the  Americans  from  behind  their  breastworks  on  the 
east  side,  and  on  an  open  field  the  poorly  armed, 
undisciplined  army  of  Jackson  could  hardly  have  with- 
stood the  remaining  British  force  under  Lambert. 
Two  or  three  things  combined  to  bring  about  the 
fortunate  turn  for  the  Americans  at  this  dangerous 
crisis. 

General  Lambert,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  British  army,  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to 
General  Jackson  asking  for  an  armistice  of  twenty- 
four  hours.  This  Jackson  granted  on  condition  that 
hostilities  should  cease  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
only,  and  that  no  more  troops  from  either  army 
should  be  sent  to  the  other  side.  Lambert  asked 
until  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  to  con- 
sider these  terms,  and  in  the  meantime  brought 
Thornton  and  his  whole  force  across  the  Mississippi. 
Jackson  supposed,  in  making  this  offer,  which  resulted 
so  beneficially  to  him,  that  he  had  already  sent 
enough  men  over  there  to  whip  the  British,  and  that 
it  could  all  be  done  before  noon  the  next  day.  But 
this  was  a  mistake,  as  the  re-enforcements  for  Morgan 
had  not  crossed  the  river,  the  militia  refusing  to  serve 
under  the  old  French  officer,  Humbert,  whom  Jackson 
had  appointed  to  command  them. 

But  by  the  proposition  itself  Lambert  was  led  to 
believe  that  General  Jackson  had  a  sufficient  force  on 
that  side  to  crush  Thornton.  He  also  felt  insecure  in 
his  own  position,  and  believed  that  his  entire  force 
would  be  necessary  to  resist  the  Americans  should 
they  now  become  the  assailants.    No  sooner  had  Thorn- 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  265 

ton  decamped  than  Morgan  and  Patterson  returned  and 
began  to  restore  the  recovered  position.  Thus  was  the 
victory  of  New  Orleans  secured  beyond  a  doubt. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  a  line  of  pickets  of  both 
armies  was  formed  on  the  plain  three  hundred  yards 
in  front  of  the  American  works,  and  to  that  line  the 
American  soldiers  carried  the  British  dead  and  wounded 
and  gave  them  to  their  friends.  Most  of  the  dead 
Britons  were  buried  on  one  of  the  plantations,  where 
their  remains  have  never  been  disturbed.  The  bodies 
of  Generals  Packenham  and  Gibbs  and  several  other 
officers  were  put  in  casks  of  rum  and  carried  to 
England. 

The  British  placed  their  loss  in  the  battle  of  New 
Orleans  at  about  two  thousand  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing;  but  Colonel  Hayne,  Jackson's  inspector-gen- 
eral, estimated  their  loss  at  twenty-six  hundred,  which 
was,  perhaps,  more  nearly  the  correct  figure.  The 
American  loss  was  eight  killed   and  thirteen  wounded. 

The  British  General  now  decided  to  abandon  the 
unfortunate  expedition,  and  at  once  set  to  work  in  great 
secrecy  to  build  a  road  which  would  bear  his  army  up 
through  the  swamp  to  Lake  Borgne,  where  he  hoped 
to  be  able  to  embark  without  hindrance.  At  noon  on 
the  9th  the  armistice  was  ended,  and  General  Jackson 
began  to  consider  the  propriety  of  attacking  the  enemy 
in  his  camp  and  cutting  off  his  retreat  to  Lake  Borgne. 
In  Jackson's  own  mind  at  first  view  this  was  the  thing 
to  be  done.  But  he  called  a  council  of  officers  who 
strongly  and  unanimously  declared  against  leading  out 
a  militia  force  to  be  attacked  by  a  still  strong  army  of 
now  desperate  regulars.  It  was  then  decided  to  remain 
behind    the    intrenchments,    and    continue   the   picket 


266  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

warfare,  and  the  occasional  cannonade  which  had  before 
rendered  the  condition  of  the  British  camp  intolerable. 
How  effectual  this  kind  of  warfare  was  may  be,  to 
some  extent,  estimated  by  the  following  extract  from 
the  writing  of  a  British  officer  : — 

"We  never  closed  our  eyes  in  peace,  for  we  were  sure  to  be 
awakened  before  many  minutes  elapsed  by  the  splash  of  a  round 
shot  or  shell  in  the  mud  beside  us.  Tents  we  had  none,  but  lay, 
some  in  the  open  air,  and  some  in  huts  made  of  boards,  or  any 
materials  that  could  be  procured.  From  the  first  moment  of  our 
landing,  not  a  man  had  undressed  excepting  to  bathe,  and  many 
had  worn  the  same  shirt  for  weeks  together.  Besides  all  this, 
heavy  rains  now  set  in,  accompanied  with  violent  storms  of  thun- 
der and  lightning,  which,  lasting  during  the  entire  day,  usually 
ceased  towards  dark,  and  gave  place  to  keen  frosts.  Thus  were 
we  alternately  wet  and  frozen ;  wet  all  day,  and  frozen  all  night. 
With  the  outposts,  again,  there  was  constant  skirmishing.  With 
what  view  the  Americans  wished  to  drive  them  in,  I  can  not  tell ; 
but  every  day  were  they  attacked  and  compelled  to  maintain 
their  ground  by  dint  of  hard  fighting.  In  one  word,  none  but 
those  who  happened  to  belong  to  this  army  can  form  a  notion  of 
the  hardships  which  it  endured,  and  the  fatigue  which  it  underwent. 

' '  Nor  were  these  the  only  evils  which  tended  to  lessen  our 
numbers.  To  our  soldiers  every  inducement  was  held  out  by  the 
enemy  to  desert.  Printed  papers,  offering  lands  and  money  as 
the  price  of  desertion,  were  thrown  into  the  pickets,  whilst  indi- 
viduals made  a  practice  of  approaching  our  posts,  and  endeavor- 
ing to  persuade  the  very  sentinels  to  quit  their  stations.  Nor 
could  it  be  expected  that  bribes  so  tempting  would  always  be  re- 
fused. Many  desertions  began  daily  to  take  place,  and  became 
before  long  so  frequent  that  the  evil  rose  to  be  of  a  serious  nature." 

It  had,  no  doubt,  been  the  design  of  the  British  to 
co-operate  with  a  part  of  their  fleet  in  the  assault  on 
New  Orleans.  Several  of  their  vessels  entered  the 
Mississippi,  but  were  too  slow  in  their  movements  to 
be  of  any  assistance  in  the  decisive  battle  of  the  8th, 
even  if  they  had  been  able   to  pass   Fort  St.  Philip. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  267 

Not  until  the  9th  did  they  arrive  below  that  fort  and 
at  a  safe  distance  begin  to  bombard  it.  But  they  were 
unsuccessful,  and  after  throwing  more  than  a  thousand 
shells  at  the  fort,  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  they 
gave  up  the  undertaking,  and  sailed  out  of  the  river. 
On  the  night  of  this  very  day,  the  road  having  been 
finished  to  the  lake  by  great  labor  and  hardship,  the 
British  camp  in  front  of  General  Jackson  was  broken 
up,  and  the  whole  army  marched  to  Lake  Borgne. 
Without  detection  all  the  stores  and  munitions  of  war, 
not  abandoned,  had  been  conveyed  to  the  ships.  A 
strong  picket  force  had  been  kept  out  on  all  possible 
approaches  to  prevent  their  designs  being  known  to 
the  Americans,  and  even  in  the  place  of  their  sentinels 
at  the  old  camp  on  the  plain  dummies  or  paddies  had 
been  erected,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  19th,  the 
Americans  from  their  lines  still  beheld  the  usual  ap- 
pearance of  life  at  the  British  camp.  The  old  French 
officer,  Humbert,  who  had  seen  such  tricks,  was  the 
first  to  detect  the  character  of  the  motionless  sentinels. 
A  part  of  the  sick  and  wounded  was  left  to  the  care 
x)f  the  Americans. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  General  Jackson  to  har- 
ass the  departing  enemy,  but  this  amounted  to  noth- 
ing. The  fact  was  that  Jackson's  men  thought  they 
had  accomplished  enough  for  raw  soldiers,  many  of 
whom  were  impressed,  or  had  volunteered  merely  to 
defend  New  Orleans,  and  no  great  favor  could  have 
been  given  to  an  order  for  moving  in  a  body  upon 
the  British.  Not  until  the  27th  of  January  did  the 
British  army  finally  get  off  in  their  ships,  thus  ending 
one  of  the  saddest  and  most  fruitless  campaigns  in  the 
history  of  modern  wars. 


268  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XVI 

GENERAL  JACKSON'S  CROWN  OF  LAUREL— JUDGE  HALL 

AND  THE  FINE  OF  ONE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS— 

THE  HERO  OF  NEW  ORLEANS 

AT  HOME. 

IN  the  meantime  some  events  of  interest  had  oc- 
curred in  New  Orleans.  Demonstrations  of  joy 
were  unbounded.  On  the  20th  or  21st  General  Jack- 
son and  the  greater  part  of  his  staff  returned  to  the 
city.  This  was  his  first  appearance  since  the  afternoon 
of  the  23d  of  December.  What  he  had  promised,  he 
had  done,  and  more.  At  his  request  the  23d  of  Jan- 
uary was  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  to 
the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  worlds.  In  the  midst  of 
this  there  was  to  be  some  extravagant  praises  and 
caresses  of  the  iron-willed  man  who  had  been  mainly  in- 
strumental in  saving  the  city  and  whipping  the  British. 

The  wildest  enthusiasm  had  greeted  the  General  on 
his  return  to  the  city,  nor  was  it  then  or  at  any  time 
afterwards  any  part  of  his  thought  or  desire  to  oppose 
or  appear  averse  to  any  amount  of  praise  bestowed 
upon  himself.  Although  a  man  of  simple  habits,  his 
political  opinions  were  never  of  that  leveling  democ- 
racy which  would  make  heroes  of  all  men,  or  spurn 
the  adulation  and  exaltation  of  a  few. 

At  all  events,  on  the  23d  of  January,  which  h;id 
been  ostensibly  set  aside  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  269 

the  Almighty,  General  Jackson  suffered  himself  to  be 
crowned  by  two  young  girls  under  an  arch  in  the 
Public  Square.  He  then  walked  to  the  cathedral 
amidst  flowers  strewn  by  children,  and  at  the  entrance 
of  this  building,  with  the  laurel  wreath  still  on  his 
head,  amidst  showers  of  flowers,  received  a  speech 
from  a  young  Creole  beauty ;  and  was  then  addressed 
by  Abbe  Dubourg,  a  patriotic  priest,  in  very  extrava- 
gant eulogistic  terms,  to  which  the  General  replied  in 
his  happiest  strain,  protesting  that  "for  himself,  to 
have  been  instrumental  in  the  deliverance  of  such  a 
country,  is  the  greatest  blessing  that  Heaven  could 
bestow." 

That  day  and  night  were  given  to  rejoicing,  and 
one  of  Jackson's  biographers  says  that  when  the  peo- 
ple did  at  last  "  sink  into  slumbers  they  were  no 
longer  disturbed  by  dreams  of  sack,  ruin,  bloodshed, 
and  devastation."  After  the  end  of  these  ceremonies 
and  the  final  departure  of  the  British,  Jackson  next 
bethought  himself  of  his  soldiers.  The  sword  was 
now  laid  aside  for  the  pen,  an  instrument  equally 
exalted  in  his  opinion,  and  the  first  result  was  an  ad- 
dress in  review  of  events  and  praise  of  their  conduct. 

The  British  army  was  now  landed  on  Dauphin 
Island  at  the  entrance  to  Mobile  Bay,  and  there 
went  into  regular  camp.  The  purpose  of  the  British 
General  was  to  capture  Fort  Bowyer  and  Mobile, 
and  partly  compensate  for  the  failure  of  the  great 
expedition, 

He  proceeded,  however,  with  caution,  and,  indeed, 
both  in  the  British  army  and  the  American  army 
much  of  the  spirit  of  conflict  was  gone.  Jackson's 
old  troubles  in  dealing  with  discontented  militia  and 


270  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

volunteers  returned,  and  some  serious  difficulties  beset 
him  on  this  account,  which  helped  to  embitter  his 
memory  of  these  grand  moments  in  his  life. 

Lambert  finally  surrounded  Fort  Bowyer,  and 
Major  Lawrence,  seeing  that .  further  resistance  was 
worse  than  useless,  surrendered  on  the  11th  of 
February. 

There  was  now  a  very  strong  belief  in  the  British 
army,  as  there  was  also  a  growing  distaste  for  the 
war,  that  peace  was  near  at  hand.  Two  days  after 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Bowyer  Admiral  Malcolm  re- 
ceived a  slip  of  newspaper  declaring  that  the  negotia- 
tions at  Ghent  had  terminated  favorably.  At  this 
time  Edward  Livingston,  Maunsel  White,  and  Com- 
modore Patterson's  aid,  R.  D.  Shepherd,  were  in  the 
British  camp  on  a  mission  from  Jackson  as  to  exchange 
of  prisoners. 

On  the  19th  they  returned  to  the  American  camp 
with  this  welcome  news.  Still  the  treaty  had  not 
been  ratified,  and  it  was  the  13th  of  March  before 
General  Jackson  received  information  from  Washington 
of  the  ratification.  It  now  became  his  turn  to  an- 
nounce this  result  to  the  British  General,  at  Dauphin 
Island.  A  messenger  had  indeed  traveled  all  the  way 
from  Washington,  and  reached  New  Orleans  seven 
days  before  for  this  purpose,  but  on  opening  his  dis- 
patch it  was  found  to  be  an  old  letter  from  the  War 
Department,  which  had  been  carried  instead  of  the 
other  through  careless  excitement  in  starting  on  the 
long  journey. 

The  whole  country  was  now  sounding  the  praises 
of  Jackson  and  New  Orleans  ;  nor  did  it  cease  to  do 
so  until  it  made  him  President,  nor,  in  fact,  has  it  yet 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  271 

ceased  to  do  so.  New  Orleans  was  the  real  beginning 
of  Jackson's  overwhelming  popularity.  This  campaign 
at  the  South  enabled  the  country  to  look  up,  after  its 
many  defeats,  and  so  astounding  was  the  result  as  to 
afford  the  Americans  that  prestige  with  which  they 
could  welcome  peace  with  pride. 

The  Legislatures  of  all  the  States  but  Louisiana 
passed  resolutions  of  thanks  to  Jackson.  So  did  other 
bodies,  and  almost  everybody  else.  The  Legislature 
of  Louisiana,  however,  had  been,  or  considered  itself 
badly  treated  by  General  Jackson,  and  while  it  passed 
honorable  resolutions  of  respect  for  his  officers  and 
men,  his  name  was  unmentioned.  This  might  have 
been  expected,  but  it  was  shabby  treatment. 

Congress  was  then  in  session,  and  that  body  unan- 
imously adopted  the  following  resolutions  : — 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the 
thanks  of  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  given  to  Major-General 
Jackson,  and  through  him,  to  the  oflficers  and  soldiers  of  the  reg- 
ular army,  of  the  volunteers,  and  of  the  militia  under  his  com- 
mand, the  greater  portion  of  which  troops  consisted  of  militia  and 
volunteers,  suddenly  collected  together,  for  their  uniform  gallantry 
and  good  conduct  conspicuously  displayed  against  the  enemy,  from 
the  time  of  his  landing  before  New  Orleans  until  his  final  expul- 
sion therefrom,  and  particularly  for  their  valor,  skill,  and  good 
conduct  on  the  8th  of  January  last,  in  repulsing,  with  great 
slaughter,  a  numerous  British  army  of  chosen  veteran  troops, 
when  attempting  by  a  bold  and  daring  attack  to  carry  by  storm 
the  works  hastily  thrown  up  for  the  protection  of  New  Orleans, 
and  thereby  obtaining  a  most  signal  victory  over  the  enemy  with 
a  disparity  of  loss,  on  his  part,  unexampled  in  military  annals. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested 
to  cause  to  be  struck  a  gold  medal,  with  devices  emblematical  of 
this  splendid  achievement,  and  presented  to  Major-General  Jack- 
son as  a  testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained  by  Congress  of 


272  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

his  judicious   and  distinguished  conduct   on   that  memorable  oc- 
casion. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested 
to  cause  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  be  communicated  to  Major- 
General  Jackson,  in  such  terms  as  he  may  deem  best  calculated  to 
give  effect  to  the  objects  thereof." 

Arrangements  were  now  made  for  dismissing  the 
army  ;  and  civil  law  and  the  old  order  of  things  were 
restored  in  New  Orleans.  Military  offenses  were  for- 
given on  the  part  of  the  commander  of  the  army,  and 
military  prisoners  released. 

The  following  is  Jackson's  farewell  address  to  the 
army  serving  under  him: — 

"The  Major-General  is  at  length  enabled  to  perform  the  pleas- 
ing task  of  restoring  to  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  and  the 
Territory  of  the  Mississippi,  the  brave  troops  who  have  acted  such 
a  distinguished  part  in  the  war  which  has  just  .terminated.  In 
restoring  these  brave  men  to  their  homes,  much  exertion  is  ex- 
pected of,  and  great  responsibility  imposed  on,  the  commanding 
officers  of  the  different  corps.  It  is  required  of  Major-Generals 
Carroll  and  Thomas,  and  Brigadier-General  Coffee,  to  march  their 
commands,  without  unnecessary  delay,  to  their  respective  States. 
The  troops  from  the  Mississippi  Territory  and  State  of  Louisiana, 
both  militia  and  volunteers,  will  be  immediately  mustered  out  of 
service,  paid,  and  discharged. 

"  The  Major-General  has  the  satisfaction  of  announcing  the 
approbation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  conduct 
of  the  troops  under  his  command,  expressed  in  flattering  terms, 
through  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  War.  In  parting  with 
these  brave  men,  whose  destinies  have  been  so  long  united  with 
his  own,  and  in  whose  labors  and  glories  it  is  his  happiness  and  his 
boast  to  have  participated,  the  Commanding  General  can  neither 
suppress  his  feelings,  nor  give  utterance  to  them  as  he  ought. 
In  what  terms  can  he  bestow  suitable  praise  on  merit  so  extraor- 
dinary, so  unparalleled!  Let  him,  in  one  burst  of  joy,  gratitude, 
and  exultation,  exclaim,  These  are  the  saviors  of  their  country — 
these  the  patriot  soldiers  who  triumphed  over  the  invincibles  of 
Wellington,  and  conquered  the  conquerors  of  Europe  ! 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  273 

"  With  what  patience  did  you  submit  to  privations — with  what 
fortitude  did  you  endure  fatigue— what  valor  did  you  disphiy  in 
the  day  of  battle !  You  have  secured  to  America  a  proud  name 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth— a  glory  which  will  never  perish. 
Possessing  those  dispositions,  which  equally  adorn  the  citizen  and 
the  soldier,  the  expectations  of  your  country  will  be  met  iu  peace, 
as  her  wishes  have  been  gratified  in  war.  Go,  then,  my  brave 
companions,  to  your  homes;  to  those  tender  connections  and 
blissful  scenes  which  render  life  so  dear— full  of  honor,  and 
crowned  with  laurels  which  wiU  never  fade.  When  participating, 
in  the  bosoms  of  your  families,  the  enjoyment  of  peaceful  life, 
with  what  happiness  will  you  not  look  back  to  the  toUs  you  have 
borne,  to  the  dangers  you  have  encountered !  How  will  all  your 
past  exposures  be  converted  into  sour&es  of  inexpressible  delight! 
Who,  that  never  experienced  your  sufferings,  will  be  able  to  ap- 
preciate your  joys?  The  man  who  slumbered  ingloriously  at 
home  during  your  painful  marches,  your  nights  of  watchfulness, 
and  your  days  of  toil,  will  envy  you  the  happiness  which  these 
recollections  will  afford ;  still  more  will  he  envy  the  gratitude  of 
that  country  which  you  have  so  eminently  contributed  to  save. 
Continue,  fellow-soldiers,  on  your  passage  to  your  several  destina- 
tions, to  preserve  that  subordination,  that  dignified  and  manly  de- 
portment, which  have  so  ennobled  your  character. 

"  While  the  Commanding  General  is  thus  giving  indulgence  to 
his  feeliugs  towards  those  brave  companions  who  accompanied  him 
through  difficulties  and  danger,  he  can  not  permit  the  names  of 
Blount,  and  Shelby,  and  Holmes,  to  pass  unnoticed.  With  what 
generous  ardor  and  patriotism  have  these  distinguished  governors 
contributed  all  their  exertions  !  and  the  success  which  has  resulted 
will  be  to  them  a  reward  more  grateful  than  any  which  the  pomp 
of  title,  or  the  splendor  of  wealth,  can  bestow. 

"  What  happiness  it  is  to  the  Commanding  General,  that  while 
danger  was  before  him,  he  was,  on  no  occasion,  compelled  to  use 
towards  his  companions  in  arms,  either  severity  or  rebuke !  If 
after  the  enemy  had  retired,  improper  passions  began  their  empire 
in  a  few  unworthy  bosoms,  and  rendered  a  resort  to  energetic 
measures  necessary  for  their  suppression,  he  has  not  confounded 
the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  the  seduced  with  the  seducers.  To- 
wards you,  fellow-soldiers,  the  most  cheering  recollections  exist, 
blended,  alas !  with  regret  that  disease  and  war  should  have  rav- 
ished from  us  so  many  worthy  companions.     But  the  memory  of 

18-G 


274  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  cause  in  which  they  perished,  and  of  the  virtues  which  ani- 
mated them,  while  living,  must  occupy  the  place  where  sorrow 
would  claim  to  dwell. 

"Farewell,  fellow-soldiers.  The  expression  of  your  General's 
thanks  is  feeble,  but  the  gratitude  of  a  country  of  freemen  is 
yours — yours  the  applause  of  an  admiring  world." 

On  the  very  day  on  which  the  news  was  received  as  to 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace  military  restraints 
were  removed,  and  steps  taken  to  disband  the  army, 
as  has  been  stated,  but  this  was  by  no  means  the  end 
of  Jackson's  work  and  troubles  at  New  Orleans.  A 
few  events  connected  with  the  last  days  of  his  admin- 
istration in  the  city  remain  to  be  briefly  mentioned. 

The  news  of  peace  brought  from  Dauphin  Island, 
on  the  19th  of  February,  was  mere  rumor,  and,  in 
announcing  it  to  the  army,  General  Jackson  took  occa- 
sion to  urge  the  necessity  of  a  generous  devotion  to 
the  service  of  the  country,  and  the  exertion  of  all  due 
watchfulness  until  the  certainty  of  peace  removed  the 
opportunity  for  British  aggression,  and  rendered  such 
services  unnecessary.  But  every  indication  of  the 
return  of  peace,  and  every  thing  said  about  it,  and  the 
restraints  and  discipline  of  the  military  service  only 
further  excited  the  people  and  fomented  opposition  to 
military  order.  On  the  21st  of  February,  the  "Lou- 
isiana Gazette  "  stated  that  a  flag  of  truce  had  been  re- 
ceived at  head-quarters  from  the  enemy,  saying  that 
peace  had  been  made,  and  asking  a  suspension  of  hos- 
tilities. This  mere  rumor,  which  the  editor  doubtlessly 
knew  to  be  wholly  without  foundation,  and  which  was 
a  part  of  the  plan  to  break  down  military  discipline, 
brought  the  following  order  from  General  Jackson  : — 

"Sm, — The  Commanding  General  having  seen  a  publication 
which  issued  from  your  press  today,  stating  that  'a  flag  had  just 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  275 

arrived,'  etc.,  etc.,  requires  that  you  will  hasten  to  remove  any 
improper  impression  which  so  unauthorized  and  incorrect  a  state- 
ment may  have  made. 

"No  request,  either  direct  or  virtual,  has  been  made  to  him 
by  the  commander  of  either  the  land  or  naval  forces  of  Great 
Britain  for  a  suspension  of  arms.  The  letter  of  'Bathurst  to  the 
Lord  Mayor,'  which  furnishes  the  only  oflScial  information  that 
has  been  communicated,  will  not  allow  the  supposition  that  a 
suspension  of  hostilities  is  meant  or  expected,  until  the  treaty 
signed  by  the  respective  commissioners  shall  have  received  the 
ratification  of  the  Prince  Regent  and  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

"The  Commanding  General  again  calls  upon  his  fellow- 
citizens  and  soldiers  to  recollect  that  it  is  yet  uncertain  whether 
the  articles  which  have  been  signed  at  Ghent  for  the  re-establish- 
ment of  peace  will  be  approved  by  those  whose  approbation  is 
necessary  to  give  efficiency  to  them.  Until  that  approbation  is 
given  and  properly  announced,  he  would  be  wanting  to  the  im- 
portant interests  which  have  been  confided  to  his  protection  if 
he  permitted  any  relaxation  in  the  army  under  his  command. 
How  disgraceful,  as  well  as  disastrous,  would  it  be,  if,  by  surren- 
dering ourselves  credulously  and  weakly  to  newspaper  publica- 
tions, often  proceeding  from  ignorance,  but  more  frequently 
from  dishonest  designs,  we  permitted  an  enemy,  whom  we  have 
so  lately  and  so  gloriously  beaten,  to  regain  the  advantages  he 
has  lost,  and  triumph  over  us  in  turn. 

"The  General  Order  issued  on  the  19th  expresses  the  feel- 
ings, the  views,  and  the  hopes  which  the  Commanding  General 
still  entertains. 

"Henceforward  it  is  expected  that  no  publication  of  the 
nature  of  that  herein  alluded  to  and  censured  will  appear  in  any 
paper  of  the  city,  unless  the  editor  shall  have  previously  ascer- 
tained its  correctness,  and  gained  permission  for  its  insertion  from 
the  proper  source." 

This  was  considered  a  great  piece  of  tyranny  by 
the  rebellious  spirits.  The  press  was  to  be  muzzled! 
The  order-hating,  licentious,  sensational  scandal-mon- 
gering,  rumor-breeding  press  !  Of  this  order  the  editor 
took    occasion    to    say,    that   "  every  man    may   read 


276  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

for  himself,  and  think  for  himself  (thank  God !  our 
thoughts  are  yet  unshackled  !)  but  as  we  have  been 
officially  informed  that  New  Orleans  is  a  camp,  our 
readers  must  not  expect  us  to  take  the  liberty  of  ex- 
pressing our  opinion  as  we  might  in  a  free  city."  And 
more  to  the  same  effect.  That  this  man  was  not  justly 
arrested  as  an  exciter  of  discontent  and  desertion  in  the 
army,  was  wholly  owing  to  the  moderation  of  General 
Jackson  and  his  disposition  to  cast  no  more  restraint 
on  the  people  than  the  case  absolutely  demanded. 
The  fruit  of  this  sort  of  muzzling  of  the  press  was 
a  very  unwise  and  riotous  article  in  the  "  Lou- 
isiana Courier,"  for  which  the  editor  was  immediately 
required  at  head-quarters,  and  gave  the  name  of  Louis 
Louaillier,  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  as  the  author 
of  this  really  evil  and  obnoxious  article.  On  the 
5th  of  March  Mr.  Louaillier  was  arrested  and  con- 
fined by  order  of  General  Jackson.  Through  his  attor- 
ney, P.  L.  Morel,  application  was  made  to  Judge 
Dominick  A.  Hall,  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 
for  the  issue  of  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  bring  this 
case  before  his  court  and  out  of  military  authority. 
Judge  Hall  issued  the  desired  writ,  and  Morel  sent 
this  note  to  General   Jackson  : — 

"To  HIS  Excellency  Major-Genkeal  Jackson: 

"Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  your  excellency  that,  as 
counsel,  I  have  made  application  to  his  honor,  Dom.  A.  Hall, 
Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Louaillier,  who  conceived  that  he 
was  illegally  arrested  by  order  of  your  excellency ;  and  that  the 
said  writ  has  been  awarded,  and  is  returnable  to-morrow,  6th 
instant,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  excellency's  most  humble  and 
obedient  servant,  P.  L.  Morel,  Counselor  at  Law." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  277 

The  natural  result  of  this  note  was  the  arrest  of 
Judge  Hall.  They  had  started  up  the  wrong  man. 
When  the  habeas  corpus  writ  was  presented  to  Jackson 
he  snatched  it  from  the  officer,  and  gave  him  in  return 
a  certified  copy  of  it.  Some  other  arrests  were  made 
for  similar  offenses.  On  the  11th  of  February,  Hall 
was  taken  from  the  barracks  where  he  had  been  con- 
fined for  several  days,  and  escorted  beyond  the  lines 
with  the  advice  from  the  General  to  remain  there  until 
the  British  had  left  the  southern  coast,  or  the  ratifi- 
cation of  peace  was  certainly  known.  But  Hall's  ban- 
ishment was  of  short  duration.  On  the  13th  the  right 
messenger  arrived  from  Washington,  and  Jackson  pro- 
ceeded gladly  to  remove  martial  rule  and  disband  the 
army. 

It  now  became  Judge  Hall's  turn  to  display  his 
authority  and  his  spleen.  On  the  24th  of  March 
Jackson  was  ordered  to  appear  before  Judge  Hall,  to 
answer  for  contempt  of  court  in  taking  forcible  pos- 
session of  the  order  for  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  for 
arresting  the  processes  of  the  court,  and  imprisoning 
and  insulting  the  person  of  the  judge.  Jackson  had 
prepared  a  complete  defense  of  his  course,  but  Hall 
refused  to  hear  this,  and  issued  an  attachment  to  be 
returned  on  the  last  day  of  the  month.  On  that  day 
the  General  appeared  in  court.  Of  course  this  excit- 
ing contest  brought  a  crowd  of  the  friends  and  oppo- 
nents of  Jackson  to  the  court.  As  soon  as  he  was 
recognized  in  his  citizen's  dress,  a  wild  demonstration 
was  made  in  his  favor,  which  scared  the  Judge,  and 
caused  him  to  order  the  court  to  be  dismissed  until  a 
time  in  which  its  proceedings  would  not  be  molested. 
At  this  juncture  the  General  rose  and  urged  Hall  to 


278  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

proceed  with  the  business,  saying  that  no  harm  should 
be  done,  that  he  was  as  ready  to  defend  the  court  in 
the  discharge  of  its  duty  as  he  had  been  in  defending 
the  city  from  its  enemies.  A  score  of  questions  were 
then  announced  to  the  General.  Such  as,  "  Did  you 
not  seize  the  writ  of  habeas  cor^msf'  "Did  you  not 
say  a  variety  of  disrespectful  things  of  the  Judge  ?" 

All  this  foolishness  Jackson  refused  to  tolerate, 
and  simply  declined  to  answer  anything,  alleging  that 
he  had  presented  a  full  defense  which  was  not  re- 
spected, and  now  he  waited  for  the  A^erdict  of  the 
court,  and  nothing  else. 

Hall  then  announced  the  decision  that  "  Major- 
General  Andrew  Jackson  do  pay  a  fine  of  one  thousand 
dollars  to  the  United  States." 

Jackson  was  carried  out  of  the  court-room  in  great 
triumph,  and  along  the  street,  until  the  excited  crowd 
met  a  carriage  with  the  owner  in  it,  when  they  either 
induced  her  to  get  out  or  lifted  her  out,  and  put  the 
General  in,  and  proceeded  with  him  to  some  drinking 
saloon,  where  he  made  a  fine  speech,  urging  all  his 
friends  to  be  law-abiding  people,  and  be  good  boys,  go 
to  their  homes,  and  let  the  court  pursue  its  course 
with  him. 

He  soon  afterwards  sent  a  check  for  the  $1,000, 
and  paid  the  fine. 

It  is  said  that  the  people  in  a  very  short  time 
afterwards  raised  this  amount  by  subscription,  and 
presented  it  to  the  General,  but  that  he  immediately 
donated  it  to  the  benefit  of  the  families  of  those  who 
had  fallen  in  the  defense  of  the  city.  This  item, 
however,  is  somewhat  doubtful,  as  it  is  quite  certain 
that   the    matter   preyed   on  the  General's    mind,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  279 

the  whole  case  was  revived  in  every  improbable  shape 
during  his  Presidential  services.  He  was  so  sensitive 
as  to  leaving  anything  against  his  military  record  that 
towards  the  close  of  his  life  some  of  his  friends  re- 
vived this  matter,  when  Congress  cleared  it  up  and  in 
the  celebrated  "  expunging  resolutions,"  ordered  the 
money  to  be  refunded,  with  interest  from  the  time  the 
fine  was  imposed.  Thus  the  Government  was  made 
to  pay  dearly  for  this  little  work  of  revenge  at  New 
Orleans.  But  this  was  not  accomplished  without  a 
struggle  in  Congress. 

When  the  General  had  paid  his  fine  there  was 
peace.  The  "  muzzled  press "  and  people  who  had 
lost  their  freedom  were  vindicated ;  and  everybody 
was  happy,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  individuals 
who  eould  not  agree  with  the  stubborn  soldier  in  the 
settlements  for  property  used  during  the  campaign. 
Some  serious  enemies  Jackson  had  made  in  his  short 
and  interesting  sojourn  at  New  Orleans,  never  forgot 
nor  forgave  him,  but  most  of  the  citizens  upheld  his 
course,  and  others  were  willing  to  let  the  past  go. 
Edward  Livingston  drew  up  the  defense  which  Judge 
Hall  rejected,  and  although  it  appeared  in  a  dress 
which  would  have  been  less  polished  from  the  Gen- 
eral's own  hand,  it  contained  his  sentiments. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  Jackson  with  his  wife  and 
adopted  son,  Andrew,  left  New  Orleans  for  Tennessee. 
At  Natchez  he  was  stopped  a  short  time  by  Blenner- 
hassett's  attempt  to  recover  from  him  over  seventeen 
hundred  dollars  which  he  believed  Jackson  yet  owed 
Aaron  Burr  on  the  unsettled  account  of  1806.  But 
this  was  a  mistake,  as  has  been  already  shown,  Burr 
having  received  this  balance  before  starting  down  the 


280  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Cumberland  on  his  way  to  the  ancient  "  throne  of  the 
Montezumas." 

General  Jackson  was  already  the  "  Hero  of  New 
Orleans,"  and  as  such  was  received  throughout  his 
journey  home. 

He  reached  Nashville  in  May,  and  there  his  recep- 
tion was  on  a  much  grander  scale  than  on  his  return 
from  conquering  the  Creeks.  Felix  Grundy  addressed 
him  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  the  General 
replied  : — 

"Sir, — I  am  at  a  loss  to  express  my  feelings.  The  approba- 
tion of  my  fellow-citizens  is  to  me  the  richest  reward.  Through 
you,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  them  that  I  am  this  day  amply 
compensated  for  every  toil  and  labor. 

"In  a  war  forced  upon  us  by  the  multiplied  wrongs  of  a 
nation  who  envied  our  increasing  prosperity,  important  and  diffi- 
cult duties  were  assigned  me.  I  have  labored  to  discharge  them 
faithfully,  having  a  single  eye  to  the  honor  of  my  country. 

"The  bare  consciousness  of  having  performed  my  duty  would 
have  been  a  source  of  great  happiness ;  but  the  assurance  that 
what  I  have  done  meets  your  approbation  enhances  that  happi- 
ness greatly." 

At  the  Hermitage  many  of  the  General's  neighbors 
met  to  celebrate  his  return,  and.  strangely  enough,  the 
receptions  and  honors  terminated  in  what  Mr.  Parton 
calls  the  "  crowning  event,"  an  eating  and  drinking 
feast  at  Nashville,  in  which  the  great  qualities  of  man 
gave  way  to  the  mere  traits  of  animals.  It  was  pitia- 
ble and  disgusting  to  end  the  great  campaign  in  the 
gullets  and  stomachs  of  its  hero  and  his  friends. 

"And  Jackson  returned  to  his  own  fields  and  his  own  pur- 
suits, to  cherish  his  plantation,  to  care  for  his  servants,  to  look 
after  his  stud,  to  enjoy  the  affection  of  the  most  kind  and  devoted 
wife,  whom  he  respected  with  the  gentlest  deference,  and  loved 
with  an  almost  miraculous  tenderness. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  281 

"And  there  he  stood,  like  one  of  the  mightiest  forest  trees  of 
his  own  West,  vigorous  and  colossal,  sending  its  summit  to  the 
skies,  and  growing  on  its  native  soil  in  wild  and  inimitable  mag- 
nificence, careless  of  beholders.  From  all  parts  of  the  country 
he  received  appeals  to  his  political  ambition,  and  the  severe 
modesty  of  his  well-balanced  mind  turned  them  all  aside.  He 
was  happy  in  his  farm,  happy  in  seclusion,  happy  in  his  family, 
happy  within  himself." 

"  To  cherish  his  plantation,  to  care  for  his  servants." 
"And  there  he  stood  like  one  of  the  mightiest  forest 
trees  of  his  own  West !"  Wonderful  man  !  More  won- 
derful orator !  Thus  in  the  prime  of  life  wrote  George 
Bancroft,  a  historian. 

A  few  more  specimens  of  this  writer's  "  eloquence  " 
on  General  Jackson,  at  different  stages  of  his  career 
may  not  be  uninteresting  here  : — 

"Far  up  on  the  forest-clad  banks  of  the  Catawba,  in  a  region 
where  the  settlers  were  just  beginning  to  cluster,  his  eye  first  saw 
the  light.  There  his  infancy  sported  in  the  ancient  forests,  and 
his  mind  was  nursed  to  freedom  by  their  influence." 

"  The  first  great  political  truth  that  reached  his  heart  was, 
that  all  men  are  free  and  equal. 

"Behold,  then,  our  orphan  hero,  sternly  earnest,  consecrated 
to  humanity  from  childhood  by  sorrow,  having  neither  father,  nor 
mother,  nor  sister,  nor  surviving  brother;  so  young,  and  yet  so 
solitary,  and  therefore  bound  the  more  closely  to  collective  man, 
behold  him  elect  for  his  lot,  to  go  forth  and  assist  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  society  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

"  Behold,  then,  the  unlettered  man  of  the  West,  the  nursling 
of  the  wilds,  the  farmer  of  the  Hermitage,  little  versed  in  books, 
unconnected  by  science  with  the  tradition  of  the  past,  raised  by 
the  will  of  the  people  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  honor,  to  the 
central  post  in  the  civilization  of  republican  freedom,  to  the  sta- 
tion where  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  would  watch  his  actions, 
where  his  words  would  vibrate  through  the  civilized  world,  and 
his  spirit  be  the  moving-star  to  guide  the  nations." 


282  LIFE  AiSD  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

EXECUTION   OF   THE    MILITIA-MEN— THE   8th   OF     JANUARY 

AND  THE  PRESIDENCY— THE  ADMINISTRATION  IGNORED— 

GENERAL  SCOTT  AND  GOVERNOR  ADAIR. 

BEFORE  Jackson  left  New  Orleans  the  British 
army  had  quit  the  Gulf  coast,  and  was  on  its  way 
to  the  field  of  Waterloo.  Lambert  had  exhibited  some 
ability  as  a  military  leader,  and  was  undoubtedly  a 
man  of  admirable  qualities.  His  skill,  or  what  was 
taken  as  his  skill,  in  withdrawing  the  army  from  the 
fatal  field  on  the  Mississippi,  got  for  him  a  knight- 
hood, certainly  a  thing  of  importance  to  an  Englishman, 
although  it  could  not  be  so,  perhaps,  to  a  really  great 
mind  anywhere  in  the  world.  While  not  being  great 
generals,  the  officers  of  this  British  force  were  mainly 
brave  soldiers  and  men  of  many  exalted  and  admirable 
qualities.  That'  part  of  the  army  which  came  from 
the  Chesapeake  had  suffered  in  reputation,  to  a  great 
extent,  owing  to  its  association  with  the  marines. 
Cockburn  was  the  evil  genius  on  the  Potomac  ;  and  in 
the  councils  of  war  on  the  Mississippi,  the  stubborn 
old  Scotchman,  Alexander  Cochrane,  seldom  gave  ad- 
vice which  benefited  the  cause  he  served.  The  repu- 
tation of  the  British  army  on  the  Atlantic  coast  pre- 
ceded it  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  where  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  battle-cry  was  to  be  "  Beauty  and 
Booty."     Nothing    could    have   been   more   ridiculous 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  283 

than  this  charge.  Had  such  a  sentiment  been  uttered 
among  soldiers  in  moments  of  hilarity  or  excitement, 
there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  the  officers  shared 
it,  or  would  have  tolerated  it  a  moment  in  practice. 
The  British  general  officers  and  most  of  their  subalterns 
in  this  expedition  were  men  of  irreproachable  char- 
acter, and  mainly  their  conduct  was  of  the  most  hon- 
orable kind.  Like  the  Americans,  the  British  were 
not  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  commanders.  A  dis- 
regard and  contempt  for  American  soldiers  and  a  desire 
to  favor  men  of  family  distinction  caused  the  British 
Government  to  advance  many  young  and  incompetent 
men,  men  of  great  bravery  and  experience  often,  but 
not  safe  leaders.  Of  this  class  were  the  general  officers 
in  the  expedition  to  New  Orleans,  although  they  were 
far  in  advance  of  any  that  had  preceded  them  during 
the  war. 

On  the  American  side  as  the  war  progressed,  the 
men  of  the  best  qualities,  and  best  suited  to  the  emer- 
gency were  discovered,  and  the  Administration  was 
wise  enough  to  put  them  at  the  head  of  affairs.  In  the 
South  especially  there  were  no  mistakes.  General 
Jackson  was  extremely  fortunate  himself,  and  a  great 
cause  of  his  good  fortune  at  every  step  was  found  in 
the  fact  that  he  made  no  mistakes  in  selecting  his 
subordinates.  Although  they  were  mainly  taken  from 
his  inexperienced  personal  friends,  yet  they  seldom  fell 
below  his  expectations,  or  the  demands  of  the  moment. 
At  New  Orleans  all  his  aids  and  officers,  from  Edward 
Livingston  to  old  General  Humbert,  were  deserving  of 
great  praise.  But,  perhaps,  the  most  noted  military 
characters  connected  with  Jackson's  two  campaigns 
were  William  Carroll  and  John  Coffee.    Carroll's  conduct 


284  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

throughout  the  Creek  war  was  highly  praiseworthy, 
and  in  the  Louisiana  campaign  he  was  one  of  Jackson's 
most  efficient  and  gallant  props.  Like  Jackson  he  had 
some  barbarous  habits,  but  these  did  not  disgrace  him 
in  Tennessee.  He  served  for  a  time  as  governor  of 
that  State,  but  died  prematurely. 

Throughout  Jackson's  military  services  Coffee  was 
a  second  right  arm  to  him.  He  too  died  early.  If 
Jackson  had  had  a  brush  with  the  South  Carolina  nul- 
lifiers  in  1833,  perhaps,  these  two  trusted  friends 
would  have  been  first  in  the  execution  of  his  wilL 
When  the  great  nullification  bluster  was  at  its  fever 
temperature  Coffee  was  summoned  to  Washington  to 
consult  with  President  Jackson,  at  all  events,  and  did 
not  return  to  his  Tennessee  farm  until  there  had  been 
another  compromise  fixed  up. 

About  the  close  of  the  southern  campaign  and  the 
war  an  event  occurred  which  was  of  no  little  trouble  to 
Jackson  years  subsequently,  and  especially  in  the 
Presidential  campaign  of  1828.  This  was  the  execu- 
tion of  six  Tennessee  militia-men  on  the  21st  of  Feb- 
ruary, at  Mobile.  On  the  19th  and  20th  of  September, 
1814,  there  was  a  serious  mutiny  in  the  camp  at  Fort 
Jackson.  These  six  men  were  among  the  leaders  of 
the  mutiny,  and  now  at  the  dawn  of  peace  they  had  to 
suffer  death  for  their  offense.  The  main  points  in  the 
case,  and  the  extent  to  which  General  Jackson  was 
connected  with  it  may  sufficiently  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing statement  from  Colonel  P.  Pipkin,  commander 
of  the  mutinous  regiment : — 

"The  regiment  which  I  commanded  was  mustered  into  service 
under  an  act  of  Congress,  for  a  term  of  six  months'  duty,  on 
the  20th  of  June,   1814,  and  ordered   to   garrison   the  different 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  285 

posts  in  the  Creek  nation.     In  the  latter  end  of  August  or  the 
1st  of  September,   I  discovered    a   mutinous   disposition   in    my 
regiment,   as  well  at  Fort  Jackson,  where  I  had  established  my 
head-quarters,  as  at  other  posts ;  but  I  had  no  proof  that  would 
justify  my  preferring  charges,  until  a  soldier  by  the  name  of  Hunt 
made  a  public  declaration  that  he  would  go  home  at  the  expira- 
tion  of  three  months,  or  die  in  the  attempt.     I  then  wrote  to 
General  Jackson  at  Mobile,  and  requested  him  to  order  a  court- 
martial  for  the  trial  of  said  Hunt,  which  he  did,  but  the  order 
did  not  come  to  hand  until  after  the  mutinous  party  of  my  regi- 
ment 'had  released  him  from  under   guard,  who,  with  him,  de- 
serted on  the  20th  of  September,  1814.     A  short  time  previous 
to  this  the  same  party  demolished  the  bake-house,  destroyed  the 
oven,  and  did   many  other  disorderly  and  mutinous  acts.     The 
day  previous  to  their  desertion  a  large  number  paraded  armed, 
and  marched  towards  the  commissary's  stores.     I  ordered  them 
to  disperse,  but  my  order  was  disregarded,  and  they  forced  the 
guard  stationed   for  the  protection  of  the   stores.     The  commis- 
sary anticipating  their  design,  closed  and  locked  the  door ;    but 
that  did  not  restrain  them,  for  one  of  the  men   (who  was  after- 
wards shot  by  sentence  of  the  court-martial)  immediately  snatched 
up  a  pick-ax  and  cut  the  door  off  the  hinges.     They  then  en- 
tered the  house  and  took  out  eleven  barrels  of , flour,  and  made 
public   proclamation   to   all   who   intended  going  home  to  come 
forward  and  draw  rations,  which  they  did.     They  afterwards  pro- 
ceeded to  the   bullock-pen  and  shot  down   two  beeves,  and  the 
balance   taking   fright,   broke  the   pen   and    ran    some   distance, 
where  they  killed  a  third.     They  then  returned  to  the  fort  and 
completed  their  arrangements  to  start  home,  as  before  stated,  to 
the   number  of  about  two   hundred.     I   immediately  reported  to 
General  Jackson  the  situation  of  my  command,  and  the  manner 
of   my   proceedings.     Shortly  after,  I  received  orders  from  the 
General  directing  me,  that  if  I  had  not  already  arrested  them,  to 
use  every  exertion  in  my  power  to  do  so,  and  have  them  brought 
back  for  trial.     A  part  of  them  were  arrested,  and  a  court-martial 
ordered  to   be   convened   for   their   trial    by   Lieutenant-Colonel 
Arbuckle  (acting  under  the  orders  of  General  Jackson),  at  Mo- 
bile, and   to  consist  of  five  members  and  two  supernumeraries. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Perkins,   of  the  Mississippi  militia,  was  ap- 
pointed president  of  the  court,  and  Lieutenant  Robeson  judge- 
advocate.     I  was  ordered  to  detail  the  balance  of  the  court  from 


286  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  militia  troops  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  to  order  on  the 
witnesses  for  the  trial  of  the  prisoners  of  my  regiment  to  Mo- 
bile;  also,  to  make  out  charges  and  specifications  against  them, 
which  I  did.  On  the  4th  of  December  I  received  notice  from 
Colonel  Perkins  that  the  court-martial  was  organized.  It  com- 
menced with  the  trial  of  Captain  Strother,  and  continued  from 
day  to  day  until  all  the  prisoners  were  tried.  In  this  busi- 
ness General  Jackson  had  but  little  to  do.  It  is  true  that,  at  my 
request,  he  ordered  a  court-martial,  and  appointed  the  president 
and  judge-advocate,  who  were  both  very  respectable  and  intelli- 
gent men  ;  but  the  balance  of  the  court  was  detailed  by  me.  Nor 
was  General  Jackson  present,  or  even  in  Mobile,  at  the  time 
the  prisoners  were  tried  or  executed  ;  for  I  have  always  understood 
and  believed  that  he  had  reached  the  city  of  New  Orleans  before 
the  court  was  organized,  where  he  remained  until  the  restoration 
of  peace." 

The  court  was  in  session  two  weeks,  and  resulted 
in  the  acquittal  of  some,  the  dismissal  from  the  service 
of  others,  and  the  conviction  and  sentence  to  death 
of  the  six  men.  This  conclusion  of  the  court  was  sent 
to  Jackson  at  New  Orleans,  and,  after  examining  the 
case,  he  ordered  the  sentence  to  be  carried  out  at  Mo- 
bile, four  days  after  the  receipt  of  his  decision. 

The  cause  of  all  this  business  was  the  ever- 
recurring  misunderstanding  as  to  the  term  of  enlist- 
ment, and,  strictly  speaking,  the  whole  case  was 
narrowed  down  to  this.  Mutiny  and  what  accompa- 
nied it  as  criminal  were  proven,  and  the  justification 
of  the  execution,  if  there  was  any  justification  for  it, 
rested  upon  the  facts  as  to  the  time  of  service  due 
from  these  men,  whether  it  was  three  or  six  months. 
General  Jackson  and  most  of  his  oflBcers  held  that  the 
mutineers  had  been  called  out  for  six  months,  and  that 
all  of  them  knew  this  fully  at  the  time  of  the  call.  But 
many  of  them,  with  as  apparent  honesty,  maintained 
that  the  term  was  for  three  months  only,  and  that  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  287 

State  had  no  power  to  call  out  the  militia  for  a  greater 
length  of  time,  and  that  this  fact  was  known  at  the 
time  of  entering  the  service.  The  following  is  Jack- 
son's order  making  this  call  : — 

"Brave  Tennesseeans  of  the  Second  Division, — The  Creek 
war,  through  the  divine  aid  of  Providence  and  the  valor  of  those 
engaged  in  the  campaign  in  which  you  bore  a  conspicuous  share, 
has  been  brought  to  a  happy  termination.  Good  policy  requires 
that  the  territory  conquered  should  be  garrisoned  and  possession 
retained  until  appropriated  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  and  to  relieve  the  troops 
now  stationed  at  Forts  Williams,  Strother,  and  Armstrong,  on  the 
Coosa  River,  as  well  as  Old  and  New  Deposit,  I  am  commanded 
by  his  excellency  Governor  Blount  to  call  from  my  division  one 
thousand  men  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  for  the  pe- 
riod OF  SIX  MONTHS,  unless  sooner  discharged  by  order  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

"The  brigadier-generals  or  officers  commanding  the  4th,  5th, 
6th,  7th,  and  9th  Brigades  of  the  Second  Division  will  forthwith 
furnish  from  their  brigades,  respectively,  by  draft  or  voluntary  en- 
listment, two  hundred  men,  with  two  captains,  two  first,  two  second, 
and  two  third  lieutenants,  and  two  ensigns,  well  armed  and 
equipped  for  active  service,  to  be  rendezvoused  at  Fayetteville, 
Lincoln  County,  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  on  the  20th  of  June 
next ;  and  then  be  organized  into  a  regiment,  at  which  place  the 
field-officers  and  muster-master  will  be  ordered  to  meet  them. 

"Officers  commanding  the  brigades  composing  the  second 
division  of  Tennessee  militia  are  charged  with  the  prompt  and 
due  execution  of  this  order." 

Now,  if  the  men  knew  the  purport  of  this  order, 
that  part  of  the  case  is  settled  at  once,  for  the  call 
was  evidently  made  for  six  months.  It  was  a  public 
call,  and  hence  this  must  be  taken  for  granted.  This 
point  the  men  could  not  escape.  The  legal  power 
vested  in  the  Governor  to  authorize  this  call  for  a 
longer  term  than  three  months  is  not  so:  easily  set- 
tled.    From  1795  to   1812  the  law  provided  that  the 


288  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

militia  should  not  be  compelled  to  do  military  duty 
more  than  three  months  in  each  year.  Under  this 
law  all  military  services  were  performed.  In  the 
West,  where  the  militia  were  so  often  called  upon  dur- 
ing this  period  of  Indian  troubles,  this  became  the 
usage,  and  it  was  universally  understood  among  the 
people  that  they  could  be  summoned  only  for  three 
months,  and  were  liable  to  be  discharged  before  the  expi- 
ration of  that  period,  if  their  services  were  not  needed. 
In  the  spring  of  1812  Congress  enacted  for  the  calling 
out  of  one  hundred  thousand  militia  for  six  months, 
which  was  styled  a  detachment  from  the  militia.  This 
act,  therefore,  seemed  only  provided  for  the  emer- 
gency, and  did  not  do  away  with  the  law  of  1795,  the 
regular  militia  law.  There  constantly  arose  questions 
now  as  to  whether  the  militia  ordered  out  in  Ten- 
nessee would  be  subject  to  this  special  regulation  or 
the  law  under  which  they  had  always  acted.  In  one 
case  the  Secretary  of  War  gave  notice  that  the  troops 
might  be  honorably  mustered  out  at  the  end  of  three 
months.  In  the  spring  of  1814  Congress  again  pro- 
vided "that,  if  necessity  required,  the  militia  might  be 
held  in  service  for  six  months  if,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
President,  the  public  good  made  it  desirable.  This 
now  was  the  point.  But  the  President  did  not  notify 
Governor  Blount,  of  Tennessee,  that  these  men.  Pip- 
kins, or  any  others,  should  be  held  as  a  public  necessity. 
General  Jackson  gave  his  sanction  to  the  execution 
of  these  men  on  the  strength  of  Blount's  order  to 
him,  and  of  his  own  in  calling  them  into  service  under 
the  plain  statement  that  it  was  to  be  for  six  months, 
and  he  believed  that  the  War  Department  had  given 
the  Governor  and  himself   the   authority   to   fix   this 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  289 

time  of  service  as  well  as  the  number  of  troops  they 
should  call  out.  And  thus  he  never  took  into  con- 
sideration his  "right  to  act  in  the  case,  and  deemed 
himself  fully  justified  in  doing  as  he  did.  He  was 
farther  influenced  in  his  course  by  the  experiences  he 
had  had  with  the  militia,  and  now  he  was  feeling  its 
annoyances  again.  And  at  a  time  when  the  British 
had  just  taken  Fort  Bowyer,  and  were  threatening 
Mobile,  he  felt  that  the  example  of  the  executions 
would  save  to  the  service  the  troops  so  much  needed. 

Under  the  law  of  April,  1814,  the  court-martial 
acted,  and  by  this  all  the  officers,  and  many  of  the 
men  formed  their  opinion.  Some  of  the  soldiers,  too, 
who  were  concerned  in  the  mutiny  of  the  19th  of 
September,  1814,  had  not  served  even  three  months. 
But  the  three  months'  law  remained  in  force,  and  was 
in  fact,  the  militia  law,  and  by  it  the  men  acted,  and 
really  considered  themselves  right,  and  as  in  no  sense 
deserters,  since  those  who  had  served  three  months 
had  served  their  time. 

One  of  the  men,  John  Harris,  executed,  was  a 
Baptist  preacher,  an  ignorant,  but  well-meaning  man, 
and  years  afterwards  his  friends  raised  a  great  outcry 
about  his  death.  At  the  time  little  was  said  about 
this  affair,  the  people  being  too  much  occupied  with 
the  successes  of  the  army  and  the  great  boon  of  peace, 
but  the  day  of  reckoning  was  to  come.  In  1828 
the  matter  was  brought  before  Congress,  and  that 
body  justified  General  Jackson's  course  in  ordering 
the  executions. 

These  are  the  facts.  The  reader  must  judge.  It 
was  a  sad  case,  and  as  gentle  Peace  was  then  with 
her  white  wings  hovering  over  the  Nation,  perhaps  a 

19— G 


290  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

more  lenient  course  would   haA^e   redounded   more   to 
the  honor  of  the  Hero  of  New  Orleans. 

The  8th  of  January  soon  took  its  place  among  the 
many  memorable  days  in  this  country.  In  New 
Orleans  it  is  yet  celebrated  with  great  unanimity,  as 
it  is  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  but  it  has  mainly 
become  a  day  devoted  to  partisan  oratory  and  family 
reminiscences.  Eulogies  on  "  Old  Hickory  "  are  turned 
to  the  present  advantage  of  the  party  of  which  he 
was  in  some  sense  a  founder,  and  always  an  aggres- 
sive leader.  And  although  the  present  Democratic 
party  has  wandered  from  some  of  his  most  radical 
practices  and  principles,  it  holds  to  him  no  less  tena- 
ciously. Jacksonian  Democracy,  strictly  speaking, 
however,  was  peculiar  to  an  age  now  gone  by. 

Although  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  had  no  influ- 
ence in  terminating  the  War  of  1812,  few  events  in 
the  history  of  this  country  have  been  so  fruitful,  in 
one  way  or  another,  as  this.  A  month  before  it  was 
fought  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  signed  by  the  com- 
missioners, and  a  month  afterwards  was  ratified  by 
this  Government.  But  the  battle  was  of  no  small 
benefit  in  giving  force  and  prestige  to  American  arms, 
and  enabled  us  to  close  the  war  with  a  great  crow, 
which  was  heard  all  over  the  world,  and  has  not  yet 
died  away.  Had  the  Atlantic  telegraph  been  in  exist- 
ence on  the  14th  of  December,  1814,  this  battle 
would  not  have  been  fought.  Had  electricity  been 
converted  to  the  purpose  of  conveying  intelligence 
with  lightning  speed  throughout  the  civilized  world 
the  life  of  many  a  noble  Briton  would  have  been 
spared  from  the  f;ital  field  of  New  Orleans. 

And  what  else  would  not  have  been?     The  Creek 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  291 

war  alone,  or  this  with  all  the  other  things  in  the  life 
of  Andrew  Jackson  would  not  have  made  him  Presi- 
dent without  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  Yet  what 
he  did  well  at  New  Orleans,  was,  to  a  great  extent, 
counterbalanced  by  what  he  did  badly  there  and  else- 
where. It  was  natural  for  him  to  breed  quarrels. 
He*lived  in  extremes  ;  and  every  step  was  one  appeal- 
ing to  general  admiration,  or  demanding  the  utmost 
caution  and  most  adroit  defenses  of  his  friends. 

The  regular  army  of  the  United  States  was  now 
composed  of  ten  thousand  men  for  the  peace  estab- 
lishment, and  the  whole  country  was  divided  into  two 
military  departments.  The  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  South  was  given  to  General  Jackson,  with 
his  head-quarters  at  Nashville.  During  the  summer 
of  1815,  the  General  remained  quiet  at  the  Hermitage, 
recruiting  his  health,  and  mourning  the  misfortunes 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  So,  at  least,  some  of  his 
intimate  friends  have  said.  Jackson's  republicanism 
never  stood  in  the  way  of  his  admiration  of  a  great 
soldier,  and  had  Bonaparte  conquered  all  Europe  and 
held  it  under  his  feet,  he  would  have  had  no  warmer 
admirer  in  America  than  General  Jackson. 

In  October  he  went  to  Washington  City  to  look 
after  some  military  affairs,  and  as  he  rode  through  the 
country  from  town  to  town,  the  people  received  him 
with  great  favor.  The  soldier  was  taking  his  first 
triumphal  airing.  It  was,  indeed,  an  "  ovation,"  all 
the  way  to  the  Capital.  Although  it  has  been  fre- 
quently said  and  written  that  this  stern,  soldierly 
republican  (democrat)  put  no  stress  on  public  demon- 
strations in  his  favor,  and  rather  sought  to  avoid 
them,  yet  this  is    purely    apologetic,   as    there   is   no 


292  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

evidence  to  sustain  any  such  assertion.  Both  the 
words  and  conduct  of  General  Jackson  go  to  show 
that  just  the  opposite  is  true  of  him.  No  public 
character  in  American  history  hns  been  more  appre- 
ciative of  popular  esteem  than  Jackson,  or  more  desir- 
ous to  see  its  manifestations.  And  no  public  charac- 
ter has  been  so  averse  to  submit  to  or  tolerate  any 
kind  of  opposition,  or  so  prone  to  resist  it  to  the  bit- 
terest end.  This,  indeed,  was  one  of  his  great  defects. 
At  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  Thomas  Jefferson  was  in- 
duced to  come  down  a  whole  day's  ride  to  be  present 
at  a  dinner  in  honor  of  Jackson,  on  this  trip,  and  there 
gave  as  a  "  toast :"  "  Honor  and  gratitude  to  those 
who  have  filled  the  measure  of  their  country's  honor." 
This  sentiment  has  had  several  renderings,  painting  it 
more  directly  as  meant  for  the  hero  of  this  occasion. 
But  the  form  here  is  that  in  which  the  newspapers 
of  the  time  gave  it,  and  is  correct,  as  bungling  and 
evasive  as  it  is,  to  say  nothing  of  its  doubtful  pro- 
priety as  applying  to  anybody.  Are  honor  and  grati- 
tude the  things  a  great  mind  and  heart  would  crave  ? 
Shall  not  virtue,  somehow,  with  the  true  and  the  great, 
ever  be  its  own  reward  ?  Must  the  thought  or  aspira- 
tion for  a  good  deed,  or  the  execution  of  a  good  pur- 
pose, always  be  associated  with  the  condition  of  com- 
pensation ?  Venomous  principle !  No  man  owes  me 
gratitude  or  honor  for  what  it  is  my  duty  to  do,  or 
the  doing  of  which  is  my  choice  and  delight.  Much 
less  is  he  in  debt  to  me  for  the  good  I  am  compelled 
to  do.  Or  are  honesty,  magnanimity,  and  virtue  so 
rare  on  this  earth  that  a  premium  should  be  placed 
upon  them  ?  Shall  a  crown  of  laurel  be  a  nation's 
perpetual    bid    for    bravery,    patriotism,    fidelity,   and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  293 

wisdom  ?      Such  a    principle    would   damn  a  race   of 
seraphim. 

During  a  great  part  of  the  winter  of  1815,  General 
Jackson  remained  in  Washington  amidst  a  constant 
round  of  festivities,  much  of  which  was  said  to  be  for 
his  honor.  In  the  spring  he  returned  to  Nashville, 
and  soon  afterwards  went  to  New  Orleans,  where  he 
again  came  in  for  popular  hurrah  as  the  savior  of  the  city. 
He  lent  himself  to  the  glorification  of  the  occasion  by 
holding  a  review  of  the  city  militia  and  the  few  regulars 
on  the  spot  of  his  recent  triumph  over  the  British. 

The  regular  troops  stationed  at  New  Orleans  he 
now  removed  to  Alabama,  and  posted  them  at  points 
where  they  would  be  of  most  service  in  looking  after 
the  Indians  and  their  friends  the  Spaniards  of  Florida. 
He  had  also  engaged,  while  at  Washington,  to  visit 
the  Indians  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the  conditions 
of  their  treaty.  This  he  did,  and  with  the  Creeks, 
Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  and  Choctaws,  he  held  some 
negotiations  which  resulted  to  their  satisfaction.  By 
this  he  removed  the  claim  of  the  Chickasaws  from  a 
large  tract  of  land  within  the  bounds  of  Tennessee, 
which  made  him  still  more  popular  in  that  State.  He 
also  caused  the  white  squatters  on  the  Cherokee  lands 
to  abandon  them. 

Nothing  could  now  arrest  the  current  in  the  for- 
tunes of  Greneral  Jackson.  Even  now  he  was  talked 
of  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  This  new  pos- 
sibility was  sung  in  his  ear  at  New  Orleans.  But  it 
does  not  appear  that  at  this  time  he  had  for  a  moment 
entertained  such  an  idea.  He  rather  looked  upon  the 
mention  of  it  as  a  joke.  Unquestionably  he  did  not 
think  himself  fit  for  that  office,  and  so  expressed  him- 


294  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

self  in  a  way  that  caused  his  friends  to  feel  perfectly 
safe  in  saying  nothing  about  it.  But  time  is  a  won- 
derful revolutionist.  Probably  he  had  the  good  sense 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  office  he  held,  which  was  con- 
genial to  him,  and  also  to  feel  safe  in  the  amount  of 
favor  he  received  from  his  countrymen. 

While  General  Jackson  took  no  interest  at  this 
moment  in  any  talk  as  to  his  becoming  President,  he 
did  think  himself  able  to  give  some  wholesome  advice 
to  Mr.  Monroe,  to  whom  he  wrote  (or  had  written  for 
him)  his  famous  letters  as  to  the  selection  of  Cabinet 
ministers  and  the  conduct  of  the  Administration.  These 
letters  may  be  found  in  the  fifth  volume  of  this  work. 
Like  so  many  other  things  in  the  career  of  General 
Jackson  these  letters  of  advice  to  Mr.  Monroe  were  a 
source  of  great  good  fortune  to  him  in  the  course  of 
time.  They  were  his  first  political  essays,  but  they 
were  his  purest  and  best.  In  fact,  it  so  turned  out 
that  these  very  letters,  next  to  New  Orleans  and  John 
Quiucy  Adams,  were  of  the  greatest  consequence  in 
advancing  him  to  the  Presidency.  For  that  purpose 
they  were  shrewdly  published  in  1824;  and  that  the 
General  did  not  compose  or  write  them  himself,  was 
not  known  to  the  public,  and  even  had  this  fact  been 
known,  it  would  have  made  little  difference.  The 
letters  recommended  a  Washingtonian  policy  to  Mr. 
Monroe,  recommended  him  to  make  virtue,  worth, 
service  to  the  country,  not  party,  the  standard  of  ap- 
pointments to  office  ;  and  even  urged  him  to  make  at 
least  one  exception  in  the  appointment  of  Colonel  Will- 
iam H.  Drayton,  a  Federalist,  to  be  Secretary  of  War. 
At  the  moment,  perhaps.  General  Jackson  thought 
these  letters  expressed  his  feelings  and  opinions ;  and, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  295 

however  this  may  have  been,  they  never  did  at  any 
subsequent  period  in  his  life.  The  advice  he  gave 
Mr.  Monroe  he  never  followed  himself.  He  was  the 
last  man  who  could  have  done  anything  of  the  kind. 
His  personal  friends  were  his  instruments,  and  to  re- 
ward them  was  his  first  thought.  This  system  of 
compensation  was  found  to  be  in  exact  harmony  with 
his  character.  He  it  was  who  introduced  a  new  era 
in  the  conduct  of  the  Presidency  on  this  very  point 
of  confining  all  appointments  under  the  Government 
to  the  narrow  boundaries  of  personal  friendships  or 
advocates,  and  party  lines. 

A  rough  outline  of  these  celebrated  Monroe  letters 
may  have  been  made  by  General  Jackson,  but  in  elab- 
oration, composition,  and  polish,  they  were  the  work 
of  William  B.  Lewis,  an  educated  farmer,  a  man  of 
extraordinary  judgment  and  shrewdness,  who  lived  a 
few  miles  from  the  "  Hermitage,"  on  the  way  to 
Nashville.  Mr.  Lewis,  this  friend,  who  spent  much 
of  his  life  in  putting  forward  General  Jackson,  and  de- 
fending him  and  his  wife,  wrote  much  of  the  fine 
Jacksonian  literature,  for  which  the  General  got  the 
name  of  being  a  finished  writer  and  scholar. 

Harry  Lee,  Henry  M.  Brackenridge,  Edward  Liv- 
ingston, Amos  Kendall,  and  others,  not  only  did  the 
polished  writing  for  General  Jackson,  but  also  often 
furnished  the  thoughts  wholly  or  in  part.  But  all 
these  writers  caught  the  spirit  of  their  leader  and 
with  wonderful  success  copied  him  better  than  he 
could  have  done  himself.  But  General  Jackson  did 
not  succeed  in  his  purpose  with  Mr.  Monroe,  who, 
while  following,  mainly,  the  course  of  his  predecessor, 
carried   out    his   own   convictions   of   right    and   duty 


296  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

uncontrolled  by  Jackson  or  anybody  else.  One  of  Jack- 
son's biographers  asserts  that  Mr.  Monroe  was  as  clay 
in  the  hands  of  a  molder  like  Andrew  Jackson. 

A  serious  mistake  was  this,  indeed,  proven  to  be 
so  by  these  very  Jackson-Monroe  letters.  And  shown 
to  be  so  by  nearly  all  of  Mr.  Monroe's  official  career, 
from  the  mission  to  France  in  1794,  to  his  final  with- 
drawal from  public  life.  Although  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  consulting  Madison  and  Jefferson,  he  was,  by 
no  means,  led  by  them.  General  Jackson  was  des- 
tined to  lead  a  new  generation  of  politicians,  not  his 
predecessors  in  the  Presidency  and  a  host  of  their 
contemporaries.  This  Monroe  correspondence,  the 
most  admirable  of  all  General  Jackson's  political  per- 
formances, was  not  long  passed  until  something  of 
quite  a  different  character,  and  much  more  in  keeping 
with  his  intrinsic  qualities,  came  up. 

It  has  been  truthfully  said  of  him  that  he  would 
not  tolerate  personal  restraint,  nor  the  least  degree  of 
infringement  on  his  authority,  and  was  unable  to  brook 
opposition  from  any  source.  It  is  a  reasonable  and 
well-known  regulation  of  the"  army  that  orders  from 
the  Administration  or  the  President  shall  pass  through 
the  general  in  command.  Since  Jackson's  connection 
with  the  Government,  in  a  military  capacity,  he  had 
been  greatly  disturbed  by  a  departure  from  this  usage 
by  the  War  Department.  His  remonstrance  was  of 
no  effect.  He  was  still,  after  all  that  had  happened, 
not  understood  at  Washington.  He,  accordingly, 
finally  concluded  to  do  as  he  usually  did  on  doubtful 
and  critical  occasions,  when  his  own  feelings  were 
aroused,  and  take  the  case  in  his  own  hands  with  a 
view  of  correcting  the  evil  which  he  was  not  going  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  297 

endure.  He  had  not  long  to  wait  for  an  opportunity 
to  put  his  determination  to  the  test.  In  the  fall  of 
1816  he  sent  a  Mr.  Long  (  Major  Long  ),  a  trustworthy 
engineer,  up  the  Mississippi  to  make  some  surveys. 
But  Long  was  hunted  up  by  the  War  Department  and 
sent  to  New  York,  and  from  that  remote  region  the 
General  first  heard  of  Long's  surveys  on  the  Missis- 
sippi under  his  orders,  from  the  newspapers,  Long  not 
even  thinking  it  necessary  to  apprise  him  of  what  he 
had  done.  This  was  too  much  for  Andrew  Jacksqn. 
He  wrote  at  once  to  Mr.  Monroe,  but  getting  no  an- 
swer on  the  question,  in  less  than  two  months  of  wait- 
ing, issued  to  his  division  his  famous  characteristically 
indiscreet  order,  dated  Nashville,  April,  22,  1817,  and 
reproduced  in  the  fifth  volume  of  this  work. 

This  action  on  his  part  started  general  attention, 
and  a  great  deal  of  unfavorable  criticism,  even  by  army 
officers.  Still,  the  Department  took  no  notice  of  his 
conduct,  and  two  months  after  he  had  issued  this 
noted  edict,  sent  an  order  directly  to  the  officer  then 
at  New  Orleans,  General  Ripley,  which  he  refused  to 
obey,  notifying  Jackson  of  his  action.  Jackson  sus- 
tained him,  of  course,  as  he  wanted  this  opportunity, 
and  wrote  to  the  President  that  he  would  be  responsi- 
ble, and  indicated  his  disposition  to  retire  from  the 
army  when  the  matter  was  settled.  Mr.  Monroe  did 
not  reply.  The  case  greatly  annoyed  him.  He  was 
waiting  for  a  way  to  prevent  a  rupture  with  Jackson. 
This  soon  occurred.  Mr.  Calhoun  now  took  charge 
of  the  War  Department,  and  not  having  been  con- 
cerned with  this  troublesome  fellow,  wrote  Jackson  a 
letter,  which  while  it  gave  away  nothing,  admitted  the 
necessity    of  the   practice    that   the    General   insisted 


298  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

upon,  which  for  the  goveiament  and  discipline  of  the 
army  should  be  departed  from  only  under  special 
emergencies.  This  satisfied  the  General,  and  ended 
the  matter  with  the  Department.  But,  through  the 
anonymous  gossip,  the  everlasting  busybody,  a  letter 
reached  the  irascible  Jackson  which  stated  that  Gen- 
eral Winfield  Scott  had.  pronounced  his  extraordinary 
order,  never  before  or  afterwards  heard  of  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Government,  an  act  of  mutiny.  This  was 
also  too  much  for  the  man  who  would  not  allow 
"  pshaw  "  to  be  said  of  his  sentiments  and  acts,  and 
the  following  correspondence  was  the  result : — 

''Head-quarters  Division  of  the  South,) 
"  Nashville,  September  8,  1817.         j 

"Sir, — With  that  candor  due  the  character  you  have  sus- 
tained as  a  soldier  and  a  man  of  honor,  and  with  the  frankness 
of  the  latter,  I  address  you. 

"Inclosed  is  a  copy  of  an  anonymous  letter,  postmarked 
'New  York,  14th  August,  1817,'  together  with  a  publication 
taken  from  the  '  Columbian,'  which  accompanied  the  letter.  I 
have  not  permitted  myself  for  a  moment  to  believe  that  the  con- 
duct ascribed  to  you  is  correct.  Candor,  however,  induces  me 
to  lay  them  before  you,  that  you  may  have  it  in  your  power  to 
say  how  far  they  be  incorrectly  stated. 

"  If  ray  order  has  been  the  subject  of  your  animadversion,  it 
is  believed  you  will  at  once  admit  it  and  the  extent  to  which 
you  may  have  gone.  • 

"  I  am,  sir,  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"Andrew  Jackson. 
"General  W.  Scott,  U.  S.  Army." 

"Head-quarters,  1st  and  3d  Military  Departments,) 
"New  York,  October  4,  1817.  / 

"  Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  8th  ultimo,  together  with  the  two  papers  therein 
inclosed. 

"  I  am  not  the  author  of  the  miserable  and  unmeaning 
article  copied  from  the  '  Columbian,'  and  (not  being  a  reader  of 
that  gazette)  should  probably  never  have  heard  of  it,  but  for  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  299 

copy  you  have  sent  me.  And  whilst  on  the  subject  of  writing  and 
publishing,  it  may  save  time  to  say,  at  once,  that  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  substance  of  two  articles  which  appeared  in  '  The 
Enquirer'  last  fall,  and  a  journal  kept  whilst  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  I  have  not  written,  nor  caused  any  other 
to  write,  a  single  line  for  any  gazette  whatever,  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  late  war. 

"Conversing  with  some  two  or  three  private  gentlemen, 
about  as  many  times  on  the  subject  of  the  division  order,  dated 
at  Nashville,  April  22,  1817  ;  it  is  true  that  I  gave  it  as  ray 
opinion  that  that  paper  was,  as  it  respected  the  future,  mutin- 
ous in  its  character  and  tendency,  and,  as  it  respected  the 
past,  a  reprimand  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the  President  of 
the  United  States ;  for  although  the  latter  be  not  expressly 
named,  it  is  a  principle  well  understood,  that  the  War  Depart- 
ment, without  at  least  his  supposed  sanction,  can  not  give  a  valid 
command  to  an  ensign. 

"  I  have  thus,  sir,  frankly  answered  the  queries  addressed  to 
me,  and  which  were  suggested  to  you  by  the  letter  of  your  anon- 
ymous correspondent;  but  on  a  question  so  important  as  that 
which  you  have  raised  with  the  War  Department,  or  in  other 
words  with  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  in  which  I 
find  myself  incidentally  involved,  I  must  take  leave  to  illustrate 
my  meaning  a  little ;  in  doing  which,  I  shall  employ  almost  the 
precise  language  which  was  used  on  the  occasions  above  alluded  to. 

"Take  any  three  oflBcers ;  let  A  be  the  common  superior,  B 
the  immediate  commander,  and  C  the  common  junior.  A  wishes 
to  make  an  order  which  shall  affect  C.  The  good  of  the  serv- 
ice, etiquette,  and  country,  require,  no  doubt,  that  the  order 
should  pass  through  B;  or,  if  expedition  and  the  dispersed  situa- 
tion of  the  parties  make  it  necessary  to  send  the  order  direct  to 
C  (of  which  necessity  A  is  the  judge),  the  good  of  the  service, 
etiquette,  and  country  require,  with  as  little  doubt  that  A  notify 
B  thereof,  as  soon  as  practicable.  Such  notice,  of  itself,  has 
always  been  held  sufficient,  under  the  circumstances  last  stated. 
But  we  will  suppose  that  A  sends  the  order  direct  to  C,  and 
neglects  to  notify  B  thereof,  and  such  appears  to  be  the  precise 
case  alluded  to  in  the  order  before  cited.  Has  B  no  redress 
against  this  irregularity?  He  may  unquestionably  remonstrate 
with  A,  in  a  respectful  manner,  and  if  remonstrance  fails,  and 
there  be  a  higher  military  authority  than  A,  B  may  appeal  to  it 


300  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

for  redress.  Now  in  the  case  under  consideration,  there  existed 
no  such  higher  authority ;  the  War  Department,  or  in  other 
words,  the  President,  being  the  common  superior  (A),  and  the 
general  of  division,  the  intermediate  commander  (B).  A  pri- 
vate and  respectful  remonstrance,  therefore,  appears  to  have  been 
the  only  mode  of  redress  which  circumstances  admitted  of.  An 
appeal  to  the  army  or  the  public,  before  or  after  such  remon- 
strance, seems  to  have  been  a  greater  irregularity  than  the  meas- 
ure complained  of;  to  reprobate  that  measure  publicly,  as  the 
division  (n-der  does,  was  to  mount  still  higher  in  the  scale  of  inde- 
corum, but  when  the  order  goes  so  far  as  to  prohibit  to  all  offi- 
cers in  the  division  an  obedience  to  the  commands  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  unless  received  through  division  head- 
quarters, it  appears  to  me,  that  nothing  but  mutiny  and  defiance 
can  be  understood  or  intended. 

"  There  is  another  view  of  this  subject,  which  must  have 
escaped  you,  as  I  am  persuaded  there  is  not  a  man  in  America 
less  disposed  to  shift  responsibility  from  himself  to  a  weaker  party 
than  yourself.  Suppose  the  War  Department,  by  order  of  the 
President,  sends  instructions  direct  to  the  commanding  officers, 
perhaps  a  captain,  at  Natchitoches  (a  post  within  your  division) 
to  attack  the  body  of  Spanish  royalists  nearest  to  that  frontier ; 
if  the  captain  obeys,  you  arrest  him;  but  if,  in  compliance  with 
your  prohibition,  he  sets  the  commands  of  the  President  at 
naught,  he  would  find  himself  in  a  direct  conflict  with  the  high- 
est military  authority  under  the  Constitution,  and  thus  would 
have  to  maintain  against  that  '  fearful  odds,'  the  dangerous  posi- 
tion laid  down  in  your  order.  Surely  this  consequence  could  not 
have  been  foreseen  by  you,  when  you  penned  that  order. 

"I  must  pray  you  to  believe,  sir,  that  I  have  expressed  my 
opinion  on  this  great  question,  without  the  least  hostility  to 
yourself,  personally,  and  without  any  view  of  making  my  court 
in  another  quarter,  as  is  insinuated  by  your  anonymous  corre- 
spondent. I  have  nothing  to  fear  or  hope  from  either  party.  It 
is  not  likely  that  the  Executive  will  be  offended,  at  the  opinion, 
that  it  has  committed  an  irregularity  in  the  transmission  of  one 
of  its  orders  ;  and,  as  to  yourself,  although  I  cheerfully  admit 
that  you  are  my  superior,  I  deny  that  you  are  my  commanding 
officer,  within  the  meaning  of  the  6th  article  of  the  rules  and 
articles  of  war.  •  Even  if  I  belonged  to  your  division,  I  should 
not  hesitate  to  repeat  to  you  all  that  I  have  said,  at  any  time,  on 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  301 

your  subject,  if  a  proper  occasion  offered;  and  what  is  more,  I 
should  expect  your  approbation,  as,  in  my  humble  judgment, 
refutation  is  impossible.  . 

"As  you  do  not  doubt  the  imputations  contamed  in  the 
anonymous  letter,  a  copy  of  which  you  inclosed  me,  I  shall  not 
degrade  myself  by  any  further  notice  of  it. 

"I  have  just  shown  the  article  from  'The  Columbian  to 
some  military  gentlemen  of  this  place,  from  whom  I  learn,  that 
it  was  probably  intended  to  be  applied  to  a  case  which  has 
recently  occurred  at  West  Point.  The  writer  is  supposed  to  pro- 
ceed upon  a  report  (which  is  nevertheless  believed  to  be  errone- 
ous) that  Brigadier-General  Swift  had  orders  from  the  War 
Department,  more  than  twelve  months  since,  to  remove  Captain 
Partridge  from  the  military  academy,  and  that  he  suppressed 
those  orders,  etc.  The  author  is  believed  to  be  a  young  man  of 
the  army,  and  was,  at  the  time  of  publication,  in  this  city  ;  but 
not  under  my  command,  and  with  whom  I  never  had  the  sma  1- 
est  intimacy ;  I  forbear  to  mention  his  name,  because  it  is  only 
bv  coniecture.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

"(Signed,)  ,W.  Scott. 

"  To  Major-Genekal  Andrew  Jackson,  etc.,  etc." 

"  Head-qitarters,  Division,  of  the  South,  ) 
"  Nashville,  December  3,  1817.      j 

"Sm,— I  have  been  absent  from  this  place  a  considerable 
time,  rendering  the  last  friendly  office  I  could,  to  a  particular 
friend,  whose  eyes  I  closed  on  the  20th  ultimo.  Owing  to  this, 
your  letter  of  the  4th  of   October  was  not   received    until   the 

1st  inst.  , 

"  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  anonymous  communication  made 
me  from  New  York,  I  hastened  to  lay  it  before  you ;  that  course 
was  suggested  to  me,  by  the  respect  I  felt  for  you  as  a  man  and 
a  soldier,  and  that  you  might  have  it  in  your  power  to  answer 
how  far  you  had  been  guilty  of  so  base  and  inexcusable  conduct. 
Independent  of  the  services  you  had  rendered  your  country,  the 
circumstance  of  your  wearing  the  badge  and  insignia  of  a  soldier, 
led  me  to  the  conclusion,  that  I  was  addressing  a  gentleman. 
With  these  feelings  you  were  written  to,  and  had  an  idea  been  for 
a  moment  entertained,  that  you  could  have  descended  from  the 
high  and  dignified  character  of  a  major-general  of  the  United 
States,  and  used  language  so  opprobious  and  insolent  as  you  have 
done,  rest  assured,  I  should  have  viewed  you  as  rather  too  con- 


302  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

temptible  to  have  held  any  converse  with  you  on  the  subject. 
If  you  have  lived  in  the  world  thus  long  in  the  entire  ignorance 
of  the  obligations  and  duties  which  honor  impose,  you  are  indeed 
past  the  time  of  learning;  and  surely  he  must  be  ignorant  of 
them,  who  seems  so  little  to  understand  their  influence. 

"Pray,  sir,  does  your  recollection  serve,  in  what  school  of 
philosophy  you  were  taught,  that  to  a  letter  inquiring  into  the 
nature  of  a  supposed  injury,  and  clothed  in  language  decorous 
and  unexceptionable,  an  answer  should  be  given,  couched  in 
pompous  insolence  and  bullying  expressions?  I  had  hoped  that 
what  was  charged  upon  you  by  my  anonymous  correspondent 
was  unfounded ;  I  had  hoped  so,  from  a  belief  that  General 
Scott  was  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman  ;  but  when  I  see  those  state- 
ments doubly  confirmed  by  his  own  w^ords,  it  becomes  a  matter 
of  inquiry,  how  far  a  man  of  honorable  feelings  can  reconcile 
them  to  himself,  or  longer  set  up  a  claim  to  that  character.  Are 
you  ignorant,  sir,  that  had  my  order,  at  which  your  refined  judg- 
ment is  so  extremely  touched,  been  made  the  subject  of  inquiry, 
you  might,  from  your  standing,  not  your  character,  been  consti- 
tuted one  of  my  judges?  How  very  proper  then  was  it,  thus 
situated,  and  without  a  knowledge  of  any  of  the  attendant  cir- 
cumstances, for  you  to  have  prejudged  the  whole  matter?  This 
at  different  times,  and  in  the  circle  of  your  friends,  you  could  do ; 
and  yet  had  I  been  arraigned,  and  you  detailed  as  one  of  my 
judges,  with  the  designs  of  an  assassin  lurking  under  a  fair 
exterior,  you  would  have  approached  the  holy  sanctuary  of 
justice.  Is  conduct  like  this  congenial  with  that  high  sense  of 
dignity  which  should  be  seated  in  a  soldier's  bosom  ?  Is  it  due 
from  a  brother  officer  to  assail  in  the  dark  the  reputation  of 
another,  and  stab  him  at  a  moment  when  he  can  not  expect  it  ? 
I  might  insult  an  honorable  man  by  questions  such  as  these,  but 
shall  not  expect  that  they  will  harrow  up  one  who  must  be  dead 
to  all  those  feelings  whicli  are  the  characteristics  of  a  gentleman. 

"In  terms  polite  as  I  was  capable  of  noting,  I  asked  you  if 
my  informant  had  stated  truly — if  you  were  the  author  of  the 
publication  and  remarks  charged  against  you,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent ;  a  reference  to  your  letter,  without  any  comment  of  mine, 
will  inform  how  far  you  have  pursued  a  similar  course ;  how  little 
of  the  gentleman,  and  how  much  of  the  hectoring  bully  you  have 
manifested.  If  nothing  else  would,  the  epaulets  which  grace  your 
shoulders,   should   have   dictated  to  you  a  different  course,    and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  303 

have  admonished  you,  that  however  small  may  have  been  your 
respect  for  another,  respect  for  yourself  should  have  taujjht  you 
the  necessity  of  replying,  at  least  mildly,  to  the  inquiries  I  sug- 
gested ;  and  more  especially  should  you  have  done  this,  when  your 
own  convictions  must  have  fixed  you  as  guilty  of  the  abominable 
crime  of  detraction,  of  slandering,  and  behind  his  back,  a  brother 
officer.  But  not  content  with  answering  to  what  was  proposed, 
your  overweening  vanity  has  led  you  to  make  an  offering  of  your 
advice.  Believe  me,  sir,  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  render  you  my 
thanks ;  I  think  too  highly  of  myself  to  suppose  that  I  stand  at 
all  in  need  of  your  admonitions,  and  too  lightly  of  you  to  appre- 
ciate them  as  useful.  For  good  advice  I  am  always  thankful ; 
but  never  fail  to  spurn  it,  when  I  know  it  to  flow  from  an  in- 
competent or  corrupt  source ;  the  breast  where  base  and  guilty 
passions  dwell  is  not  the  place  to  look  for  virtue,  or  anything  that 
leads  to  virtue.  My  notions,  sir,  are  not  those  now  taught  in 
modern  schools  and  in  fashionable  high  life ;  they  were  imbibed 
in  ancient  days,  and  hitherto  have,  and  yet  bear  me  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  who  can  wantonly  outrage  the  feelings  of  another, 
who,  without  cause,  can  extend  injury  where  none  is  done,  is 
capable  of  any  crime,  however  detestable  in  its  nature,  and  will 
not  fail  to  commit  it,  whenever  it  may  be  imposed  by  necessity. 

"  I  shall  not  stoop,  sir,  to  a  justification  of  my  order  before 
you,  or  to  notice  the  weakness  and  absurdities  of  your  tinsel  rhet- 
oric ;  it  may  be  quite  conclusive  with  yourself,  and  I  have  no 
disposition  to  attempt  convincing  you  that  your  ingenuity  is  not 
as  profound  as  you  have  imagined  it.  To  my  Government,  when- 
ever it  may  please,  I  hold  myself  liable  to  answer,  and  to  produce 
the  reasons  which  prompted  me  to  the  course  I  took  ;  and  to  tlie 
intermeddling  pimps  and  spies  of  the  War  Department,  who  are 
in  the  garb  of  gentlemen,  I  hold  myself  responsible  for  any  griev- 
ance they  may  labor  under  on  my  account,  with  which  you  have 
my  permission  to  number  yourself.  For  what  I  have  said,  I  offer 
no  apology ;  you  have  deserved  it  all,  and  more,  were  it  neces- 
sary to  say  more.  I  will  barely  remark  in  conclusion,  that  if 
you  feel  yourself  aggrieved  at  what  is  here  said,  any  communica- 
tion from  you  will  reach  me  safely  at  this  place. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  (Signed,)  Andrew  Jackson. 

"  Brevet  Major-General  W.  Scott, 

United  States  Army,  New  York." 


304  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"  Head-quarters,  1st  and  3d  Military  Departments,  1 
New  York,  January  2,  1818.      { 

"Sir, — Your  letter,  of  the  3d  ultimo,  was  hauded  me  about 
the  22d,  and  has  not  been  read,  I  might  say  thought  of,  siuce. 
These  circumstances  will  show  that  it  is  mj  wish  to  reply  to  you 
dispassionately. 

"I  regret  that  I  can  not  accept  the  challenge  you  offer  me. 
Perhaps  I  may  be  restrained  from  wishing  to  level  a  pistol  at  the 
breast  of  a  fellow-being,  in  private  combat,  by  a  sense  of  religion  ; 
but  lest  this  motive  should  excite  the  ridicule  of  gentlemen  of 
liberal  habits  of  thinking  and  acting,  I  beg  leave  to  add  that  I 
decline  the  honor  of  your  invitation  from  patriotic  scruples.  My 
ambition  is  not  that  of  Erostratus.  I  should  think  it  would  be 
easy  for  you  to  console  yourself  under  this  refusal,  by  the  appli- 
cation of  a  few  epithets,  us  coward,  etc. ,  to  the  object  of  your  re- 
sentment, and  I  here  promise  to  leave  you  until  the  next  war,  to 
persuade  yourself  of  their  truth. 

"Your  famous  order  bears  date  the  22d  April,  1817.  At  in- 
tervals of  three  or  four  months  thereafter — that  is,  when  it  had 
been  officially  published  to  the  troops  of  your  division,  and  printed 
in  almost  every  paper  in  the  Union,  as  if  to  challenge  discussion — 
I  found  myself  in  company  where  it  was  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion. Not  being  under  your  command,  I  was  as  free  to  give  my 
opinion  on  that  public  act  as  any  one  else  ;  for,  I  presume,  you 
will  not  assert  that  where  an  officer  is  not  expressly  restrained  by 
the  military  code,  he  has  not  all  the  rights  of  any  other  citizen. 
For  this  fair  expression  of  opinion,  on  a  principle  as  universal  as 
the  profession  of  arms,  and  which  opinion  I  afterwards,  at  your 
instance,  stated  to  you,  in  all  its  detail,  you  are  pleased  to  charge 
me  with  having  slandered  you  behind  your  back  !  an  accusation 
which  I  consider  the  more  amusing,  as  I  never  had  the  honor  of 
being  in  your  presence  in  all  my  life !  I  can  assure  you,  sir,  that 
nothing  but  my  great  respect  for  your  superior  age  and  services 
prevents  me  from  indulging,  also,  in  a  little  bitter  pleasantry  on 
this  point. 

"It  seems  that  you  are  under  the  further  impression  that  if 
you  had  been  brought  to  trial  for  publishing  that  order  (an  idea 
that  I  never  heard  any  other  suggest),  and  I  appointed  one  of 
your  judges,  that,  assassin-like,  I  should  have  approached  the  holy 
sanctuary  of  justice,  etc. — such  is,  I  think,  your  language.  Now, 
like  you  (without  believing  one  word  of  it),  it  would  be  as  easy 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  305 

for  me  (manually)  to  retort  all  this  abuse,  as  it  was  for  you  to 
originate  it;  but  I  must  inform  you,  sir,  that  however  much  I 
may  desire  to  emulate  certain  portions  of  your  history,  I  am  not 
at  all  iuclined  to  follow  the  pernicious  example  that  your  letter 
furnishes. 

"  You  complain  of  harshness  on  my  part.  My  letter  to  which 
yours  is  a  reply,  is,  doubtless,  somewhat  bold  in  its  character; 
but,  believing  that  in  an  affair  with  you,  it  was  necessary  to  have 
right  on  one's  side,  in  order  to  obtain  approbation,  I  had  no  other 
care  in  its  composition  than  to  avoid  everything  personally  offen- 
sive, as  far  as  the  truth  and  a  fair  discussion  of  the  subject  would 
permit ;  and  I  still  rest  persuaded  that  the  fact  corresponds  with 
my  intention.  It  is  true  that  I  spoke  of  you  and  treated  you  as 
a  man,  without  the  petty  qualifications  of  common  usages ;  be- 
cause, in  addressing  you,  they  were  then  considered  as  so  many 
diminutives,  but  I  am  now  to  apprehend  that  universal  success 
and  applause  have  somewhat  spoiled  you  ;  and  that  I  shall  ulti- 
mately be  obliged  to  fall  into  the  commonplace  habit,  observed 
in  respect  to  commonplace  people,  and  consider  you  as  nothing 
more  than  a  gentleman. 

"Permit  me  to  request — I  think  I  have  a  right  to  demand — 
a  sight  of  the  original  anonymous  letter  which  has  given  rise  to 
this  discussion.  If  I  mistake  not,  your  correspondent  is  a  greater 
personage  than  you,  perhaps,  imagine ;  nay,  so  high,  that  he  has 
once  essayed  to  sit  himself  above  the  highest  in  our  political 
sphere.  The  letter  shall  be  returned  as  soon  as  the  hand  is  com- 
pared with  that  of  a  certain  agent  of  the  personage   alluded    to. 

"I  can  not  close  this  letter  without  expressing  a  belief,  that 
on  the  return  of  your  wonted  magnanimity,  I  shall  be  requested 
to  burn  the  one  which  has  elicited  it,  by  way  of  apology  for  the 
injury  it  does  me.  Accordingly,  it  has  been  seen,  as  yet,  by  but 
one  individual  (of  my  staff),  and  shall  be  held  in  reserve,  until  a 
certain  time  has  elapsed,  attending  that  just  expectation.  In  the 
meantime,  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir,  very  respectfully, 
your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  (Signed,)  W.  Scott. 

"  To  Majcr-General  Andrew  Jackson." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  behind  this  correspondence 
to  discover  its  spirit.  The  Hero  of  New  Orleans  here 
returns  to  the  cock-fighting  period  of  his  life.     In  his 

20— G 


306  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

correspondence  with  Mr.  Monroe  he  had  struck  out 
like  a  political  philosopher  and  statesman.  But  here 
he  was  out  again  in  his  old  dueling  colors.  A  contrast 
with  the  just  and  manly  course  of  General  Scott  puts 
him  at  great  disadvantage.  With  General  Scott's 
faults,  whatever  they  were,  was  not  to  be  numbered 
dueling.  He  was  cast  in  a  higher  and  better  mold 
than  that.  He  considered  Jackson's  military  order  as 
mutinous  and  reprehensible,  as  did  most  other  people  ; 
although  stiff  West  Pointers  must  have  thanked  Jack- 
son for  making  a  direct  personal  issue  of  this  red-tape 
matter,  so  greatly  to  their  benefit.  Jackson's  way, 
however,  of  arriving  at  a  good  result  was  one  which 
did  not  commend  itself  to  the  soldier,  and  was  as  un- 
wise as  it  was  unsoldierly  and  mischievous.  But  Gen- 
eral Scott's  aversion  for  insubordination  and  mutiny 
did  not  last.  Jackson's  famous  order  was  dwarfed  to 
insignificance  by  the  side  of  Scott's  direct  disobedience, 
and  unworthy,  unmanly,  undignified,  selfish,  stubborn, 
and  pestiferous  writings  and  acts  years  afterwards  in 
dealing  with  the  War  Department  and  the  President, 
as  to  his  own  position.  He  found  how  hard  it  is  with 
men  of  great  wills  to  suffer  infringements  on  what 
they  consider  their  rights,  as  well  as  what  they  know 
are  their  fixed  opinions.  Most  men  of  strongly  molded 
character  experience  their  greatest  hardship  in  having 
their  opinions  contradicted  and  opposed  in  dealing  with 
their  fellows.  Few  of  these  men  even  among  the 
learned  and  refined,  or  the  good,  will  submit  to  be 
crossed.  But  no  man  known  in  the  history  of  Amer- 
ica possessed  this  trait  in  so  marked  and  reprehen- 
sible a  degree  as  General  Jackson,  who  deemed 
every   man    his    mortal   enemy   who   was   opposed    to 


ANDKEW  JACKSON.  307 

him  in  principles  and  conduct,  and  who  dared  to  ex- 
press so  much. 

As  Jackson  could  not  draw  General  Scott  to  the 
field  of  dishonor,  the  matter  between  them  ended  with 
this  correspondence,  and  for  several  years  they  did  not 
meet.  In  the  meantime  the  country  was  not  dis- 
turbed by  the  question  as  to  who  was  the  coward  or 
who  the  "gentleman"  in  the  case.  This  affair  had 
barely  terminated  when  Jackson  became  involved  in 
another,  not  much  more  to  his  credit,  with  Governor 
John  Adair.  In  his  report  of  the  battle  of  the  8th 
of  January  General  Jackson  had  spoken  of  the  "  inglo- 
rious flight"  of  the  Kentuckians  under  Colonel  Davis, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  A  military  investiga- 
tion had  exculpated  the  Kentuckians,  and  General 
Thomas's  report  justified  the  action  of  the  troops  from 
his  State.  McAfee's  "History  of  the  War  of  1812," 
published  in  1817,  somehow  got  Thomas's  report  twisted 
into  a  statement  from  Jackson.  This  good  turn  in  the 
case  was  at  once  published  in  the  newspapers.  But 
General  Jackson  proceeded  indignantly  to  pronounce  the 
author  of  the  misrepresentation  a  forger  and  a  vil- 
lain. Through  one  of  his  letters  on  the  subject  he 
started  a  "misunderstanding"  with  Adair.  Some  long 
and  bitter  letters  passed  between  them,  in  which 
Jackson  held  to  his  original  statement  as  to  the  "in- 
glorious flight"  of  the  Kentuckians;  but  his  memory 
of  events  suffered  greatly  under  the  sharp  criticism 
of  Adair,  who  believed  the  men  of  his  State  had  been 
slandered,  and  that  this  fact  was  in  no  way  better  proven 
than  by  some  of  Jackson's  own  statements.  Singularly 
enough  these  two  men  became  friends  in  the  course 
of  time. 


308  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

General  Jackson's  conduct  at  New  Orleans  after 
the  battle,  his  famous  order  setting  aside  the  authority 
of  the  Administration,  his  attempt  to  draw  General 
Scott  into  a  duel,  his  contemptible  letters  to  Scott, 
and  this  affair  with  General  Adair,  were  certainly  not 
steps  which  would  have  been  chosen  in  the  career  of 
a  seeker  of  public  favor.  At  all  events,  if  Jackson 
believed  that  such  a  course  would  elevate  him  and 
establish  him  in  the  esteem  of  his  countrymen,  the 
opinion  was  as  daring  and  extravagant  as  his  success 
was  extraordinary  and  inexplicable. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  309 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  SEMINOLE  WAR— GENERAL  JACKSON   AND    GOVERNOR 
RABUN— NEGRO  FORT— THE  CHIEF  McINTOSH. 

GENERAL  JACKSON'S  attention  was  now  about 
to  be  turned  to  more  important  business  than 
vindicating  points  of  honor  at  the  point  of  the  pen, 
one  of  the  poorest  and  most  doubtful  ways  of  estab- 
lishing character  or  bolstering  a  weak  cause.  Florida 
was  now  the  seat  of  no  little  annoyance  to  the  United 
States,  as,  indeed,  had  been  the  case  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century.  This  Spanish  territory  had 
always  been  badly  governed,  and  at  no  time  worse 
than  at  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  1812.  It  had 
always  been  a  place  of  resort  for  men  of  doubtful  and 
adventurous  character.  Little  opposition  was  made 
or  could  be  made  by  the  Spanish  authority  to  the  in- 
roads upon  this  unprotected  territory  by  restless  and 
dangerous  men  of  all  colors  and  nations.  Thus  it 
became  a  rendezvous  for  runaway  negroes,  cut-throats, 
pirates,  robbers,  and  seekers  after  doubtful  military 
glory.  Here  sought  refuge  the  unconquered  Creeks 
who  refused  to  submit,  or  agree  to  the  "  treaty  "  that 
deprived  them  of  homes  to  which  they  were  attached, 
and  a  land  which  they  had  inherited  as  children 
of  Nature  ages  before  the  coming  of  the  grasping 
white  race. 

The   Seminoles    of   Florida  were   a  mixed   people, 


310  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

but  were  largely  descended  from  the  Creeks,  and  had 
a  common  claim  with  the  discontented  warriors  who 
had  recently  joined  them.  Although  not  intermarried 
to  any  great  extent  with  the  Seminoles,  the  negroes 
who  had,  for  a  generation  or  so,  been  gathering  here  in 
security  from  slavery  in  the  United  States,  made  com- 
mon cause  with  them  against  all  enemies.  During  the 
War  of  1812  the  British  made  an  attempt  to  turn  the 
mixed  population  of  this  desperate  quarter  to  their 
advantage.  After  General  Jackson  had  broken  up  the 
British,  Spanish,  and  Indian  nest  at  Pensacola,  the 
British  agent  and  leader.  Colonel  Edward  Nichols,  had 
established  a  depot  on  the  Appalachicola  River,  about 
sixty  miles  from  its  head.  This  he  made  a  strong 
post,  and  stocked  it  with  the  most  wonderful  array 
of  war  munitions  which  had  ever  been  collected  in 
this  part  of  the  continent,  and  called  it  the  "British 
Post  on  the  Appalachicola."  Nichols  also  formed  what 
he  termed  a  treaty  of  alliance  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  Seminole  Indians,  which  the  Ministry  did 
not  deem  it  necessary  to  accept  or  notice. 

On  sailing  for  England  with  Hillis  Hajo,  and  some 
other  Indians  bearing  him  company,  Nichols  left  his 
wonderful  fort  in  the  wilderness  in  the  care  of  his  In- 
dian friends  and  allies.  But  it  soon  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  negroes,  who  could  better  appreciate  the 
use  of  such  a  magnificently  supplied  work,  and  from 
which  they  operated  with  some  success  in  their 
schemes  of  wickedness.  At  last  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  determined  to  take  some  steps  for 
breaking  up  the  rendezvous  on  the  Appalachicola,  and 
otherwise  producing  a  better  state  of  affairs  in  this 
region,   which    must   soon    come   under   her    absolute 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  311 

control.  Negro  Fort,  as  Nichols's  British  Post  was  now 
called,  had  become  a  source  of  terror  to  planters  and 
settlers  on  the  southern  border.  General  Jackson,  to 
whose  department  this  matter  fell,  sent  a  messenger 
to  Pensacola,  but  the  Spanish  Governor  gave  him  little 
satisfaction  on  the  subject.  Still  he  fell  into  the 
notion  that  the  helpless  and  worthless  Spaniard  would 
not  object  to  the  United  States  breaking  up  the  nui- 
sance left  by  Nichols.  In  this  view  he  asked  instruc- 
tions from  the  War  Department.  But  Negro  Fort  was 
destined  to  be  disposed  of  without  General  Jackson's 
personal  interference,  if  not  altogether  in  harmony  with 
his  private  sentiments,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fifth  vol- 
ume of  this  work. 

After  the  destruction  of  Negro  Fort,  there  was 
comparative  quiet  in  Florida  for  a  short  time.  Sev- 
eral things,  however,  were  conspiring  to  lead  on  to  a 
crisis  in  affairs  down  there,  as  may  be  seen  with  suf- 
ficient fullness  in  another  volume  of  this  history. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1817,  this  Government  took 
possession  of  Amelia  Island  and  broke  up  the  den  of 
Indian  philanthropists  and  foreign  adventurers  in  won- 
derful republican  schemes.  This  feat  brought  Florida 
nearer  into  the  possession  of  this  country  than  it  had 
ever  been ;  and,  indeed,  many  an  impetuous  Southerner 
desired  to  end  the  piddling  about  the  matter,  and  take 
immediate  possession  of  a  region  so  essential  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  United  States,  and  which  a  little  time 
would  make  a  part  of  this  Nation.  But  the  break- 
ing-up  of  the  rendezvous,  at  Fernandina,  did  not  bring 
peace  among  the  Indians.  The  prophet,  Francis,  or 
Hillis  Hajo,  had  returned  from  England,  filled  with 
bad  notions,  and  while    the    Indians  were    committing 


312  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

murders  and  depredations  wherever  they  could,  their 
general  disposition  was  for  war. 

General  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  who  had  been  man- 
aging the  difficulties  with  the  Indians,  was  formally 
ordered  to  look  after  matters  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  the  more  direct  control  of  the  troublesome  busi- 
ness given  to  General  Jackson,  who  had  his  own  no- 
tions about  what  should  be  done  with  Florida.  Gaines, 
who  had  held  pretty  closely  to  the  Carolina  and 
Georgia  border,  had  been  informed  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  that  if  he  found  it  necessary  to  follow  the 
Indians  into  Florida,  to  do  so  without  coming  into 
conflict,  in  any  way,  with  the  Spaniards.  Jackson 
was  to  pursue  the  same  course.  But  before  his  in- 
structions reached  him,  he  took  occasion  to  write 
President  Monroe  his  views  as  to  the  case,  and  said 
that  if  he  were  given  the  opportunity  to  do  so,  in 
sixty  days  he  would  put  all  Florida  into  the  posses- 
sion of  this  Government.  As  will  be  shown  hereafter, 
this  letter  was  destined  to  be  of  great  importance  in 
deciding  the  course  of  events  in  Florida. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1818,  the  orders  from  the 
War  Department  to  General  Jackson  reached  Nash- 
ville. He  was  told  that  eight  hundred  regulars  were 
at  Fort  Scott,  and  on  the  line  of  frontiers,  and  one 
thousand  Georgia  militia  were  also  in  the  field  against 
the  Indians,  and  that  if  he  deemed  this  force  insuffi- 
cient, he  should  call  upon  the  governors  of  the  adja- 
cent States  for  more  troops.  He  did  deem  the  force 
insufficient,  and  the  very  day  on  which  the  orders 
were  received,  for  him  to  proceed  to  the  Seminole 
country,  the  Governor  being  absent,  he  took  the  re- 
sponsibility of  calling  a  thousand  volunteers  from  Ten- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  313 

nessee  .and  Kentucky,  to  rendezvous  at  the  old  point, 
Fayetteville.  He  issued  one  of  his  spirited  proclama- 
tions, and  in  twenty  days  more  than  a  thousand  men 
were  ready  to  march  fiom  Fayetteville.  The  Gover- 
nor approved  the  course  he  had  taken,  and  the  Ad- 
ministration acquiesced,  and  in  eleven  days  from  the 
time  he  received  his  orders,  Jackson  set  out  from 
Nashville  on  horseback  on  his  long  journey  of  four 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  Fort  Scott.  At  Hartford, 
Georgia,  he  met  General  Gaines  with  some  recently 
collected  militia,  numbering,  with  his  own  guard,  about 
eleven  hundred  men.  Hy  the  time  he  reached  Che- 
haw,  sixty  miles  above  Fort  Scott,  the  Creek  Chief, 
Brigadier-General  William  Mcintosh,  with  a  considera- 
ble force  of  friendly  Indians,  had  joined  him.  At  the 
Chehaw  village  the  Indians  left  their  women  and  chil- 
dren and  old  people,  among  them  Howard,  the  old 
chief. 

On  account  of  depredations,  supposed  to  have  been 
committed  by  Indians  connected  with  the  Chehaws, 
by  order  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  some  militia  from 
that  State  fell  upon  the  helpless  town,  not  long  after 
the  departure  of  General  Jackson,  and  brutally  mur- 
dered the  inhabitants,  not  sparing  the  women  and 
children,  nor  even  the  old  chief,  Howard,  the  uncle  of 
Mcintosh.  The  commander  of  this  militia  force  had 
previously  been  notified  at  Fort  Early  that  the  Che- 
haw warriors  were  with  Jackson,  and,  of  course,  that 
they  and  all  their  people  left  behind  were  friendly  In- 
dians. This  affair,  like  so  many  others  against  the  In- 
dians, without  any  apology,  brought  on  a  correspond- 
ence between  General  Jackson  and  the  Governor  of 
Georgia,  in   which   Jackson    uttered   one  of  his   most 


314  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

noted  sayings,  afterward  much  criticised  by  his  ene- 
mies, and,  perhaps,  not  always  afterwards  supported 
by  his  friends.  Yet  it  was  emphatically  Jacksonian, 
and  was  really  one  of  the  most  admirable  and  tangible 
things  in  his  checkered  career.  The  case  was  ex- 
tremely aggravating,  and  General  Jackson  was  justly 
incensed,  although  the  responsibility  for  the  inhuman 
mnssacre  did  not  go  beyond  the  commander  of  the 
militia.  To  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  Jackson  wrote 
that  the  affair  was  "base  and  cowardly,  and  that  a 
governor  of  a  State  should  make  war  against  an  Indian 
tribe  at  peace  with,  and  under  the  protection  of,  the 
United  States,  is  assuming  a  responsibility  that  I  trust 
you  will  be  able  to  excuse  to  the  United  States,  to 
which  you  will  have  to  answer.  .  .  .  You,  as  gov- 
ernor of  a  State  within  my  military  division,  have  no  right 
to  give  a  military  order  when  I  am  in  the  fields 

Of  this  position  Mr.  Goodwin,  one  of  General  Jack- 
son's political  friends  and  biographers  says  : — 

"In  this  he  was  perfectly  right,  and  evinced  a  disposition  to 
preserve  rather  than  to  disturb  the  harmony  so  desirable  between 
the  States  and  the  General  Government.  The  power  of  making 
war  is  vested  exclusively  by  the  Constitution  in  the  Federal 
Government,  and  the  equivalent  duty  imposed  on  it  of  guaran- 
teeing the  integrity  and  independence  of  the  several  States. 
This  duty  the  Federal  Government  was  then  in  the  act  of  dis- 
charging in  favor  of  the  State  of  Georgia." 

But  the  following  Jacksonian  address  to  the  Che- 
haws,  the  General's  order  for  the  arrest  of  the  leader 
of  the  murderers,  and  a  correspondence  between  him 
and  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  will  throw  some  light  on 
this  case,  and  give  a  very  positive  glimpse  of  the  new 
Jackson  Democracy,  soon  to  be  set  up  in  the  country. 
Although  the  General  did  not,  perhaps,  come  out  first 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  315 

in  this  correspondence,  yet  it  certainly  illustrates  his 
character  in  a  way  to  demand  admiration. 

GENERAL.  JACKSON  TO  MAJOR  DAVIS. 

"  Hkad-quakters  Division  of  the  South,  \ 
"  May  7,  1818.  / 

.<giK_You  will  send,  or  deliver  personally,  as  you  may 
deem  most  advisable,  the  inclosed  talk  to  Kanard,  with  instruc- 
tions to  explain  the  substance  to  the  Chehaw  warriors. 

"  You  will  proceed  thence  to  Hartford,  in  Georgia,  and  use 
your  endeavors  to  arrest  and  deliver  over,  in  irons,  to  the  mili- 
tary authority  at  Fort  Hawkins,  Captain  Wright,  of  the  Georgia 
militia,  who  has  been  guilty  of  the  outrage  against  the  woman 
and  superannuated  men  of  the  Chehaw  village.  Should  Wright 
have  left  Hartford,  you  will  call  upon  the  Governor  of  Georgia 
to  aid  you  in  his  arrest. 

"To  enable  you  to  execute  the  above,  you  are  authorized 
to  take  a  company  with  you  of  the  Tennesseeaus  that  went  from 
hence  lately  for  Fort  Scott,  and  await,  if  you  think  it  necessary, 
the  arrival  of  the  Georgians,  now  on  march,  under  Major  Porter. 

"  You  will  direct  the  officer  commanding  at  Fort  Hawkins  to 
keep  Captain  Wright  in  close  confinement,  until  the  will  of  the 
President  be  known. 

"  The  accompanying  letters,  for  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
Governor  of  Georgia,  you  will  take  charge  of  until  you  reach  a 
post-office.  Andrew  Jackson." 

"  To  the  (liiefs  and  Warriors  of  the  Chehaw  Village,  on   my  March  to  the 
West  by  the  Appalachicola,  May  7,1818. 

"  Friends  and  Brothers, — I  have  this  moment  received,  by 
express,  the  intelligence  of  the  unwarrantable  attack  of  a  party 
of  Georgians  on  the  Chehaw  village,  burning  it,  and  killing  six 
men  and  one  woman. 

"Friends  and  brothers,  the  above  news  fills  my  heart  with 
regret  and  my  eyes  with  tears.  When  I  passed  through  your 
village  you  treated  me  with  friendship,  and  furnished  my  army 
with  all  the  supplies  you  could  spare ;  and  your  old  chiefs  sent 
their  young  warriors  with  me  to  fight  and  put  down  our  common 
enemy.  I  promised  you  protection  ;  I  promised  you  the  protec- 
tion and  fostering  friendship  of  the  United  States,  so  long  as  you 
continue  to  hold  your  father,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  the  hand  of  friendship. 


316  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"Friends  and  brothers,  I  did  not  suppose  there  was  any 
American  so  base  as  not  to  respect  a  flag,  but  I  find  I  am  mis- 
taken. I  find  that  Captain  Wright,  of  Georgia,  has  not  done  it. 
I  can  not  bring  your  old  men  and  women  to  life,  but  I  have 
written  to  your  father,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
whole  circumstances  of  your  case,  and  I  have  ordered  Captain 
Wright  to  be  arrested  and  put  in  irons,  until  your  father,  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  makes  known  his  will  on  this  dis- 
tressing subject. 

"Friends  and  brothers,  return  to  your  village;  there  you 
shall  be  protected,  and  Captain  Wright  will  be  tried  and  pun- 
ished for  this  daring  outrage  of  the  treaty  and  murder  of  your 
people ;  and  you  shall  also  be  paid  for  your  houses  and  other 
property  that  has  been  destroyed ;  but  you  must  not  attempt  to 
take  satisfaction  yourselves.  This  is  contrary  to  the  treaty,  and 
you  may  rely  on  my  friendship,  and  that  of  your  father,  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

"I  send  you  by  my  friend,  Major  Davis,  who  is  accompanied 
by  a  few  of  my  people,  and  who  is  charged  with  the  arrest  and 
confinement  of  Captain  Wright.  Treat  them  friendly,  they  are 
your  friends;  you  must  not  permit  your  people  to  kill  any  ot 
the  whites;  they  will  bring  down  on  you  destruction.  Justice 
shall  be  done  to  you ;  you  must  remain  in  peace  and  friendship 
with  the  United  States.  The  excuse  that  Captain  Wright  has 
made  for  this  attack  on  your  village  is,  that  some  of  your  people 
were  concerned  in  some  murders  on  the  frontiers  of  Georgia; 
this  will  not  excuse  him.  I  have  ordered  Captain  Wright  and 
all  the  officers  concerned  in  this  transaction  in  confinement,  if 
found  at  Hartford.  If  you  send  some  of  your  people  with  Major 
Davis,  you  will  see  them  put  in  irons.  Let  me  hear  from  you  at 
Fort  Montgomery.     I  am  your  friend  and  brother. 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

general  jackson  to  william  rabun,  governor  of  georgia. 

"  Seven  Milks  Advance  of  Fort  Gadsden,  "I 
"May  7,  1818.  / 

"  Sir, — I  have  this  moment  received  by  express  the  letter  of 

General  Glascock  (a   copy   of  which   is  inclosed),    detailing    the 

base,  cowardly,  and  inhuman  attack  on  the  old  women  and  men 

of  the  Chehaw  village,  while  the  warriors  of  that  village  were 

with  me  fighting  the  battles  of  our  country  against  the  common 

enemy,  and  at  a  time,  too,  when  undoubted  testimony  had  been 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  317 

obtained  and  was  in  my  possession,  and  also  in  the  possession  of 
General  Glascock,  of  their  innocence  of  the  charge  of  killing 
Leigh  and  the  other  Georgian  at  Cedar  Creek. 

"  That  a  Governor  of  a  State  should  aasume  the  right  to  make 
war  against  an  Indian  tribe,  in  perfect  peace  with  and  under  the 
protection  of  the  United  States,  is  assuming  a  responsibility  that 
I  trust  you  will  be  able  to  excuse  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  to  which  you  will  have  to  answer,  and  through  which  I 
had  so  recently  passed,  promising  the  aged  that  remained  at  home 
my  protection,  and  taking  the  warriors  with  me  in  the  campaign, 
is  as  unaccountable  as  it  is  strange.  But  it  is  still  more  strange 
that  there  could  exist  within  the  United  States  a  cowardly  mon- 
ster in  human  shape  that  could  violate  the  sanctity  of  a  flag  when 
borne  by  any  person,  but  more  particularly  when  in  the  hands 
of  a  superannuated  Indian  chief,  worn  down  with  age.  Such 
base  cowardice  and  murderous  conduct  as  this  transaction  affords 
has  not  its  parallel  in  history,  and  shall  meet  with  its  merited 
punishment. 

"You,  sir,  as  Governor  of  a  State  within  my  military  division 
have  no  right  to  give  a  military  order  whilst  I  am  in  the  field ; 
and  this  being  an  open  and  violent  infringement  of  the  treaty 
with  the  Creek  Indians,  Captain  Wright  must  be  prosecuted  and 
punished  for  this  outrageous  murder,  and  I  have  ordered  him  to 
be  arrested  and  to  be  confined  in  irons  until  the  pleasure  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  known  upon  the  subject.  If  he 
has  left  Hartford  before  my  order  reaches  him,  I  call  upon  you 
as  Governor  of  Georgia  to  aid  in  carrying  into  effect  my  order 
for  his  arrest  and  confinement,  which  I  trust  will  be  afforded,  and 
Captain  Wright  brought  to  condign  punishment  for  this  unpar- 
alleled murder.  It  is  strange  that  this  hero  had  not  followed  the 
trail  of  the  murderers  of  your  citizens;  it  would  have  led  to 
Mickasucky,  where  we  found  the  bleeding  scalps  of  your  citizens  ; 
but  there  might  have  been  more  danger  in  this  than  attacking  a 
village  containing  a  few  superannuated  women  without  arms  or 
protectors.  This  act  will  to  the  last  age  fix  a  stain  upon  the 
character  of  Georgia.         I  have  the  honor,  etc., 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

governor  rabun  to  (jeneral  jackson. 

"  MiLLEDGEVILLE,    GEORGIA,    June   1,    1818. 

"  Sir, — I  have  lately  had  the  honor  to  receive  yours  of  the 
7th  ultimo,  founded  on  a  communication  from  General  Glascock, 


318  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

relative  to  an  attack  recently  made  on  the  Chehaw  village.  Had 
you,  sir,  or  General  Glascock  been  in  possession  of  the  facts 
which  produced  the  affair,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  at  least,  that  you 
would  not  have  indulged  in  a  strain  so  indecorous  and  unbecom- 
ing. I  had,  on  the  21st  of  March  last,  stated  the  situation  of 
our  bleeding  frontier  to  you,  aud  requested  you  in  respectful 
terms  to  detach  a  part  of  your  overwhelming  force  for  our  pro- 
tection, or  that  you  would  furuish  supplies,  and  I  would  order 
out  more  troops ;  to  which  you  have  never  yet  deigned  ever  to 
reply.  You  state  in  a  very  haughty  tone  that  'I,  as  Governor 
of  a  State  within  your  military  division,  have  no  right  to  give  a 
military  order  whilst  you  are  in  the  field.'  Wretched  and  con- 
temptible, indeed,  must  be  our  situation,  if  that  be  the  fact. 
When  the  liberties  of  the  people  of  Georgia  shall  have  been  pros- 
trated at  the  feet  of  military  despotism,  then,  and  not  till  then, 
will  this  imperious  doctrine  be  tamely  submitted  to.  You  may 
rest  assured  that  if  the  savages  continue  their  depredations  on  our 
unprotected  frontier,  I  shall  think  and  act  for  myself  in  that 
respect. 

"You  demand  that  Captain  Wright  be  delivered  in  irons  to 
your  agent,  Major  Davis.  If  you,  sir,  are  unacquainted  with  the 
fact,  I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  Captain  Wright  was  not 
under  your  command,  for  he  had  been  appointed  an  officer  in  the 
Chatham  County  militia,  which  had  been  drafted  for  the  special 
purpose  of  assisting  General  Gaines  in  reducing  Amelia  Island. 
That  object  having  been  accomplished  before  our  militia  had  taken 
the  field,  General  Gaines,  as  soon  as  their  organization  was  com- 
pleted, assumed  the  right  to  order  them  to  the  frontier,  without 
ever  consulting  the  State  authority  on  the  subject.  Captain 
Wright,  at  that  time  being  in  a  state  of  debility,  failed  to  march, 
and,  of  course,  was  not  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States.  He,  however,  followed  on  to  Hartford,  where,  finding 
himself  not  likely  to  be  received  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  tendered  his  services  to  command  the  contemplated  expe- 
dition ;  which  were  accordingly  accepted.  Having  violated  his 
orders  by  destroying  the  Chehaw  village,  instead  of  Hopounees 
and  Phelemmies  towns,  against  which  the  expedition  was  directed, 
I  had,  previous  to  receiving  your  demand,  ordered  him  to  be  ar- 
rested, but  before  he  was  apprehended  agreeably  to  my  orders,  he 
was  taken  by  your  agent,  and  afterwards  liberated  by  the  civil 
authority.     I  have  since  had  him  arrested  and  confined,  and  shall 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  319 

communicate  the  whole  transaction  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  a  copy  of  your  letters. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc.,  William  Rabun." 

GENERAL  JACKSON  TO  GOVERNOR  RABUN. 

"Nashville,  Tennessee,  August  1,  1818. 

"  Sir, — Your  letter  of  the  1st  of  June  was  not  received  until 
this  day,  though  a  gasconading  notice  of  such  a  communication 
having  been  written  appeai-ed  long  since  in  the  Georgia  journals. 
I  am  not  disposed  to  enter  into  any  controversy  with  you  relative 
to  our  respective  duties,  but  would  recommend  an  examination 
of  the  laws  of  our  country,  before  you  hazard  an  opinion  on  the 
subject.  'The  liberties  of  the  people  prostrated  at  the  feet  of 
military  despotism'  are  cant  expressions  for  political  purposes. 
The  better  part  of  the  community  know  too  well  that  they  have 
nothing  to  apprehend  from  that  quarter.  The  military  have  rights 
secured  to  them  by  the  laws  of  our  country  as  well  as  the  civil, 
and  in  my  respect  for  those  of  the  latter  I  will  never  permit  those 
of  the  former  to  be  outraged  with  impunity. 

"Your  letter  of  the  21st  of  March,  on  which  you  and  the 
journalists  dwell  with  so  much  force,  you  must  have  been  aware 
could  not  have  reached  me  in  time  to  produce  the  object  required. 
'  The  situation  of  our  bleeding  frontier '  at  that  period  was  mag- 
nified by  the  apprehensions  of  a  few  frontier  settlers,  and  those 
who  had  not  understanding  enough  to  penetrate  into  the  designs 
of  my  operations.  You  have  forgot  that  Colonel  Hayne,  with 
three  or  four  hundred  Tennesseeaus,  made  a  movement  for  the 
security  of  the  pretended  assailed  point  of  Georgia,  and  did  not 
pursue  me  until  satisfied  of  the  perfect  security  of  that  frontier. 

"Whilst  you  are  so  tenacious  of  your  own  executive  powers, 
it  may  be  necessary  to  explain  upon  what  authority  Captain 
Wright  received  instructions  to  call  for  a  re-enforcement  from 
Fort  Early,  garrisoned  by  militia  who  you  will  not  deny  were  at 
that  time  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  under  my  com- 
mand. Andrew  Jackson." 

GOVERNOR  RABUN  TO  GENERAL  JACKSON. 

"  Executive  Department,  Ga.,  Milledoeville,  "( 
September  1,  1818.  J 

'*  Sir, — I  have  lately  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of 
the    1st    ultimo.     I   supposed    that   our   correspondence  on   this 


320  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

subject  had  finally  terminated ;  but  a  renewal  on  your  part  has  in- 
duced me  to  make  this  short  reply. 

"  I  find  that  the  same  angry  disposition  which  (no  doubt)  dic- 
tated your  letter  of  the  7th  of  May  last  is  still  rankling  in  your 
breast. 

"It  is  very  certain  that  I  have  never  intentionally  assailed  your 
feelings,  or  wantonly  provoked  your  frowns,  and  I  flatter  myself  it 
is  equally  certain  that  I  shall  never  find  it  necessary  to  court  your 
smiles.  '  You  are  not  disposed  to  enter  into  a  controversy  with 
me  relative  to  our  respective  duties,  but  recommend  au  exam- 
ination of  the  laws  of  our  country  before  I  again  hazard  au  opinion 
upon  the  subject.'  Your  advice  is  good,  and  should  be  attended 
to  (at  least)  by  all  public  ofiicers.  I  hope  you  will  now  permit 
me  in  turn  to  recommend  to  you  that  before  you  undertake  to 
prosecute  another  campaign,  you  examine  the  orders  of  your 
superiors  with  more  attention  than  usual. 

"You  assert  that  '  the  better  part  of  the  community  know 
too  well  that  they  have  nothing  to  apprehend  from  a  military 
despotism,'  and  in.  proof  of  this  assertion  it  might  have  been 
well  for  you  to  have  called  my  attention  to  your  late  proceedings 
at  St.  Marks  and  Pensacola,  as  aflfbrding  conclusive  evidence  on 
that  point. 

"The  situation  of  our  bleeding  frontier,  you  say,  'was  mag- 
nified by  the  apprehensions  of  a  few  frontier  settlers  and  those 
who  had  not  understanding  enough  to  penetrate  into  the  design 
of  your  operations.'  Indeed,  sir,  we  had  expected  that  your  pres- 
ence at  the  head  of  an  overwhelming  force  would  have  afforded 
complete  protection  to  our  bleeding  and  distressed  citizens,  bor- 
dering on  an  extensive  and  unprotected  frontier;  but  our  pros- 
pects were  only  delusive;  for  it  would  seem  that  the  laurels  ex- 
pected in  Florida  was  the  object  that  accelerated  you  more  than 
the  protection  of  the  '  ignorant '  Georgians. 

"  If  '  Colonel  Hayne  and  his  three  or  four  hundred  Tennessee- 
ans  made  a  movement  for  the  security  of  the  pretended  assailed 
point  of  Georgia,'  it  certainly  was  a  very  unsuccessful  one. 

"When  you  shall  have  explained  to  me  by  what  authority 
you  sent  Major  Davis  into  this  State,  with  orders  to  apprehend 
Captain  Wright  (who  was  not  under  your  command),  and  place 
him  in  irons,  etc.,  then  I  shall  explain  to  you  the  motives  which 
induced  me  to  call  for  a  re-enforcement  from  Fort  Early. 

"  William  Rabun." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  321 

During  the  Creek  War  there  appeared  among  the 
friendly  Indians  a  young  warrior  whose  attachment  to 
the  American  side,  and  whose  qualities  as  a  man  and 
soldier  gained  for  him  the  friendship  of  General  Jack- 
son, and  the  favorable  notice  of  the  Government. 
This  was  William  Mcintosh.  Mcintosh  was  a  man 
of  mixed  blood,  and  although  he  lacked  the  great 
strength  which  marked  the  character  of  Weathersford, 
yet  his  disposition  was  more  pacific,  and  his  ability  to 
grasp  the  true  relation  of  his  race  to  the  advancing 
civilization  of  the  New  World  was  superior.  He  led 
the  friendly  Indians  in  the  battle  of  Talladega,  and 
had  before  distinguished  himself  in  his  efforts  against 
the  war.  For  his  good  conduct  he  had  been  given 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  allowed  pay.  And 
now  when  the  Seminoles  became  hostile,  he  was  one 
of  the  first  to  enter  the  field  on  the  side  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Before  Jackson  reached  the  scene  of  action 
Mcintosh  had  joined  him  with  between  one  and  two 
thousand  men.  His  services  were  important  during  the 
campaign.  And  at  every  step  his  good  qualities  became 
more  apparent.  Subsequently  he  favored  peace  and 
harmony  in  dealing  with  the  whites,  always  appearing 
able  to  see  the  powerless  condition  of  his  race.  But 
his  stand  against  the  passions  of  his  people  was  not 
always  well  received  by  them.  In  the  efforts  of  the 
General  Government,  and  especially  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  to  get  possession  of  all  the  Indian  lands  in 
Georgia  and  Alabama,  Mcintosh  again  became  con- 
spicuous. In  February,  1825,  he  was  induced  to  sign 
a  treaty  with  some  Georgia  commissioners,  which 
ceded  all  the  lands  of  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  in 
Georgia  and  a  part  of  their  lands   in  Florida   to   the 

21— G 


322  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

United  States.  The  Indians  opposed  this  treaty  and 
held  that  Mcintosh  was  not  authorized  to  make  it. 
In  their  appeal  to  President  Monroe  they  were  not 
very  successful;  and  with  a  view  of  helping  their  des- 
perate cause,  they  determined  to  take  the  life  of 
Mcintosh.  This  determination  they  carried  out  on 
the  last  day  of  April,  1825,  murdering  him,  and 
laying  waste  his  plantation.  A  full  account  of  these 
difficulties  may  be  found  in  another  volume  of  this 
history. 

General  Gaines  said  the  hostile  Indians  were  able 
to  muster  twenty-seven  hundred  warriors  in  Florida. 
But  even  if  they  were  so  strong,  what  chance  had 
they  against  Jackson  with  his  large  force,  and  a  war- 
like army  of  friendly  Indians  ?  Having  ordered  his 
supplies  to  be  sent  from  New  Orleans  by  water  up 
the  Appalachicola  River,  and  without  waiting  for  the 
arrival  of  the  Tennessee  troops  under  Colonel  Hayne, 
Jackson  marched  from  Fort  Scott  down  to  Prospect 
Bluff,  the  site  of  Negro  Fort.  Here  he  awaited  his 
supply  flotilla  from  New  Orleans.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  he  rebuilt  the  fort,  and  called  it  Fort  Gads- 
den, in  honor  of  one  of  his  officers,  who  subsequently 
acquired  some  distinction  in  politics. 

While  waiting  at  Fort  Gadsden  General  Jackson 
wrote  two  very  characteristic  letters  to  the  Goverrior 
of  Pensacola,  and  received  a  reply,  in  which  the  Gov- 
ernor called  him  "your  excellency"  and  spoke  as  sau- 
cily as  if  he  did  not  know  it  was  General  Jackson  to 
whom  he  was  writing.  At  last  Captain  McKeever 
arrived  with  his  flotilla  bearing  supplies,  and  General 
Jackson  determining  to  march  directly  for  St.  Marks, 
on  the  Gulf,  issued  the  following  order  to  him,  in  which 


ANDREW  JACKSON,  323 

he  considered  himself  justified  by   the  supposed   facts 
mentioned  in  the  order : — 

"It  is  reported  to  me  that  Frauds,  or  Hillis  Hajo,  and  Peter 
McQueen,  prophets,  who  excited  the  Red  Sticks  in  their  late  war 
against  the  United  States,  and  are  now  exciting  the  Seminoles 
to  similar  acts  of  hostility,  are  at  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  St. 
Marks.  United  with  them  it  is  stated  that  Woodbine,  Arbuth- 
not,  and  other  foreigners  have  assembled  a  motley  crew  of  brig- 
ands— slaves  enticed  away  from  their  masters,  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  stolen  during  the  late  conflict  with  Great 
Britain.  It  is  all  important  that  these  men  should  be  captured 
and  made  examples  of,  and  it  is  my  belief  that  on  the  approach 
of  my  army  they  will  attempt  to  escape  to  some  of  the  sea 
islands,  from  whence  they  may  be  enabled  for  a  time  to  continue 
their  excitement,  and  carry  on  a  predatory  war  against  the 
United  States.  You  will,  therefore,  cruise  along  the  coast,  east- 
wardly,  and,  as  I  advance,  capture  and  make  prisoners  all,  or 
every  person,  or  description  of  persons,  white,  red,  or  black,  with 
all  their  goods,  chattels,  and  effects,  together  with  all  crafts,  ves- 
sels, or  means  of  transportation  by  water,  which  will  be  held 
possession  of  for  adjudication.  Any  of  the  subjects  of  his  Cath- 
olic Majesty,  sailing  to  St.  Marks,  may  be  permitted  freely  to 
enter  the  said  river;  but  none  to  pass  out,  unless  after  an  exam- 
ination it  may  be  made  to  appear  that  they  have  not  been  at- 
tached to  or  in  any  wise  aided  and  abetted  our  common  enemy. 
I  shall  march  this  day,  and  in  eight  days  will  reach  St.  Marks, 
where  I  shall  expect  to  communicate  with  you  in  the  bay,  and 
from  the  transports  receive  the  supplies  for  my  army." 


324  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  XIX 

FIRST  SEMINOLE  WAR— GENERAL  JACKSON  VISITS  FLORIDA— 
A  WONDERFUL  TRAGEDY— TRIAL  AND  TRIUMPH- 
ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

ON  the  first  day  of  April,  the  Tennessee  volunteers 
overtook  General  Jackson  on  his  way  to  St. 
Marks ;  and  on  the  same  day  a  part  of  the  invading 
army  fell  upon  a  small  body  of  Seminoles  who  were 
quietly  herding  their  cattle  near  a  village.  Several 
of  these  Indians  were  killed,  their  town  was  burned, 
and  their  corn  and  cattle  were  taken  for  the  use  of 
the  army.  It  was  a  brave  and  successful  "  engage- 
ment" between  desperate  foes,  and  nobody  was  hurt 
on  the  American  side  ! 

On  the  6th  of  April,  1818,  McKeever  reached  St. 
Marks,  carrying  at  the  head  of  his  fleet  the  British 
flag.  This  very  contemptible  decoy  trick,  on  the  part 
of  McKeever,  led  to  a  sad  and  unjustifiable  tragedy. 
Hillis  Hajo,  and  the  bad  chief,  Himollemico,  had  just 
come  down  to  see  if  there  was  any  news  from  their 
English  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  from 
whom  they  believed  they  were  soon  to  receive  large 
donations  of  arms,  clothes,  and  other  useful  things, 
which  a  knowledge  of  their  situation  would  suggest. 
They  were  soon  made  aware  of  the  presence,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor,  of  the  supposed  British  vessels  ; 
and  in  a  canoe  these  two  chiefs  glided  out  to  the  fleet, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  325 

where    they  were   gladly  received    by  McKeever,  and 
at  once  put  under  arrest. 

On  the  same  day,  shortly  after  McKeever's  ar- 
rival, General  Jackson  appeared  before  St.  Marks,  and 
immediately  sent  word  to  the  Spanish  Governor  that 
he  had  come  with  his  army  to  whip  the  Indians,  who 
were  enemies  to  the  peace  of  the  country,  and  this 
course  he  was  led  to  adopt  from  the  ftict  that  the 
Spanish  authorities  were  unable  to  restrain  the  sav- 
ages in  their  territory.     He  wrote  to  the  Governor : — 

"This  measure  is  justifiable  on  the  immutable  principle  of 
self-defense,  and  can  not  but  be  satisfactory,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, to  his  Catholic  Majesty,  the  King  of  Spain.  Under 
existing  treaties  between  our  two  governments,  the  King  of 
Spain  is  bound  to  preserve  in  peace  with  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  not  only  his  own  subjects,  but  all  Indian  tribes 
residing  within  his  territory.  When  called  upon  to  fulfill  that 
part  of  the  treaty  in  relation  to  a  savage  tribe  who  have  long 
depredated  with  impunity  on  the  American  frontier,  incompe- 
tency is  alleged,  with  an  acknowledgment  that  the  same  tribe 
have  acted  in  open  hostility  to  the  laws,  and  invaded  the  rights 
of  his  Catholic  Majesty.  As  a  m\^tual  enemy,  therefore,  it  is  ex- 
pected that  every  facility  will  be  aflbrded  by  the  agents  of  the 
King  of  Spain  to  chastise  these  lawless  and  inhuman  savages.  In 
this  light  is  the  possession  of  St.  Marks  by  the  American  forces 
to  be  viewed.  I  come  not  as.  the  enemy,  but  as  the  friend  of 
Spain.  Spanish  rights  and  property  will  be  respected.  The 
property  and  rights  of  Spanish  subjects  will  be  guaranteed  them. 
An  inventory  of  all  public  property,  munitions  of  war,  etc.,  shall 
be  made  out,  and  certified  by  an  officer  appointed  by  each  of  us, 
and  a  receipt  given  for  the  same,  to  be  accounted  for  to  his 
Catholic  Majesty  by  the  United  States.  The  subject  of  my  pos- 
session of  the  garrison  of  St.  Marks  will  be  referred  to  our  re- 
spective governments  for  amicable  adjustment." 

On  the  following  morning  the  Governor  indicated 
his  disposition  not  to  comply  with  the  General's  de- 
mand, nor  to  accept  his  presentation  of  the  case,  and 


326  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

asked  time  to  place  the  matter  before  his  government. 
This  proposition  was  very  ridiculous  to  General  Jack- 
son, who  did  not  do  business  in  that  way.  He  ac- 
cordingly took  charge  of  the  post  at  once,  leaving  any 
delicate  points  in  the  legality  of  the  step  to  be  amica- 
bly adjusted,  if  possible,  by  his  superiors  at  their 
leisure.  Do  what  was  to  be  done,  do  it  quickly,  and 
look  up  the  law  afterwards,  was  the  method  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson ;  and  this  was,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
theory  of  the  New  Democracy,  at  least  while  he  was 
its  acknowledged  dictatorial  leader. 

On  the  day  that  Jackson  took  possession  of  St. 
Marks,  by  his  order  Hillis  Hajo  ( Francis)  and  Him- 
ollemico  were  hanged,  without  form  or  trial,  and  so 
far  as  can  very  satisfactorily  be  seen,  without  cause. 
Hillis  Hajo  had  "white  blood"  in  his  veins,  and  was 
really  no  savage.  He  possessed  some  admirable  traits 
of  mind  and  character,  and  was  a  fine  specimen  of  a 
man  physically.  He  was  only  forty-five  year^  of  age 
at  the  time  he  was  so  unexpectedly  killed.  These 
two  Indians  were  very  dissimilar  in  character  and 
person,  and  their  friendship  was  little  less  remarkable 
than  that  found  in  the  white  race,  where  great  diversity 
of  tastes  and  intellectual  culture  are  often  most  inti- 
mately associated.  Himollemico  was  a  coarse,  cruel 
savage.  It  was  held  that  he  had  led  the  Indians  who  mas- 
sacred Lieutenant  R.  W.  Scott  and  his  company;  and 
that  he  was  known  to  have  been  guilty  of  other  atroci- 
ties. This  may  be.  The  proof  of  it  was  not  sought 
for;  and  no  other  general  of  this  country  would,  at  all 
events,  have  treated  Francis,  the  prophet,  as  did  Gen- 
eral Jackson.  He  would  have  been  treated  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war,  as  he  deserved  to  be,  whatever  disposition 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  327 

could,  with  any  show  of  justice,  have  been  made  of  the 
fierce  flimollemico. 

At  St.  Marks  several  other  more  or  less  important 
characters  were  found,  unfortunately  for  some  of  them, 
if  not  for  the  reputation  of  General  Jackson.  Alex- 
ander Arbuthnot,  who  had  his  trading-post  near  Su- 
wanee,  happened  to  be  there  as  the  guest  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. Duncan  McKrimmon,  William  Hambly,  and 
Edmund  Doyle  were  also  there  as  prisoners  from  the 
Indians  in  charge  of  the  Spanish  Governor.  Hambly 
was  immediately  brought  into  service  as  a  translator 
between  General  Jackson  and  the  Spaniards.  And 
worse  still,  he  was  taken  into  the  confidence  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  and  by  him  believed  implicitly.  He  it 
was  who  first  made  known  the  fact  that  Arbuthnot, 
the  British  trader,  was  at  St.  Marks.  It  appears  that 
Hambly  was  a  scamp. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  Jackson  and  Mcintosh  were 
on  their  way  to  Suwanee,  the  chief  Indian  town,  over 
a  hundred  miles  from  St.  Marks.  On  the  way  Mcin- 
tosh diverged  for  a  fight  with  Peter  McQueen,  in 
which,  as  usual,  he  was  entirely  successful.  In  this 
engagement  the  woman  saved  from  the  massacre  on 
the  Appalachicola  was  recovered  and  delivered  to  her 
friends.     (See  fifth  volume  of  this  work.) 

The  army  arrived  before  Suwanee  in  the  evening, 
and  fearing  the  Indians  would  escape  in  the  night, 
Jackson  prepared  at  once  to  make  a  night  attack. 
This  was  done,  but  the  savages  were  gone.  The  town 
was  burned  and  the  country  plundered  of  all  means 
of  support  to  the  Indians.  This  was  the  seat  of 
Boleck  or  Bowlegs,  a  "  great "  chief,  and  was  the 
main    rendezvous    of    negroes,    Indians,    and    whites 


328  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

inimical  to  the  United  States.  During  the  night,  after 
the  flight  of  the  Indians,  Robert  C.  Ambrister,  Peter 
B.  Cook,  and  some  negroes  who  were  making  their 
way  into  town  under  the  impression  that  their  friends 
were  yet  there,  were  captured.  This  affair  of  Su- 
wanee  substantially  closed  the  campaign,  and  only 
leaves,  to  be  disposed  of,  some  of  the  characters 
named,  and  the  settlement  of  affairs  at  Pensacola, 
where  General  Jackson  thought  his  attention  was 
needed.  His  subsequent  course  will  be  sufficiently 
clear  from  the  appended  account. 
General  Jackson's  report  says  : — 

"Fort  Gadsden,  5th  May,  1818. 
"  I  returned  to  this  post  with  my  army  on  the  evening  of  the 
2d  instant,  and  embrace  an  early  opportunity  of  furnishing  you 
a  detailed  report  of  my  operations  to  the  east  of  the  Appalachi- 
cola  River.  In  the  several  communications  addressed  you  from 
Hartford,  Fort  Scott,  and  this  place,  I  have  stated  the  condition 
of  the  army  on  my  assuming  the  immediate  command ;  the  em- 
barrassment occasioned  from  the  want  of  provisions;  the  priva- 
tions of  my  troops  on  their  march  from  the  frontiers  of  Georgia ; 
and  the  circumstances  which  compelled  me  to  move  directly 
down  the  Appalachicola  River,  to  meet  with  and  protect  the 
expected  supplies  from  New  Orleans.  These  were  received  on 
the  25th  of  March,  and  on  the  next  day  I  was  prepared  for 
active  operations.  For  a  detailed  account  of  ray  movements 
from  that  period  to  this  day,  you  are  respectfully  referred  to  the 
report  prepared  by  my  adjutant-general,  accompanied  with 
Captain  Hugh  Young's  topographical  sketch  of  the  route  and 
distance  performed.  This  has  been  principally  a  war  of  move- 
ments; the  enemy,  cut  off  from  their  strongholds,  or  deceived 
in  the  promised  foreign  aid,  have  uniformly  avoided  a  general 
engagement.  Their  resistance  has  generally  been  feeble  ;  and  in 
the  partial  rencounters,  into  which  they  seem  to  have  been  in- 
voluntarily forced,  the  regulars,  volunteers,  and  militia,  under 
my  command,  realized  my  expectations ;  every  privation,  fatigue, 
and  exposure,  was  encountered  with  the  spirit   of  soldiers,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  329 

danger  was  met  with  a  degree  of  fortitude  calculated  to  strengthen 
the  confidence  I  had  reposed  in  them. 

"  On  the  commencement  of  my  operations,  I  was  strongly 
impressed  with  a  belief,  that  this  Indian  war  had  been  excited  by 
some  unprincipled  foreign  or  private  agents.  The  outlaws  of  the 
old  Red  Stick  party  had  been  too  severely  convinced,  and  the 
Seminoles  were  too  weak  in  numbers  to  believe,  that  they  could 
possibly,  alone,  maintain  a  war  with  even  partial  success  against 
the  United  States.  Firmly  convinced,  therefore,  that  succor  had 
been  promised  from  some  quarter,  or  that  they  had  been  deluded 
into  a  belief  that  America  dare  not  violate  the  neutrality  of 
Spain,  by  penetrating  to  their  towns,  I  early  determined  to 
ascertain  these  facts,  and  so  direct  my  movements  as  to  unde- 
ceive the  Indians.  After  the  destruction  of  the  Mickasukian 
villages,  I  marched  direct  for  St.  Marks ;  the  correspondence 
between  myself  and  the  Spanish  commandant,  in  which  I  de- 
manded the  occupancy  of  that  fortress  with  an  American  garri- 
son, accompanies  this.  It  had  been  reported  to  me,  direct  from 
the  Governor  of  Pensacola,  that  the  Indians  and  negroes,  un- 
friendly to  the  United  States,  had  demanded  of  the  commandant 
of  St.  Marks  a  supply  of  ammunition,  munitions  of  war,  etc., 
threatening  in  the  event  of  a  non-compliance  to  take  possession 
of  the  fort.  The  Spanish  commandant  acknowledged  the  defense- 
less state  of  his  fortress,  and  his  inability  to  defend  it ;  and  the 
Governor  of  Pensacola  expressed  similar  apprehensions.  The 
Spanish  agents  throughout  the  Floridas  had  uniformly  disavowed 
having  any  connection  with  the  Indians,  and  acknowledged  the 
obligations  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  under  existing  treaties,  to 
restrain  their  outrages  against  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Indeed  they  declared  that  the  Seminole  Indians  were  viewed  as 
alike  hostile  to  the  Spanish  Government,  and  that  the  will  re- 
mained, though  the  power  was  wanting,  to  inflict  merited  chas- 
tisement on  this  lawless  tribe.  It  was,  therefore,  to  be  supposed, 
that  the  American  army,  impelled  by  the  immutable  laws  of 
self-defense,  to  penetrate  the  territory  of  his -Catholic  Majesty,  to 
fight  his  battles,  and  even  to  relieve  from  a  cruel  bondage  some 
of  his  own  subjects,  would  have  been  received  as  allies,  hailed  as 
deliverers,  and  every  facility  afforded  to  them  to  terminate 
speedily  and  successfully  this  savage  war.  Fort  St.  Marks  could 
not  be  maintained  by  the  Spanish  force  garrisoning  it.  The 
Indians  and  negroes  viewed  it  as  an  asvlum,  if  driven  from  their 


330  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

towns,  and  were  preparing  to  occupy  it  in  this  event.  It  was 
necessary  to  anticipate  tlieir  movements,  independent  of  the  posi- 
tion being  deemed  essential  as  a  depot,  on  which  the  success  of 
my  future  operations  measurably  depended.  In  the  spirit  of 
friendship,  therefore,  I  demanded  its  surrender  to  the  army  of 
the  United  States,  until  the  close  of  the  Seminole  war.  The 
Spanish  commandant  required  time  to  reflect;  it  was  granted  ;  a 
negotiation  ensued,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  protract  it  to  an  un- 
reasonable length.  In  the  conversations  between  my  aid-de- 
camp, Lieutenant  Gadsden,  and  the  Spanish  commandant,  cir- 
cumstances transpired,  convicting  him  of  a  disposition  to  favor 
the  Indians,  and  of  having  taken  an  active  part  in  aiding  and 
abetting  them  in  this  war.  I  hesitated,  therefore,  no  longer,  and 
as  I  could  not  be  received  in  friendship,  I  entered  the  fort  by 
violence.  Two  light  companies  of  the  7th  regiment  infantry, 
and  one  of  the  4th,  under  the  command  of  Major  Twiggs,  was 
ordered  to  advance,  lower  the  Spanish  colors,  and  hoist  the  star- 
spangled  banner  on  the  ramparts  of  Fort  St.  Marks.  The  order 
was  executed  promptly,  no  resistance  attempted  on  the  part  of 
the  Spanish  garrison.  The  duplicity  of  the  Spanish  commandant 
of  St.  Marks,  in  professing  friendship  towards  the  United  States, 
while  he  was  actually  aiding  and  supplying  her  savage  enemies ; 
throwing  open  the  gates  of  his  garrison-  to  their  free  access;  ap- 
propriating the  king's  stores  to  their  use ;  issuing  ammunition  and 
munitions  of  war  to  them ;  and  knowingly  purchasing  of  them 
property  plundered  from  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  is 
clearly  evinced  by  the  documents  accompanying  my  correspond- 
ence. In  Fort  St.  Marks,  as  an  inmate  in  the  family  of  the 
Spanish  commandant,  an  Englishman,  by  the  name  of  Arbuth- 
not,  was  found.  Unable  satisfactorily  to  explain  the  objects  of 
his  visiting  this  country,  and  there  being  a  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances to  justify  a  suspicion  that  his  views  were  not  honest, 
he  was  ordered  in  close  confinement.  The  capture  of  his 
schooner,  near  the  mouth  of  Suwanee  River,  by  my  aid-de-camp, 
Mr.  Gadsden,  and  the  papers  found  on  board,  unveiled  his  cor- 
rupt transactions,  as  well  as  those  of  a  Captain  Ambrister,  late 
of  the  British  Colonial  INtarine  Corps,  taken  as  a  prisoner 
near  Bowlegs's  town.  Those  individuals  were  tried,  under  my 
orders,  by  a  special  court  of  select  officers,  legally  convicted  as 
exciters  of  this  savage  and  negro  war,  legally  condemned,  and 
most  justly  punished  for  their  iniquities.     The  proceedings  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  331 

court-martial  in  this  case,  with  the  volume  of  testimony,  justify- 
ing their  condemnation,  presents  scenes  of  wickedness,  corrup- 
tion, and  barbarity,  at  which  the  heart  sickens,  and  in  which, 
in  this  enlightened  age,  it  ought  scarcely  to  be  believed  that 
a  Christian  nation  would  have  participated ;  and  yet  the  British 
Government  is  involved  in  the  agency.  If  Arbuthnot  and  Am- 
brister  are  not  convicted  as  the  authorized  agents  of  Great 
Britain,  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  but  that  that  government 
had  a  knowledge  of  their  assumed  character,  and  was  well 
advised  of  the  measures  which  they  had  adopted  to  excite  the 
negroes  and  Indians  in  East  Florida  to  war  against  the  United 
States.  I  hope  the  execution  of  these  two  unprincipled  villains 
will  prove  an  awful  example  to  the  world,  and  convince  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  her  subjects,  that  certain, 
if  slow,  retribution  awaits  those  unchristian  wretches,  who,  by 
false  promises,  delude  and  excite  an  Indian  tribe  to  all  the  horrid 
deeds  of  savage  war. 

"Previous  to  my  leaving  Fort  Gadsden  I  had  occasion  to 
address  a  communication  to  the  Governor  of  Pensacola,  on  the 
subject  of  permitting  supplies  to  pass  up  the  Escambia  River  to 
Fort  Crawford.  This  letter,  with  a  second  from  St.  Marks,  on 
the  subject  of  some  United  States  clothing,  shipped  in  a  vessel  in 
the  employ  of  the  Spanish  Government,  to  that  post,  I  now  in- 
close, with  his  reply.  The  Governor  of  Pensacola's  refusal  of  my 
demand  can  not  but  be  viewed  as  evincing  a  hostile  feeling  on 
his  part,  particularly  in  connection  with  some  circumstances 
reported  to  me  from  the  most  unquestionable  authority.  It  has 
been  stated,  that  the  Indians  at  war  with  the  United  States  have 
free  access  into  Pensacola ;  that  they  are  kept  advised  from  that 
quarter  of  all  our  movements ;  that  they  are  supplied  from  thence 
with  ammunition  and  munitions  of  war,  and  that  they  are  now 
collecting  in  large  bodies  to  the  amount  of  four  or  five  hun- 
dred Avarriors  in  that  city ;  that  inroads  from  thence  have  lately 
been  made  on  the  Alabama,  in  one  of  which  eighteen  settlers  fell  by 
the  tomahawk.  These  statements  compel  me  to  make  a  move- 
ment to  the  west  of  the  Appalachicola,  and  should  they  prove 
correct,  Pensacola  must  be  occupied  with  an  American  force,  and 
the  governor  treated  according  to  his  deserts,  or  as  policy  may 
dictate.  I  shall  leave  strong  garrisons  in  Fort  St.  Marks,  Fort 
Gadsden,  and  Fort  Scott;  and  in  Pensacola,  should  it  become 
necessary  to  possess  it. 


332  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"  It  becomes  my  duty  to  state  it  as  my  confirmed  opinion  that 
so  long  as  Spain  has  not  the  power  or  will  to  enforce  the  treaties  by 
which  she  is  solemnly  bound  to  preserve  the  Indians  within  her 
territory  at  peace  with  the  United  States,  no  security  can  be 
given  to  our  southern  frontier  without  occupying  a  cordon  of 
posts  along  the  sea-shore.  The  moment  the  American  army  returns 
from  Florida  the  war-hatchet  will  again  be  raised,  and  the  same 
scenes  of  indiscriminate  murder,  with  which  our  frontier  settlers 
have  been  visited,  will  be  repeated.  So  long  as  the  Indians  within 
the  territory  of  Spain  are  exposed  to  the  delusions  of  false 
prophets  and  the  poison  of  foreign  intrigue ;  so  long  as  they  can 
receive  ammunition,  munitions  of  war,  etc.,  from  pretended  trad- 
ers or  Spanish  commandants,  it  will  be  impossible  to  restrain  their 
outrages.  The  burning  of  their  towns,  the  destroying  of  their 
stock  and  provisions  will  produce  but  temporary  embarrassments; 
re-supplied  by  Spanish  authorities,  they  may  concentrate  or  dis- 
perse at  will,  and  keep  up  a  lasting  predatory  warfare  against  the 
frontiers  of  the  United  States,  as  expensive  as  harassing  to  her 
troops.  The  savages,  therefore,  must  be  made  dependent  on  us, 
and  can  not  be  kept  at  peace  without  being  persuaded  of  the 
certainty  of  chastisement  being  inflicted  on  the  commission  of 
the  first  offense. 

"I  trust,  therefore,  that  the  measures  which  have  been  pur- 
sued will  meet  the  approbation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  They  have  been  adopted  in  pursuance  of  your  instruc- 
tions, under  a  firm  conviction  that  they  alone  were  calculated  to 
insure  'peace  and  security  to  the  southern  frontier  of  Georgia.'" 

"  Fort  Montgomery,  June  2,  1818. 
"  In  a  communication  to  you  of  the  5th  of  May,  I  detailed  at 
length  the  operations  of  my  army  up  to  that  period.  Leaving  a 
strong  garrison  of  regulars  in  Forts  Scott  and  Gadsden,  I  resumed 
my  march,  with  a  small  detachment  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  In- 
fantry, one  company  of  artillery,  and  the  effectives  of  the  Ten- 
nessee volunteers,  the  whole  not  exceeding  twelve  hundred  men, 
to  fulfill  my  intentions,  communicated  to  you,  of  scouring  the 
country  west  of  the  Appalachicola  River.  On  the  10th  of  May, 
my  army  crossed  that  river  at  the  Ochesee  village,  and,  after  a 
fatiguing,  tedious,  and  circuitous  march  of  twelve  days,  misled  by 
the  ignorance  of  our  pilots,  and  exposed  to  the  severest  of  priva- 
tions, we  finally  reached  and  effected  a  passage  over  the  Escambia. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  333 

On  my  march,  on  the  23d  of  May,  a  protest  from  the  Governor 
of  Pensacola  was  delivered  me  by  a  Spauish  soldier,  remon- 
strating in  warm  terms  against  my  proceedings,  and  ordering  me 
and  my  forces  instantly  to  quit  the  territory  of  his  Catholic 
Majesty,  with  a  threat  to  apply  force  in  the  event  of  a  non- 
compliance. This  was  so  open  an  indication  of  a  hostile  feeling 
on  his  part,  after  having  been  early  and  well-advised  of  the  object 
of  my  operations,  that  I  hesitated  no  longer  ©n  the  measures  to 
be  adopted.  I  marched  for  and  entered  Pensacola,  with  only 
the  show  of  resistance,  on  the  24th  of  May.  The  governor  had 
previously  fled  to  Fort  Carlos  de  Barrancas,  where  it  was  said  he  had 
resolved  upon  a  most  desperate  resistance.  A  correspondence  en- 
sued between  us,  detailing  at  length  my  motives  for  wisliing  and 
demanding  that  Pensacola  and  its  dependencies  be  occupied  with 
an  American  garrison.  The  package,  marked  B,  are  documents 
substantiating  the  charges,  in  part,  against  the  conduct  of  the 
Spanish  Governor,  having  knowingly  and  willingly  admitted  the 
savages,  avowedly  hostile  to  the  United  States,  within  the  town 
of  Pensacola.  The  peaceable  surrender  of  the  fort  at  the  Bar- 
rancas was  denied.  I  marched  for  and  invested  it  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  25th  of  May,  and,  on  the  same  night,  pushed  recon- 
noitering  parties  under  its  very  guns.  On  the  morning  of  the 
26th,  a  military  reconnoissance  was  taken;  and,  on  the  same 
night,  a  lodgment  was  made  under  a  fire  from  the  Spanish  gar- 
rison, by  Captain  Gadsden  of  the  engineers,  aided  by  Captains 
Call  and  Young,  on  a  commanding  position  within  three  hundred 
and  eighty-five  yards  of  the  Spanish  work,  and  a  nine-pounder 
mounted.  A  howitzer  battery  was  simultaneously  established  on 
the  capitol,  and  within  seven  hundred  and  sixty  yards  of  the  fort, 
at  daylight  on  the  27th.  The  Spanish  garrison  opened  their 
artillery  on  our  batteries ;  a  parley  was  sounded,  a  flag  sent  in,  and 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Carlos  de  Barrancas  again  demanded  ;  the 
favorable  positions  obtained  were  pointed  out,  and  the  inutility  of 
resistance  urged.  Anxious  to  avoid  an  open  contest,  and  to  save 
the  eff'usion  of  blood,  the  same  terms  previously  offered  were  again 
tendered.  They  were  rejected,  and  offensive  operations  recom- 
menced. A  spirited  and  well-directed  fire  was  kept  up  the  greater 
part  of  the  morning,  and  at  intervals  during  the  afternoon.  In 
the  evening  a  flag  was  sent  from  the  Spanish  commandant,  offering 
to  capitulate,  and  a  suspension  of  hostilities  was  granted  until 
eight  o'clock  next  day,  when  articles  ot  capitulation  were  signed 


334  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  agreed  to.  The  terms  are  more  favorable  than  a  conquered 
enemy  would  have  merited ;  but,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  the  case,  my  object  obtained,  there  was  no  motive  for  wounding 
the  feelings  of  those  whose  military  pride  or  honor  had  prompted  to 
the  resistance  made.  The  articles,  with  but  one  condition,  amount 
to  a  complete  cession  to  the  United  States  of  that  portion  of  the 
Floridas  hitherto  under  the  government  of  Don  Jose  Masot. 

"The  arrangements  which  I  have  made  to  secure  Pensacola 
and  its  dependencies  are  contained  in  the  general  orders.  I 
deemed  it  most  advisable  to  retain,  for  the  present,  the  same  gov- 
ernment to  which  the  people  had  been  accustomed,  until  such 
time  as  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  may  order  otherwise. 
It  was  necessary,  however,  to  establish  the  revenue  laws  of  the 
United  States,  to  check  the  smuggling  which  had  been  carried  on 
successfully  in  this  quarter,  for  many  years  past,  and  to  admit  the 
American  merchant  to  an  equal  participation  in  a  trade,  which 
would  have  been  denied  under  the  partial  operations  of  the  Span- 
ish commercial  code.  Captain  Gadsden  was  appointed  by  me  col- 
lector, and  he  has  organized  and  left  the  department  in  the  charge 
of  officers,  on  whom  the  greatest  confidence  may  be  reposed. 

"  Though  the  Seminole  Indians  have  been  scattered,  and  liter- 
ally so  divided  and  reduced  as  no  longer  to  be  viewed  as  a  formi- 
dable enemy,  yet  as  there  are  still  many  small  marauding  parties, 
supposed  to  be  concealed  in  the  swamps  of  the  Perdido,  Choctaw- 
hatchee,  and  Chapouley,  who  might  make  occasional  and  sudden 
inroads  on  our  frontier  settlers,  massacring  women  and  children, 
I  have  deemed  it  advisable  to  call  into  service  for  six  months,  if 
not  sooner  discharged,  two  companies  of  volunteer  rangers,  under 
Captains  McGird  and  Boyles,  with  instructions  to  scour  the  coun- 
try between  the  Mobile  and  Appalachicola  rivers,  exterminating 
every  hostile  party  who  dare  resist,  or  will  not  surrender,  and  re- 
move with  their  families  above  the  31st  degree  of  latitude. 

"The  Seminole  war  may  now  be  considered  as  at  a  close, 
tranquillity  again  restored  to  the  southern  frontier  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  long  as  a  cordon  of  military  posts  is  maintained 
along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  America  has  nothing  to  apprehend  from 
either  foreign  or  Indian  hostilities.  Indeed,  sir,  to  attempt  to  for- 
tify, or  protect  an  imaginary  line,  or  to  suppose  that  a  frontier  on 
the  31st  degree  of  latitude,  in  a  wilderness,  can  be  secured  by  a 
cordon  of  military  posts,  while  the  Floridas  lie  open  to  an  enemy, 
is  visionary  in  the  extreme. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  335 

"  Under  this  firm  belief,  I  have  bottomed  all  my  operations. 
Spain  liad  disregarded  the  treaties  existing  with  the  American 
Government,  or  had  not  power  to  enforce  them.  The  Indian 
tribes  within  her  territory,  and  which  she  was  bound  to  keep  at 
peace,  had  visited  our  citizens  with  all  the  horrors  of  savage  war  ; 
negro  brigands  were  establishing  themselves,  when  and  where  they 
pleased  ;  and  foreign  agents  were  openly  and  knowingly  practicing 
their  intrigues  in  this  neutral  territory. 

"The  immutable  principles,  therefore,  of  self-defense  justified 
the  occupancy  of  the  Floridas,  aritl  the  same  principles  will  war- 
rant the  American  Government  in  holding  it,  until  such  time  as 
Spain  can  guaranty,  by  an  adequate  military  force,  the  maintain- 
ing her  authority  within  the  colony. 

"  At  the  close  of  a  campaign  which  has  terminated  so  honor- 
ably and  happily,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  express  my  approbation, 
generally,  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  every  species  of  corps, 
which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  command.  The  patience  with 
which  they  endured  fatigue  and  submitted  to  privations,  and  the 
determination  with  which  they  encountered  and  vanquished  every 
difficulty,  is  the  strongest  indication  of  the  existence  of  that 
patriotic  feeling  which  no  circumstances  can  change,  and  of  that 
irresistible  ardor  in  the  defense  of  his  country,  which  will  prove 
her  strength  and  bulwark  under  any  experience.  I  should  do 
violence  to  my  feelings  if  I  did  not  particularly  notice  the  exer- 
tions of  my  quartermaster-general.  Colonel  George  Gibson,  who, 
under  the  most  embarrassing  circumstances,  relieved  the  necessities 
of  my  army,  and  to  whose  exertions  was  I  indebted  for  the  sup- 
plies received.  His  zeal  and  integrity  in  this  campaign,  as  well 
as  in  the  uniform  discharge  of  his  duties  since  his  connection 
with  my  stafi*,  merits  the  approbation  and  gratitude  of  his 
country." 

Having  for  a  second  time  disposed  of  Pensacola 
and  the  Spanish  Governor,  General  Jackson  prepared 
to  return  to  Tennessee.  The  campaign  was  terminated 
by  one  of  his  characteristic  addresses  to  the  soldiers ; 
and  at  Nashville  the  GenerS,!  was  received  with  greatly 
increased  respect ;  and  throughout  the  country  "  his 
name  was  in  every  mouth."  But  how  variably,  may 
readily    be"  imagined.     This    had    been    a    wonderful 


336  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

campaign.  Nothing  like  it  has  ever  occurred  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  country.  This  remarkable  man  had  here 
outdone  himself.  Heretofore  his  life  had  been  one  of 
constant  surprises.  From  all  the  common  standards 
he  had  departed.  His  best  friends  had  learned  already 
to  look  for  the  grounds  of  apology  and  defense  in  his 
actions  on  the  heels  of  every  deed  that  needed  no 
excuse.  Here  his  acts  tequired  all  the  skill  of  the 
whole  country  and  Administration  to  frame  an  apology 
that  an  accommodating  world  could  receive.  Yet  he 
seemed  to  feel  from  the  outset  and  always,  that  the 
world  would  eventually  stand  on  his  side.  And  it  did. 
He  was  now  the  man  of  the  age.  But  turn  for  a  time 
to  a  brief  review  of  some  of  the  startling  features 'of 
this  wonderful  expedition  into  Florida. 

With  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister  at  St.  Marks  and 
on  the  Suwanee,  among  others  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  General  Jackson  were  William  Hambly,  Peter  B. 
Cook,  and  Edmund  Doyle.  Cook  had  been  concerned 
with  the  Indians,  but  some  way  fell  into  the  good 
graces  of  General  Jackson,  and  escaped  punishment. 
Hambly  and  Doyle  were  enemies  of  Arbuthnot,  and 
yet  the  former  was  the  main  witness  against  him. 
After  dispersing  the  Indians  at  Boleck's  town,  General 
Jackson  returned  to  St.  Marks,  where  he  organized  a 
court  for  the  "  trial "  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  the 
Englishmen.  The  "court"  was  composed  of  fourteen 
officers,  General  Edmund  P.  Gaines,  one  of  the  num- 
ber, presiding.  Only  three  days  were  occupied  in  the 
so-called  trial  and  investigation  of  the  important  causes. 
General  Jackson,  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole 
business,  had,  perhaps,  decided  what  should  be  the  end, 
before  the  "  trial"  began.     Arbuthnot  was  accused  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  337 

urging  the  Creeks  to  war  ;  advising  them  not  to  adhere 
to  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson  ;  recommending  the  union 
of  all  the  Creeks  for  resistance ;  advising  them  to  refer 
their  aggravations  to  the  Governor  of  New  Providence, 
who  would  represent  them  to  the  British  Ministry ; 
acting  as  a  spy  for  the  Indians ;  writing  a  letter  to  his 
son  which  apprised  the  Indians  at  Suwanee  of  the  ap- 
proach of  General  Jackson's  army ;  writing  to  the 
British  Minister  at  Washington  and  the  Governor  of 
New  Providence  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  these  Indians  ; 
exciting  the  Indians  to  arrest  and  murder  Hambly  and 
Doyle ;  and  writing  letters  threatening  their  death,  be- 
cause they  were  competing  traders  and  friends  of  the 
United  States.  Some  of  these  charges  were  frivolous, 
and  most  of  them  were  foolish,  and,  perhaps,  none  of 
them  were  criminal  under  the  circumstances.  The  two 
last  items  in  the  bill  of  items,  the  "  court "  dropped 
without  consideration.  How  could  the  man  have  been 
a  spy,  when  he  remained  among  his  friends  ?  He  lived 
in  a  territory  subject  to  a  foreign  government,  and  had 
he  not  a  right  to  serve  conscientiously  the  friends  among 
whom  he  lived  ?  In  some  respects,  it  is  true,  his  advice 
to  the  Indians,  if  the  charges  were  not  false,  was  un- 
wise, but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  not  an  up- 
right man,  with  an  Englishman's  ill-will  toward  the 
United  States,  and  the  well-founded  belief  that  the  In- 
dian had  few  just  and  disinterested  friends  in  America, 
who  were  able  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  him  in  the  un- 
equal struggle  of  life.  The  "  court  "  found  Arbuthnot 
guilty,  and  sentenced  him  to  be  hanged.  He  made  a 
manly  plea,  but  nothing  was  of  any  avail. 

Ambrister  was  accused  of  levying  war  against  the 
United   States ;  of  advising  the   Indians  to   fight ;  of 


338  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

looking  after  the  rights  of  the  negroes  (an  unpardon- 
able sin) ;  soliciting  arms  for  the  Indians  from  his 
uncle,  the  Governor  of  New  Providence ;  and  of  actu- 
ally sending  soldiers  to  resist  the  advance  of  the 
Americans.  Of  all  these  charges  he  was  declared  to 
be  guilty.  And,  perhaps,  he  was  guilty,  but  was  there 
nothing  mitigating  in  the  circumstances  ?  The  "  court" 
evidently  thought  so.  For  after  sentencing  him  to  be 
shot,  the  decision  was  reviewed,  and  deliberately 
changed  to  fifty  lashes  to  be  laid  on  his  bare  back,  and 
twelve  months'  hard  labor  under  ball  and  chain.  This 
was  a  strange  decision,  and  suggests  the  idea  that  the 
"court"  was  laboring  under  the  impression  that  the 
whole  business  was  a  bad  farce,  which  merited  a  better 
ending  than  it  was  likely  to  have.  * 

But  this  is  the  way  General  Jackson  disposed  of 
the  matter  : — 

"The  Commanding  General  approves  the  finding  and  sentence 
of  the  court  in  the  case  of  A.  Arbuthnot,  and  approves  the  find- 
ing and  first  sentence  of  the  court  in  the  case  of  Robert  C.  Am- 
brister,  and  disapproves  the  reconsideration  of  the  sentence  of 
the  honorable  court  in  this  case. 

"It  appears,  from  the  evidence  and  pleading  of  the  prisoner, 
that  he  did  lead  and  command  within  the  Territory  of  Spain 
(being  a  subject  of  Great  Britain),  the  Indians  in  war  against 
the  United  States,  those  nations  being  at  peace.  It  is  an  estab- 
lished principle  of  the  laws  of  nations,  that  any  individual  of  a 
nation  making  war  against  the  citizens  of  any  other  nation,  they 
being  at  peace,  forfeits  his  allegiance,  and  becomes  an  outlaw 
and  pirate.  This  is  the  case  of  Robert  C.  Ambrister,  clearly 
shown  by  the  evidence  adduced. 

"The  Commanding  General  orders  that  Brevet-Major  A.  C.  "W. 
Fanning,  of  the  corps  of  artillery,  will  have,  between  the  hours 
of  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  A.  M.,  A,  Arbuthnot  suspended  by 
the  neck  with  a  rope  until  he  is  dead,  and  Robert  C.  Ambrister 
to  be  shot  to  death,  agreeable  to  the  sentence  of  the  court. 


ANDREW  JAUKSON.  339 

"John  James  Arbuthnot  (Arbuthnot's  son)  will  be  furnished 
with  a  passage  to  Pensacola  by  the  first  vessel. 

"The  special  court,  of  which  Brevet  Major-General  E.  P. 
Gaines  is  president,  is  dissolved." 

Amazing  conduct !  No  absolute  monarch  could 
have  done  more  than  this  would-be  autocrat  of  America. 
It  would  be  hard,  perhaps,  for  any  sane  .man  at  this 
day,  to  believe  that  either  of  these  Englishmen  was 
guilty  of  offenses  for  which  he  was  deserving  of  death. 
The  order  for  the  execution  was  issued  and  carried 
into  eflfect  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  April,  1818. 
Scarcely  had  the  General  started  on  his  way  to  Pen- 
sacola with  his  army  before  his  orders  were  carried 
out  as  to  these  unfortunate  men,  who  believed  to  the 
last  moment,  that  as  they  were  in  the  hands  of  Chris- 
tian white  men  no  great  evil  could  befall  them.  At 
the  very  time  this  horrid  deed  was  about  to  be  per- 
petrated, gangs  of  "  savages "  were  coming  in  to  sue 
for  peace.  The  sight  before  them  must  have  struck 
them  with  terror.  Even  to  these  savages  it  must 
have  been  an  appalling  specacle.  Great  must  have 
been  their  consternation,  too,  when  they  now  heard, 
for  the  first  time,  that  their  chiefs,  Hillis  Hajo  and 
Himollemico,  had  been  hanged  like  vile  dogs. 

-  With  General  Jackson,  the  lack  of  means  and  ability 
was  the  only  limit  to  the  exercise  of  power.  He  never 
stopped  to  consider  consequences.  Believing  himself 
that  what  he  did  was  the  thing  to  be  done  in  every 
case,  and  was  in  itself  right,  he  acted,  and  believed 
the  world  would  take  the  same  view.  In  every  act 
of  this  campaign  he  believed  at  the  time,  and  always 
did  believe,  that  he  was  right.  While  this  specious 
fact  is  taken,  to  some  extent,  in  all  such  instances,  by 


340  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

friend  and  foe,  as  an  apology  for  an  excess  or  a  wrong, 
is  it  really  so  ?  No  man's  belief  merely  in  the  cor- 
rectness or  justice  of  his  own  acts  can  or  should  ever 
relieve  him  from  responsibility  for  their  results.  This 
dangerous  principle  was  a  feature  of  General  Jackson's 
character.  The  amazing  transactions  of  this  Seminole 
campaign  greatly  perplexed  the  Administration  at 
Washington.  Sufficient  grounds  had  here  been  laid 
for  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  against  this  coun- 
try by  England  and  Spain.  What  American  was  able 
to  prevent  this  calamity  ?  Would  any  man  undertake 
the  Herculean  task  in  a  way  to  save  the  country  and 
the  author  of  the  mischief?  It  was  a  desperate 
emergency  in  the  national  history,  and  it  required  a 
desperate  remedy.  But  there  was  a  man  for  the  oc- 
casion. John  Quincy  Adams  became  the  champion  of 
General  Jackson ;  and  his  success  in  browbeating 
England  into  an  acceptance  of  his  peculiar  reasoning, 
much  of  which  was  fallacious,  presents  the  most  ex- 
traordinary phenomenon  in  connection  with  this  Sem- 
inole war,  and  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  striking 
diplomatic  achievements  in  the  annals  of  the  Nation. 
It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  justify  the  killing 
of  the  two  chiefs,  or  the  execution  of  the  Englishmen. 
If  these  foreigners  had  committed  crimes  against  this 
Government,  they  were  not  capital  in  character.  Their 
blood  still  cries  against  the  perpetrator.  Neither  the 
wonderful  success  of  the  Administration  in  the  defense, 
nor  the  acquiescence  of  England,  nor  the  applause  of 
reckless  friends,  could  ever  remove  the  stain  of  these 
unnecessary  and  evil  acts  from  the  life  of  General 
Jackson,  a  stain  which  his  country  has  been  obliged 
to  share.     The  entire  conduct  of  this  wonderful  cam- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  341 

paign  in  Florida  came  before  Congress,  and  towards 
the  close  of  January,  1819,  General  Jackson  deeming 
his  presence  necessary,  made  his  appearance  in  Wash- 
ington. In  taking  this  step,  he  acted  as  he  always 
had  done  when  anything  was  in  progress  concerning 
himself.  No  man  had  so  much  confidence  in  General 
Jackson's  power  as  Jackson  himself  had.  Although 
he  did  not  visit  the  Capitol  during  the  progress  of 
this  trial,  no  doubt,  his  presence  in  Washington  had 
no  little  weight  in  the  final  result. 

After  a  discussion,  continuing  nearly  a  month  in 
the  House,  that  body  decided  by  a  vote  of  90  to  54, 
that  it  did  not  disapprove  the  execution  of  Arbuthnot 
and  Ambrister ;  and  by  a  vote  of  91  against  65,  that 
the  seizure  of  Pensacola  was  not  contrary  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  The  case  of  the  poor 
Indians  was  not  worth  noticing.  The  Senate  also  dis- 
cussed the  subject,  but  the  bill  of  censure  was  laid  on 
the  table  a  few  days  before  the  end  of  the  session.  So 
General  Jackson  was  again  triumphant. 

For  his  invasion  of  Florida,  and  the  general  course 
pursued  by  him  there,  he  claimed  that  he  had  acted 
under  the  instructions  or  sanction  of  the  Administra- 
tion. But  both  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  utterly  disclaimed  giving  any 
authority  for  such  proceedings,  .and  while  they  assumed 
that  he  had  stepped  entiiely  out  of  the  meaning  of  his 
instructions,  they  were  willing  to  undertake  the  sup- 
port of  his  conduct,  and  to  give  him  every  possible 
facility  for  his  own  defense.  But  Mr.  Calhoun  had, 
from  perfectly  just  and  honorable  motives,  believed 
that  Jackson  deserved  to  bear  the  evil  of  his  own  un- 
justifiable  conduct,  and    the    resolutions   of   censure. 


342  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

introduced  in  part  by  Mr.  Cobb  in  the  House,  were  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  General  had  never  been  well  disposed  towards 
Mr.  Crawford,  and  now  he  believed  that  Crawford  was 
his  great  enemy  in  the  Cabinet.  But  this  belief  sprang 
out  of  one  of  the  great  defects  of  his  nature.  General 
Jackson  could  not  separate  his  person  from  his  deeds.  He 
was  unable  to  distinguish  between  an  opinion  touching 
his  deeds,  and  a  general  opinion  of  himself.  Indeed, 
he  did  not  grant  to  any  man  the  right  to  hold  any 
opinion  of  him  or  his  acts  which  he  did  not  himself 
approve.  And  any  man  who  was  unfortunate  enough 
to  entertain  an  opinion  either  of  him  or  of  anything 
else  which  was  not  in  exact  harmony  with  his  own 
sentiments,  he  deemed  his  enemy.  Out  of  this  tyran- 
nical and  brute-like  quality  came  his  view  of  the 
standing  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  his  unmanly 
and  evil  quarrel  with  Mr.  Calhoun,  which  bore  its 
evil  fruits  to  the  Nation,  his  opposition  to  and  advo- 
cacy of  measures  of  vast  interest  to  the  country,  his 
life-long  bitterness  towards  Mr.  Clay,  and  many  of  his 
personal  and  other  matters  which  were  ever  marring 
his  life  and  disturbing  his  fellow-countrymen.  In  the 
Cabinet  of  Mr.  Monroe  he  had  no  enemies.  Mr.  Mon- 
roe and  all  his  Constitutional  advisers  were  just  men, 
looking  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  They 
preferred  the  welfare  of  the  country  to  that  of  the  in- 
dividual citizen,  .while  they  were  willing  even  to  strain 
their  efforts  to  save  him. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  session  of  1820,  General 
Jackson  forwarded  to  Washington  a  reply  to  the  re- 
port of  the  Senate  committee,  in  which  he  reviewed  at 
great   length    his    course    in    Florida.     But    this   was 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  343 

unnecessary  labor  on  his  part.  He  was  too  firmly  es- 
tablished with  "the  people."  Nothing  that  he  had 
done,  and  nothing  that  he  ever  could  do,  could  mate- 
rially affect  his  standing  with  "  the  people."  Jackson 
had  entered  Florida  on  the  grounds  that  British  emis- 
saries were  there  fomenting  the  Indians,  and  that  both 
Indians  and  their  British  friends  were  succored  and 
abetted  by  the  Spaniards.  On  these  scores  he  placed 
his  justification:  In  five  months  he  had  completed 
the  work,  and  for  the  time  closed  this  Seminole  War. 
But  how  had  he  done  it?  In  a  way  to  bring  the 
country  to  the  verge  of  another  war  with  England,  a 
calamity  from  which  the  ability  and  ingenuity  of  Mr. 
Adams  were  barely  able  to  save  it.  Besides  the  mur- 
ders committed  by  General  Jackson's  orders,  the  cam- 
paign was  marked  by  a  wonderfully  small  loss  of  life. 
Of  the  hostile  Indians,  perhaps,  fewer  than  a  hundred 
were  killed  ;  few  of  the  friendly  Indians  were  killed  ; 
and  none  of  the  whites. 

Mcintosh  was  really  the  hero  of  the  campaign,  so 
far  as  the  fighting  was  concerned,  he  and  his  Indians 
doing  it  pretty  much  all.  And  although  Mr.  Adams 
and  Mr.  Rush  succeeded  in  getting  the  British  Minis- 
try to  take  the  view  that  Ambrister  and  Arbuthnot 
were  outlaws  and  should  not  receive  their  sympathy, 
and  many  of  the  General's  friends  always  tried  to 
make  it  appear  that  he  was  entirely  correct  in  the 
course  he  took  in  putting  these  men  to  death,  nobody 
said  much  about  the  two  Indian  chiefs,  IlimoUemico 
and  Hillis  Hajo,  whom  he  caused  to  be  killed  without 
ceremony.  Perhaps,  nobody  ever  saw  any  reason  for 
these  murders,  or  would  have  attempted  to  justify  the 
act.     Had  these  chiefs  belonged  to  a  race  and  nation 


344  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

as  powerful  as  that  to  which  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister 
belonged,  the  case  would  have  given  Mr.  John  Quincy 
Adams  much  more  trouble  than  theirs.  What  could 
these  poor  Indians  do  ?  Little  else  than  mourn  their 
wrongs.  But  as  few  as  they  were,  they  were  not 
conquered  at  the  end  of  General  Jackson's  campaign. 
They  did  not  forget,  and  the  United  States  had  yet  to 
pay  dearly  for  Fowltown  and  the  murder  of  the  chiefs. 

While  his  case  was  pending  in  Congress,  General 
Jackson  made  a  trip  to  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York.  In  the  last  named  city  he  had  never  been. 
His  reception  wherever  he  went  was,  indeed,  wonder- 
ful. Addresses  were  made  to  him  of  the  most  eulo- 
gistic character,  to  which  he  replied  briefly  and  for- 
tunately. And,  as  if  all  who  participated  in  these 
hero-worshiping  demonstrations  were  great  stomachs, 
big  dinners  ended  mo^t  of  them.  These  were  accom- 
panied by  the  usual  "  toasts,"  in  which  the  General 
was  not  always  in  harmony  with  the  flow  of  spirits. 
In  New  York  he  gave  DeWitt  Clinton  for  his  "  toast," 
and  in  so  doing  cast  a  shell  among  his  admirers,  who 
were  by  no  means  unanimous  on  Mr.  Clinton,  who  had 
assumed  the  cloak  of  his  uncle,  Geoige,  and  wanted 
to  be  President. 

After  the  House  had  acquitted  him,  General  Jack- 
son also  became  the  hero  of  the  day  at  Washington. 
While  the  case  was  before  Congress,  he  declined  all 
marks  of  respect  in  a  social  way.  Mr.  Adams,  who 
really  had  nothing  in  his  nature  in  common  with  Jack- 
son, invited  him  to  his  house,  but  this  invitation  he 
declined  in  a  polite  note  from  "Major-General  Jack- 
son." After  the  ban,  self-imposed,  was  removed,  how- 
ever, he  visited  Mr.  Adams's,  and  showed  not  the  least 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  345 

disinclination  to  accept  all  the  praise  the  people  were 
willing  to  put  upon  him.  Washington  society  was 
what  was  called  very  gay  and  fashionable  at  that  time, 
especially  in  the  kind  of  court  circle  into  which  im- 
portant officials  and  other  would-be  great  people  formed 
themselves.  And  with  all  of  Jackson's  backwoods 
life,  and  want  of  education  and  culture,  he  was  ex- 
ceedingly dignified  in  his  bearing,  and  when  it  suited 
him  to  be  so,  few  men  in  the  country  could  appear  to 
better  advantage  at  these  courtly  receptions. 

In  New  Orleans  he  and  Mrs.  Jackson  had  cut  a 
very  ridiculous  figure  on  the  dancing-floor,  and  at 
Philadelphia,  many  years  before,  they  had  laughed  at 
his  remarkable  cue  done  up  in  an  eel-skin,  but  now  all 
this  was  changed.  Nothing  was  seen  amiss  in  him. 
His  popularity  with  men  and  women  took  the  place 
of  everything  else.  In  1824,  his  past  career  was 
brought  up  in  varied  colors,  but  it  was  not  until  his 
race  in  1828,  and  during  his  first  term  in  the  White 
House  that  the  war  upon  him  broke  out  in  its  greatest 
bitterness.  He  had  then  made  the  discovery  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  committed  the  unpardonable  Jacksonian  of- 
fense, had  not  only  not  been  his  friend,  but  realW  desired 
his  punishment  for  his  Florida  conduct.  Mr.  Clay  and 
General  Harrison  now  came  in  to  share  his  displeasure. 
In  this  Seminole  investigation  began  his  life-long  quar- 
rel with  Clay.  He  took  Mr.  Clay's  opposition  to  his 
acts  as  a  personal  matter.  This  he  did  in  all  cases, 
and  seemed  unable  to  consider  any  man's  honorable 
convictions  against  his  conduct,  as  anything  different 
from  personal  enmity.  From  this  time  forward,  he 
spared  no  means  to  put  down  his  great  antagonist. 
He    simply     notified     or    ordered    Nashville    friends, 


346  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

newspapers,  and  those  favorable  to  him  in  other  parts  of 
the  country  to  assail  Mr.  Clay  in  every  possible  way. 
No  word  of  apology  can  ever  be  offered  for  this  trait 
in  the  character  of  Andrew  Jackson.  The  conflict 
waged  between  these  two  men,  Clay  and  Jackson,  bit- 
ter, unrelenting,  ending  only  in  the  grave,  is  a  blot 
and  shame  on  the  character  of  both  of  them.  While 
such  conduct  never  can  attach  to  the  lives  of  truly 
great  characters,  their  example  demonstrates  how  en- 
tirely men  may  be  controlled  by  the  world  around 
them,  and  how  little  able  they  are  often  to  escape  this 
influence  however  much  they  may  try.  Had  they  ever 
desired  to  bury  the  feud  out  of  sight,  they  could  not 
have  done  so.  The  infernal  partisan  world  urged  them 
forward.  And  as  it  was  in  most  other  instances,  almost 
everything  in  his  life,  Jackson  triumphed.  Mr.  Clay 
could  never  be  President.  He  fell,  the  great  orator, 
before  the  iron  will,  the  hate  of  Jackson.  John  C. 
Calhoun,  in  like  manner,  fell  far  short  of  the  Presi- 
dency, and  long  before,  sank  from  the  struggle,  involv- 
ing the  Nation  with  him.  So  fell  all  of  General  Jack- 
son's fancied  or  real  enemies,  both  in  men  and  institu- 
tions. When  his  evil  rupture  with  Mr.  Calhoun  came, 
in  1830,  1831,  and  1832,  the  Seminole  War  difficulties 
of  1818,  again  came  before  the  public  in  all  their  rancor. 
Nothing  but  grace,  and  amazing  grace  at  that,  in 
men,  could  cause  them  to  look  with  tolerance  or  for- 
getfulness  upon  the  evil  conduct  of  a  man  who  man- 
aged to  keep  the  country  in  an  immoral  foment  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life. 

In  the  fifth  volume  of  this  work  may  be  found  a 
more  minute  account  of  General  Jackson's  Seminole 
campaign  and  its  evil  consequences,  the    troubles   of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  '       347 

the  Administration  on  his  account,  of  his  so-called 
trial,  of  the  mystical  John  Rhea  letter,  and  many 
other  matters  which  gave  the  General  his  political 
start  in  the  world.  The  sixth  volume  also  contains 
no  little  in  a  documentary  way  and  otherwise  on  this 
ever-fruitful  subject. 

In  1831,  General  Jackson  prepared  a  defense  of 
his  Seminole  campaign  in  answer  to  a  pamphlet  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Calhoun,  but  this  unadmirable  and 
characteristic  exposition  did  not  appear  in  print  until 
after  his  death.  A  great  part  of  this  "  exposition " 
was  made  up  of  a  statement  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  conduct 
toward  him,  and  a  condemnfition  of  Mr.  Calhoun's 
character.  This  long  defense  was  written,  no  doubt, 
by  the  dissolute  Henry  Lee,  the  son  of  "  Light  Horse 
Harry,"  who  put  in  shape  and  language  many  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  public  documents. 


348  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE  FIRST  GOVERNOR  OF  FLORIDA— JUDGE  FROMENTIN 
AND  THE  DONS— "AUNT  RACHEL." 

GENERAL  JACKSON  was  now  again  left  in  com- 
parative quiet  at  the  Hermitage.  But  this  was 
not  of  long  continuance.  Soon  after  the  Florida  raid 
he  was  associated  with  Governor  Isaac  Shelby,  of 
Kentucky,  to  treat  with  the  Chickasaw  Indians  for  a 
session  of  their  land-claims  in  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see. And  in  the  fall  of  1820,  he  was  authorized,  with 
Major  Hinds,  of  Mississippi,  to  "  negotiate  "  with  the 
Choctaws  for  some  of  their  ancient  titles  to  certain 
parts  of  this  earth. 

In  the  spring  of  1821,  there  occurred  a  reduction 
of  the  army,  an  event  which  rendered  it  necessary 
for  General  Jackson  to  resign  his  commission,  a  step 
he  had  before  contemplated,  although  he  was  opposed 
to  the  reduction.  Jacob  Brown  now  became  general 
of  the  army,  and  in  his  announcement  was  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  say  something  displeasing  to  General 
Jackson,  who  did  not  allow  a  man  even  to  think 
''^  0  pshaw''  of  what  he  did,  or  of  anything  which 
affected  him,  without  a  direct   protest  in   some   way. 

He  had  already  prepared  his  "  farewell "  to  the 
army  in  his  division,  but  Brown's  "general  order" 
induced  him  to  attach  what  he  called  a  note,  longer 
than  the  address,  characteristic  and  reprehensible. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  349 

General  Jackson's  military  career  was  now  at  an 
end.  It  had  been  brilliant  and  fortunate,  and  much 
in  it  was  entirely  out  of  the  ordinary  ways  of  sol- 
diers. On  what  did  his  exceptional  reputation  de- 
pend? In  the  Seminole  campaign  he  had  done  no 
fighting,  but  he  managed  to  give  the  Government 
more  trouble  than  one  man  had  ever  before  occasioned. 
Nothing  was  permanently  settled  by  the  campaign. 
The  Creek  War,  lasting  over  a  year,  and  marked 
by  some  strange  and  extraordinary  events,  was  in  its 
results  very  valuable  to  the  country.  New  Orleans 
was  wonderfully  beneficial  to  the  General  himself, 
and,  perhaps,  not  without  benefits  to  the  Nation. 
One  thing  is  quite  marked  in  his  military  career ;  that 
while  he  exacted  a  relentless  discipline  on  the  part  of 
others,  he  was- utterly  void  of  discipline  or  a  disposi- 
tion to  regard  it  in  himself,  in  dealing  with  his  supe- 
riors. Even  his  patriotic  letter  to  Governor  Blount, 
deeply  and  boldly  censured  this  earnest  and  patriotic 
supporter;  his  letters  to  the  President  and  the  War 
Department  were  of  the  same  general  dictatorial  style; 
and  even  in  leaving  the  army  he  could  not  miss  the 
opportunity  to  assail  the  conduct  of  the  Government 
and  the  views  of  the  general-in-chief. 

He  was  now  about  to  enter  a  new  field,  where  he 
was  destined  to  distinguish  himself  in  a  characteristic 
way.  General  Jackson  to  be  the  first  Governor  of 
Florida !  A  strange  selection,  indeed  !  In  his  appoint- 
ment Mr.  Monroe  had  been  influenced  by  motives 
apparent  enough,  perhaps,  the  first  of  which  was  the 
General's  popularity.  He  believed  this  popularity 
made  the  appointment  necessary.  The  President  was, 
no  doubt,  also  influenced  by  the  desire  to  have  a  man 


350  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

in  Florida  who  would  see  that  the  United  States  was 
not  the  sufferer  in  taking  the  government  out  of  its 
old  hands.  Florida  had  some  undesirable  elements  in 
its  population,  and  who  was  better  fit  to  deal  with 
them  at  the  outset  than  this  tyrannical  character? 
The  appointment,  it  was  supposed,  would  in  part, 
compensate  for  the  loss  of  the  position  the  General 
valued  in  the  army.  But  on  many  accounts  few  men 
could  have  been  less  fit  to  be  governor  of  a  territory, 
and  especially  of  such  a  community  as  that  of 
Florida,  than  was  General  Jackson.  He  was  strong 
in  the  belief  of  the  intrinsic  perfidy  of  the  Spaniard, 
and  was  no  man  to  trifle  with  their  crooked  inclina- 
tions. It  had,  indeed,  tried  the  patience  of  this  whole 
country  for  twenty-five  years,  to  deal  with  proud  and 
faithless  Spain. 

About  the  middle  of  April,  1821,  General  Jackson 
with  his  family  left  Nashville  to  take  up  his  residence 
in  Florida.  Against  this  step  he  had  been  urged  by 
"  Aunt  Rachel,"  but  he  had  a  desire  to  gratify  in 
being  present  at  the  winding  up   of   Spanish   affairs. 

On  the  17th  of  July,  1821,  Florida  was  formally 
transferred  to  General  Jackson  for  the  United  States. 
Some  account  of  this  event  may  be  found  in  the  fifth 
volume  of  this  work. 

The  following  letter,  borrowed  from  Mr.  Parton, 
will  throw  a  little  light  on  the  state  of  affairs  at  Pen- 
sacola,  at  the  time  the  Spaniards  moved  out,  and 
delivered  their  houses  and  territory  for  a  song  to  the 
United  States  : — 

"Pensacola,  23d  July,  1821. 
"My  Dear  Friend, — I  have  been  in  this  place   four  weeks. 
The  reason  1  have  denied  myself  the  pleasure  of   writing  you   is 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  351 

that  I  was  waiting  for  the  great  events  which  have  taken  place 
in  this  our  day.  O  that  I  had  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  that  I 
might  give  you  a  correct  detail  of  the  great  transaction,  but  it  is 
as  follows.  We  having  a  house  prepared  and  furnished,  the 
General  advised  me  to  move  down  and  remain  until  he  could 
with  propriety  niarcli  in  with  the  Fourth  Regiment. 

"Three  weeks  the  transports  were  bringing  the  Spanish  troops 
from  St.  Marks  in  order  that  they  should  all  sail  to  Cuba  at  the 
same  time.  At  length  they  arrived,  but  during  all  this  time  the 
Governor  of  this  place  and  the  General  had  daily  communica- 
tions, yet  his  lordship  never  waited  on  the  General  in  person. 
After  the  vessels  returned  from  St.  Marks,  the  General  came 
within  two  miles  of  Pensacola.  They  were  then  one  week  finish- 
ing the  preliminaries  and  ceremonies  to  be  observed  on  the  day 
of  his  entrance  into  the  city.  At  length,  last  Tuesday  was  the 
day.  At  seven  o'clock,  at  the  precise  moment,  they  hove  in  view 
under  the  American  flag  and  a  full  band  of  music.  The  whole 
town  was  in  motion.  Never  did  I  see  so  many  pale  faces.  I  am 
living  on  Main  Street,  which  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
a  great  deal  from  the  upper  galleries.  They  marched  by  to  the 
Government  House,  where  the  two  Generals  met  in  the  manner 
prescribed,  then  his  Catholic  Majesty's  flag  was  lowered,  and  the 
American  hoisted  high  in  air,  not  less  than  one  hundred  feet. 

"  O  how  they  burst  into  tears  to  see  the  last  ray  of  hope 
departed  of  their  devoted  city  and  country  ;  delivering  up  the 
keys  of  the  archives,  the  vessels  lying  at  anchor,  in  full  view,  to 
waft  them  to  their  distant  port.  Next  morning  they  set  sail 
under  convoy  of  the  Hornet  sloop-of-war,  Anne  Maria,  and  the 
Tom  Shields.  How  did  the  city  sit  solitary  and  mourn  !  Never 
did  my  heart  feel  more  for  any  people.  Being  present,  I  entered 
immediately  into  their  feelings.  Their  manners,  laws,  and  cus- 
toms, all  changed  ;  and  really  a  change  was  necessary.  My  pen 
almost  drops  from  my  hand,  the  effort  is  so  far  short,  so  limited 
to  what  it  might  be. 

"  Three  Sabbaths  I  spent  in  this  house  before  the  country  was 
in  possession  under  American  government.  In  all  that  time  I  was 
not  an  idle  spectator.  The  Sabbath  profanely  kept;  a  great  deal 
of  noise  and  swearing  in  the  streets;  shops  kept  open  ;  trade  going 
on,  I  think,  more  than  on  any  other  day.  They  were  so  boister- 
ous on  that  day  I  sent  Major  Stanton  to  say  to  them  that  the  ap- 
proaching Sunday  would  be  differently  kept.     And  must  I  say 


352  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  worst  people  here  are  the  cast-out  Americans  and  negroes  ? 
Yesterday  I  had  the  happiness  of  witnessing  the  truth  of  what  I 
had  said.  Great  order  was  observed;  the  doors  kept  shut;  the 
gambling-houses  demolished  ;  fiddling  and  dancing  not  heard  any 
more  on  the  Lord's-day ;  cursing  not  to  be  heard. 

"  What,  what  has  been  done  in  one  week  !  A  province  de- 
livered to  the  American  people ;  the  laws  of  the  land  we  live  in 
they  are  now  under. 

' '  You  can  't  conceive  what  an  important,  arduous,  laborious 
work  it  has  been  and  is.  I  had  no  idea  of  it  until  daily  it 
unfolded  the  mystery  to  view.  I  am  convinced  that  no  mortal 
man  could  do  this  and  suffer  so  many  privations,  unless  the  God 
of  our  salvation  was  his  help  in  every  time  of  trouble.  While 
the  General  was  in  camp,  fourteen  miles  from  Pensacola,  he  was 
very  sick.  I  went  to  see  him,  and  to  try  and  persuade  him  to 
come  to  his  house.  But,  no.  All  his  friends  tried.  He  said 
that  when  he  came  in  it  should  be  under  his  own  standard,  and 
that  would  be  the  third  time  he  had  planted  that  flag  on  that 
wall.  And  he  has  done  so.  O  how  solemn  was  his  pale  coun- 
tenance when  he  dismounted  from  his  horse!  Recollections  of 
perils  and  scenes  of  war  not  to  be  dissevered  presented  them- 
selves to  view. 

"There  were  no  shouts  of  joy  or  exultation  heard;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  we  sympathized  with  these  people.  Still,  I  think, 
the  Lord  had  a  controversy  with  them.  They  were  living  far 
from  God.  If  they  would  have  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  and  his 
apostles,  it  would  have  been  otherwise,  but  they  would  not.  The 
field  is  white  for  harvest,  but  where  are  the  laborers?  Not  one. 
O,  for  one  of  our  faithful  ministers  to  come  and  impart  the  word 
of  life  to  them  !  I  have  heard  but  one  Gospel  sermon  since  we  left 
home.  But  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth.  He  is  my  shield. 
I  shall  not  want.  He  will  not  leave  me  nor  forsake  me  in  all 
my  trials  through  this  wilderness.  O,  pray  for  me ;  I  have  need 
of  that  aid  from  my  dear  Christian  friends. 

"I  will  give  you  a  faint  description  of  the  country  and  of 
this  place,  knowing  that  my  dear  friend  will  throw  a  veil  over 
my  errors  and  imperfections.  1.  Pensacola  is  a  perfect  plain  ;  the 
land  nearly  as  white  as  flour,  yet  productive  of  fine  peach-trees, 
oranges  in  abundance,  grapes,  figs,  pomegranates,  etc.,  etc.  Fine 
flowers  growing  spontaneously,  for  they  have  neglected  the  gar- 
dens, expecting  a  change  of  government.     The  town   is  imme- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  353 

diately  on  the  bay.  The  most  beautiful  water  prospect  I  evej 
saw  ;  and  from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  ten  at  night  we 
have  the  finest  sea-breeze.  There  is  something  in  it  so  exhilarat- 
ing, so  pure,  so  wholesome,  it  enlivens  the  whole  system.  All 
the  houses  look  in  ruins,  old  as  time.  Many  squares  of  the 
town  appear  grown  over  with  the  thickest  shrubs,  weeping  wil- 
lows, and  the  pride  of  China ;  all  look  neglected.  The  inhab- 
itants all  speak  Spanish  and  French.  Some  speak  four  or  five 
languages.  Such  a  mixed  multitude  you,  nor  any  of  us,  ever  had 
an  idea  of.  There  are  fewer  white  people  far  than  any  other, 
mixed  with  all  nations  under  the  canopy  of  heaven,  almost  in 
nature's  darkness.  But,  thanks  to  the  Lord  that  has  put  grace 
in  this  his  servant  to  issue  his  proclamation  in  a  language  they 
all  understand,  I  think  the  sanctuary  is  about  to  be  purged  for  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  to  come  over  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  in 
this  dark  region. 

"There  is  a  Catholic  church  in  the  place,  and  the  priest  seems 
a  divine-looking  man.  He  comes  to  see  us.  He  dined  with  us 
yesterday,  the  governor  and  secretary,  French,  Spanish,  Amer- 
ican ladies,  and  all.     I  have  as  pleasant  a  house  as  any  in  town. 

"We  have  a  handsome  view  of  the  bay  on  Main  Street.  You 
will  scarcely  believe  me,  but  it  is  a  fact,  the  vessels  are  daily 
coming  in  loaded  with  people.  The  place  is  nearly  full ;  a  great 
many  come  for  their  health.  It  is  very  healthy,  so  pure  and 
wholesome.  No  fields  of  corn  or  wheat  in  all  ray  travels,  ex- 
cept one  place  near  Mount  Pelier.  The  growth  entirely  pine, 
some  live-oak,  magnolia,  bay,  which  are  all  evergreens.  The 
weather  is  oppressively  warm  to  me,  and  raining  every  day. 
Sometimes  the  streets  are  two  feet  deep  in  water.  But  for  the 
sand  we  could  not  live.  It  has  rained  three  months,  almost  every 
day,  since  we  left  New  Orleans.  I  have  the  society  of  Amanda 
Grage,  and  the  mother  of  Mr.  Grage,  and  two  more  Christian 
ladies.  I  fear  I  shall  put  your  patience  to  the  test.  I  pray  you 
bear  with  me  a  little.  I  have 'so  many  things  to  write  you,  and 
it  may  be  the  last  opportunity  I  shall  have,  and  I  know  I  have  not 
Jialf  done  justice  to  the  picture.  I  hope  you  will  see  it  from  some 
able  penman.  My  dear  husband  is,  I  think,  not  any  the  better 
as  to  his  health.  He  has,  indeed,  performed  a  great  work  in  his 
day.  Had  I  heard  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear  I  could  not  have 
believed. 

"Have  we  all  gone  from  you  so  far  that  no  intelligence  can 

2?— G 


354  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

reach  our  place  of  destination  ?  There  is  no  mail,  no  post-office 
here.  All  these  inconveniences  will  be  remedied  shortly.  Miss 
Grage  received  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Berryhill,  wherein  she  states 
the  illness  of  Mr.  Campbell  and  several  others  in  Nashville,  but 
some  pleasing  news  of  the  Ciiurch.  O,  for  Zion !  I  am  not  at 
rest,  nor  can  I  be,  in  a  heathen  land.  Say  to  Captain  Kingsley 
the  General  sends  his  best  wishes  to  you  both.  He  will  write 
when  he  can  have  a  moment.  Remember  me  with  much  love  to 
all  my  friends.  iSay  to  Mrs.  Foster  not  to  forget  me,  Mrs. 
Judge  Campbell,  Miss  P.  Lewis,  Miss  Nancy  Ayers,  Mrs.  Som- 
erville,  and  all  and  every  one.  How  happy  and  thankful  should 
you  be  in  a  land  of  Gospel  light  and  liberty. 

"O,  rejoice  and  be  glad;  far  more  it  is  to  be  desired  than  al 
the  honor  and  riches  in  this  vain  world.  Farewell,  my  dear 
friend,  and  should  the  great  Arbiter  of  fate  order  his  servant  not 
to  see  her  kindred  and  friends  again,  I  hope  to  meet  you  in. 
the  realms  of  everlasting  bliss.  Then  I  shall  weep  no  more 
at  parting. 

"Do  not  be  uneasy  for  me.  'Although  the  vine  yield  no 
fruit,  and  the  olive  no  oil,  yet  will  I  serve  the  Lord.' 

"Adieu,  adieu.  Rachel  Jackson. 

"Mrs.  Elizabeth  Kingsley. 

"Say  to  Mr.  K.,  Andrew  is  learning  Spanish." 

The  Andrew  who  was  learning  Spanish  was  An- 
drew Jackson,  Jr.,  the  adopted  son  of  the  General. 
Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,  a  nephew,  was  also  a  part 
of  Mrs.  Jackson's  family.  There  are  really  forty  or 
fifty  bits  of  history  in  this  letter,  which  place  it  on 
an  unusually  high  basis.  It  was  historic  ground,  but 
"Aunt  Rachel"  had  gone  in  the  way  of  most  other 
people  in  "  hearing  with  their  eyes." 

The  average  letter  runs  about  in  this  style  : — 
Where  are  you,  and  what  are  you  doing?  I  have  n't 
heard  from  you  for  I  do  n't  know  how  long.  I  thought 
you  were  sick  or  dead.  The  weather  is  awful  hot. 
I  have  n't  been  well  this  summer.  Are  you  going  away 
this  season  ?     I  have  two  lovely  new  dresses.     When 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  355 

did  you  hear  from  Jute?  Dick  and  Nell  were  here 
last  week.  And  do  you  know,  Nell  paints  and  laces 
like  a  flea.  We  had  an  immensely  nice  time  at  the 
festival.  I  got  a  letter  last  month  from  Mirtie.  She 
has  a  baby.     Ain't  it  awful  ? 

What  could  become  of  a  world  made  of  women 
who  write  such  letters  ?  Pensacola  must  have  been  a 
Heaven-forsaken  place,  "so  wholesome,"  and  yet  "two 
feet  deep  in  water,"  and,  worse  than  all,  the  Amer- 
icans and  Indians  who  took  possession  of  the  town 
were  no  better  than  those  who  had  moved  out.  But 
this  very  good  letter  from  "  Aunt  Rachel "  helps  along 
the  history  of  the  General,  and  is  a  large  leaf  in  her 
own  biography.  It  tells  plainly  enough  what  a  com- 
monplace, every-day,  kind,  good.  Christian,  motherly 
woman  she  was,  and  how  useless  it  would  be  for  an 
enthusiast  to  attempt  to  paint  her  as  possessing  supe- 
rior qualities  of  mind,  as  being  a  superb  woman,  a 
pride  to  the  Nation  that  honored  her  husband. 

But  Mrs.  Jackson  had  some  ideas  of  how  a  gov- 
ernment should  be  conducted.  Her  wants  were  lim- 
ited in  this  respect,  and,  although  they  might  not 
easily  be  carried  out,  the  General  was  the  man  to 
make  an  effort.  His  commission  as  governor  gave  him 
extraordinary  powers,  and  contained  these  words  : — 

"Know  ye  that,  resposing  special  trust  and  confidence  in  the 
integrity,  patriotism,  and  abilities  of  Major-General  Andrew  Jack- 
son, I  do  appoint  him  to  exercise  all  the  powers  and  authorities 
heretofore  exercised  by  the  governor  and  captain-general  and  in- 
tendant  of  Cuba,  and  by  the  governors  of  East  and  West  Florida  ; 
provided,  however,  that  the  said  Andrew  Jackson,  or  any  person 
acting  under  him,  or  in  the  said  territories,  shall  have  no  power 
or  authority  to  lay  or  collect  any  new  or  additional  taxes,  or  to 
grant  or  confirm  to  any  person  or  persons,  whomsoever,  any  title 
or  claims  to  land  within  the  same." 


356  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

He  was  not  to  impose  taxes  or  grant  lands  to  his 
followers.  Little  else  was  denied  him.  Of  this  ex- 
traordinary trust  the  General  thus  wrote  : — 

"lam  clothed  with  powers  which  uo  one  under  a  Republic 
ought  to  possess,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  never  again  be  given  to 
any  man.  Nothing  will  give  me  more  happiness  than  to  learn 
that  Congress,  in  its  wisdom,  shall  have  distributed  them  prop- 
erly, and  in  such  a  manner  as  is  consonant  to  our  earliest  and 
deepest  impressions.  Yet,  as  I  hold  these  powers  by  the  authority 
of  an  act  of  Congress,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  discharge  the  sa- 
cred trust  imposed  upon  me  according  to  the  best  of  my  abili- 
ties, even  though  the  proper  exercise  of  the  powers  given  might 
involve  me  in  heavy  personal  responsibilities.  It  has  been  my  mis- 
fortune to  be  thus  circumstanced  in  my  various  relations  as  a  public 
servant.  Yet  I  never  have,  nor  ever  will  I  shrink  from  the  dis- 
charge of  my  public  duties  from  any  apprehension  of  personal 
responsibility." 

Notwithstanding  this,  he  began  at  once  to  exceed 
and  disregard  his  authority.  Especially  charged  to 
levy  no  additional  or  new  taxes,  he  immediately  or- 
dered large  and  minute  assessments  to  be  made  for 
keeping  the  machinery  of  his  new  government  in  the 
towns  running.  It  was  impossible  for  General  Jack- 
son to  engage  in  any  public  way  without  being  em- 
broiled, or  without  departing  from  the  probable  course 
of  other  men.  His  brief  governorship  of  Florida  was 
no  exception.  The  long  delay  in  getting  affairs  in 
shape  to  have  the  government  transferred  from  the 
old  masters,  gave  him  time  to  arrange  all  his  plans, 
and  when  the  transfer  did  at  last  come,  he  was  ready 
to  set  up  the  new  government  throughout  the  terri- 
tory. Without  reference  to  its  former  divisions,  he 
divided  all  Florida  into  two  counties ;  the  country 
west  of  the  Suwanee  River  he  named  Escambia,  and 
that  east  of  that  river,  St.  John,  County.     On  his  way 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  357 

to  Pensacola,  he  fell  in  with  Henry  M.  Brackenridge, 
of  Pennsylvania,  the  college  companion  and  early 
correspondent  of  James  Madison,  who  was  also  going 
to  Pensacola,  under  promise  from  President  Monroe 
that  something  would  be  found  for  him.  Mr.  Brack- 
enridge  could  speak  the  Spanish  and  French  languages, 
and  was  one  of  the  first  scholars  of  his  day.  The 
meeting  was  considered  fortunate  by  both  men,  and 
Mr.  Brackenridge  became  Jackson's  secretary.  By 
him  was  written  the  proclamation  to  the  people  on 
taking  possession  of  the  Territory,  the  General's  last 
proclamation  or  farewell  statement,  and  most  others 
of  the  public  documents  in  the  organization  and  man- 
agement of  affairs  in  Florida  by  General  Jackson.  Mr. 
Brackenridge  was  also  made  a  kind  of  governor  (Alcaid 
or  Alcalde)  of  Pensacola. 

The  other  most  noted  character  appearing  in  Florida 
at  this  time  was  Judge  Elijius  Fromentin.  Fromentin 
had  an  unenviable  history,  but  was  a  man  of  talents, 
and  was  appointed  as  Judge  for  Florida  by  Mr.  Mon- 
roe, without  his  knowledge  of  his  character  beyond 
the  favorable  representations  of  friends.  But  Fro- 
mentin had  committed  no  crime  that  would  prevent 
his  being  a  wise  and  just  judge. 

The  Spanish  Governor,  Don  Jose  Callava,  and 
many  of  his  officers  remained  in  Pensacola,  after  the 
departure  of  the  main  effects  of  his  government, 
and  the  troops  to  Cuba,  and  these  men  proved  of  more 
trouble  to  General  Jackson  than  all  the  other  popula- 
tion of  Florida,  as  piratical  and  heathenish  as  much  of 
it  was.  Callava  still  considered  himself  as  standing 
in  the  capacity  of  Spanish  commissioner,  if  not  gov- 
ernor ;  and  Jackson  esteemed  those  offices  at  an  end 


358  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

with  Callava,  and  looked  upon  him  as  any  other  per- 
son sojourning  in  his  Territory.  It  was  true  that 
these  Spanish  officers  tarried  beyond  the  time  desig- 
nated for  their  departure  in  the  treaty,  and  it  was 
through  the  courtesy  of  General  Jackson  that  they 
now  remained  at  Pensacola.  Complaint  was  made 
against  Callava,  that  he  was  preparing  to  carry  away 
some  land  records  necessary  to  prove  disputed  titles. 
A  poor  woman  laid  the  information  before  Mr.  Brack- 
enridge,  and  he  considering  it  of  importance  took  it  to 
Jackson.  Although  there  was  found  to  be  nothing  in 
the  claim,  it  made  a  loud  and  ridiculous  noise.  Callava 
refused  to  be  treated  with  contempt,  his  lieutenant 
refused  to  give  up  the  papers,  and  after  some  evasions 
they  were  arrested  and  confined  in  the  old  jail,  by 
order  of  General  Jackson,  a  most  stormy  and  ludicrous 
scene  having  taken  place  at  the  General's  office  be- 
tween Callava  and  himself,  in  which  one  spoke  En- 
glish because  he  could  not  speak  anything  else,  and 
not  even  that  always  well,  and  the  other  spoke  Span- 
ish because  he  would  not  speak  anything  else,  and 
Mr.  Brackenridge  was  accused  by  both  of  translating 
ver}'  badly.  Jackson  never  could  stand  a  Spanish 
Governor,  and  that  this  one  crossed  him  now  made 
him  furious.  His  display  of  temper  was  a  sight  that 
these  Spaniards  had  not  "  bargained  for."  The  friends 
of  Callava  applied  to  Fromentin  for  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  They  were  quick  to  learn  the  "inestimable 
privilege"  of  this  free  country.  The  judge  issued  the 
writ.  The  officer  in  charge  of  the  calaboose  paid  no 
attention  to  it,  more  than  to  send  it  to  Jackson.  In 
the  meantime  the  papers  about  which  this  tempest  had 
been  raised  were  found  and  delivered  to  the  "  Alcalde/* 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  359 

Brackenridge.  Callava  and  the  rest  were  at  once  lib- 
erated. But  this  was  not  the  end.  Another  had 
committed  an  unpardonable  sin.  This  priest-judge, 
Fromentin,  who  would  dare  to  interfere  with  the  af- 
fairs and  will  of  Governor  Jackson,  was  now  to  be 
taught  the  error  of  his  ways.  General  Jackson  had  a 
case  of  this  habeas  corpus  business  in  New  Orleans. 
Fromentin  was  summoned  to  appear  before  this  in- 
sulted dignitary,  but  played  rheumatism,  and  could 
not  go  until  the  Governor's  passion  had  subsided  to 
some  extent.  He  then  appeared,  and  this  is  the  way 
it  was,  according  to  his  own  story  : — 

"The  next  day,  about  noon,  Colonel  Walton  returned,  and 
observed  that  both  the  General  and  myself  must  be  desirous  of 
making  a  report  of  this  affair  to  the  Government  by  the  next 
mail;  that  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost;  and  that  it  was  the 
General's  wish  that  I  should  call  at  his  office  the  next  day,  in 
the  morning.  After  the  colonel  had  withdrawn,  I  reflected  that 
the  state  of  things  was  now  somewhat  different  from  what  it  was 
the  day  before  ;  a  reason  was  assigned  for  my  having  an  inter- 
view with  the  General,  the  force  of  which  I  felt;  and  ultimately 
a  longer  resistance  would  only  end  in  affording  General  Jackson 
the  scandalous  triumph  of  once  more  trampling  upon  the  laws 
of  his  country.  I  determined  to  go  there  that  very  afternoon, 
and  accordingly,  at  four  o'clock  P.  M. ,  I  went  to  the  office  of 
General  Jackson.  The  conversation,  as  you  may  suppose,  was 
nearly  all  on  one  side,  not  unmixed  with  threats  of  what  he  said 
he  had  a  right  to  do  for  my  having  dared  to  interfere  with  his 
authority.  He  asked  me  whether  I  would  dare  to  issue  a  writ 
to  be  served  upon  the  captain-general  of  the  island  of  Cuba? 
I  told  him,  no  ;  but  that  if  the  case  should  require  it,  and  I  had 
the  necessary  jurisdiction,  I  would  issue  one  to  be  served  upon 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  Ultimately,  he  wished  to 
known  the  names  of  the  persons  who  had  applied  for  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  I  unhesitatingly  told  them  to  him.  Then  he 
wished  to  know  whether  they  had  made  the  usual  affidavit,  stat- 
ing that  they  had  been  refused  a  copy  of  the  warrant  upon 
which  Colonel  Callava  was  confined.     I  told  him,  no;  that  the 


360  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

application  to  me  was  a  verbal  one.  General  Jackson  then  re- 
quired me  to  sign  what  I  had  just  declared  ;  I  told  him  I  was 
ready  to  do  it,  and  I  did  it  accordingly;  Dr.  Bronaugh,  who 
was  present  at  the  conversation,  having  reduced  that  part  of  it 
to  writing.  Much  more  was  said  by  the  General  respecting  the 
extent  of  his  powers,  the  happy  selection  made  of  him  by  the 
President,  the  hope  that  no  living  man  should  ever  in  future  be 
clothed  with  such  extraordinary  authority.  How  fortunate  it 
was  for  the  poor  that  a  man  of  his  feelings  had  been  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  Government,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  the  whole  in- 
termixed with,  or  rather  consisting  altegether  of  the  most  ex- 
travagant praises  of  himself,  and  the  most  savage  and  unmerited 
abuse  of  Colonel  Callava,  and  of  myself  for  doing  ray  duty  in 
attempting  to  set  him  at  liberty.  The  first  time  the  authority 
of  General  Jackson  is  contested,  I  should  not  be  surprised  if,  to 
all  the  pompous  titles  l)y  him  enumerated  in  his  order  to  me,  he 
should  superadd  that  of  grand  inquisitor,  and  if,  finding  in  my 
library  many  books  formerly  prohibited  in  Spain,  and  among 
others  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  should  send  me 
to  the  stake." 

General  Jackson  and  Judge  Fromentin  both  put 
this  case  in  all  its  shades  before  the  Department  of 
State,  the  former  commenting  with  great  severity  on 
the  conduct  of  the  latter,  who  had  very  limited 
powers,  and,  perhaps,  overstepped  these,  even  in  a  land 
where  habeas  corpus  had  not  been  acclimated.  Callava 
published  his  case,  too,  and  afterwards  went  to  Wash- 
ington concerning  it.  All  the  Spaniards  also  had 
their  say.     One  of  them  thus  wrote  : — 

"  The  Governor,  Don  Andrew  Jackson,  with  turbulent  and 
violent  actions,  with  disjointed  reasonings,  blows  on  the  table, 
his  mouth  foaming,  and  possessed  with  the  furies,  told  the  Span- 
ish commissary  to  deliver  the  papers  as  a  private  individual ;  and 
the  Spanish  commissary,  with  the  most  forcible  expresfsions, 
answered  him  that  he  (the  commissary)  did  not  resist  the  delivery 
of  papers,  because  he  still  did  not  know  what  papers  were  de- 
manded of  him  ;  that,  as  soon  as  he  could  know  it,  if  they  were 
to   be  delivered,  he  would   deliver   them   most  cheerfully;    and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  361 

that,  if  papers  were  demanded  of  liim  which  he  ought  not  to 
deliver,  he  would  resist  it  by  the  regular  and  prescribed  means ; 
that  all  these  questions  were  not  put  to  him  in  writing ;  that  his 
answers  were  the  same  as  he  had  given  to  every  interrogatory 
which  had  been  put  to  him,  because  he  was  not  permitted  to 
write  in  his  own  defense ;  and  also,  that  he  would  answer  for  the 
future  consistency  of  it,  as  well  as  what  had  been  asked  of  him, 
and  all  that  had  been  done  to  him  ;  that  he  wished  for  this  pro- 
tection of  the  law  to  every  man ;  and  that  he  would  never  yield. 

"The  Governor,  Don  Andrew  Jackson,  furious,  did  not  per- 
mit the  interpreter  to  translate  what  the  Spanish  commissary 
answered,  that  the  bystanders,  it  appears,  might  not  understand 
it;  and  the  interpreter  made  such  sliort  translations  that  what 
the  Spanish  commissary  took  two  minutes  to  explain  he  reduced 
to  only  two  words  ;  and  that,  when  the  Governor  gave  him  time 
enough  (as  has  been  since  related  by  various  persons  who  spoke 
both  languages),  of  what  the  Spanish  commissary  said,  not  even 
half  was  interpreted,  and  that  little  not  faithfully.  Lastly,  the 
Governor,  Don  Andrew  Jackson,  after  having  insulted  the 
Spanish  commissary  with  atrocious  words,  took  out  an  order, 
already  written,  and  made  the  interpreter  read  it,  and  it  con- 
tained the  order  for  his  imprisonment. 

"The  Spanish  commissary  said  that  he  obeyed  it,  but  asked 
if  the  Governor,  Don  Andrew  Jackson,  was  not  afraid  to  put  in 
execution  deeds  so  unjust  against  a  man  like  him  ;  and  rising  to 
his  feet,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  secretary,  whom  the  Gover- 
nor kept  on  his  right  hand,  and  said,  in  a  loud  voice,  that  he 
protested  solemnly,  before  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
against  the  author  of  the  violations  of  justice  against  his  person 
and  public  character. 

"  The  Governor,  Don  Andrew  Jackson,  answered  to  tlie  pro- 
test that  for  his  actions  he  was  responsible  to  no  other  than  to 
his  Government,  and  that  it  was  of  little  importance  to  him 
whatever  might  be  the  result,  and  that  he  might  even  protest 
before  God  himself." 

Pensacola.  was  overrun  with  adventurers,  who  be- 
lieved it  would  at  once  spring  into  the  proportions 
of  a  great  city.  General  Jackson  hnd  fostered  this 
chimera.     Not    a   few   who    came    were  office-seekers. 


362  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  most  of  this  class  were  disappointed.  General 
Jackson  had  accepted  the  position,  so  Mrs.  Jack- 
son said,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  putting  his  de- 
voted friends  into  rich  nests  where  they  could  take 
advantage  of  rare  circumstances.  But  this  proved  to 
be  a  delusion.  Mr.  Monroe  had,  immediately  after 
appointing  Jackson,  filled  all  the  other  valuable  places 
in  the  territorial  government.  These  appointees  were 
on  the  ground  with  their  commissions  as  soon  as  the 
General  was.  This  unexpected  turn  in  affairs  dis- 
gusted him.  But  his  friends  had  here  a  foretaste  of 
what  would  be  done  for  them  if  General  Jackson  had 
the  power.  Here  was  a  brief  glimpse  of  the  no  dis- 
tant future. 

The  General  was  not  only  disappointed,  but  he 
was  in  bad  health.  Mrs.  Jackson  was  worn  out  with 
life  in  a  heathen  land,  although  the  General  had  done 
all  he  could  consistently  to  gratify  her  in  producing 
outward  respect  for  the  Sabbath,  stopping  play-going, 
grog-selling,  and  other  diabolical  practices  on  that  day, 
and  producing  some  show  of  decent,  Christian  disci- 
pline. But  she  yearned  for  Tennessee,  and  the  Gen- 
eral regretted  that  he  had  not  taken  her  advice  at  the 
outset,  and  not  accepted  the  pestiferous  business. 
Nobody  in  all  the  Nation  more  sincerely  wished  this, 
or  had  more  need  to  wish  it,  perhaps,  than  John 
Quincy  Adams,  the  Secretary  of  State.  He  had  once 
put  forth  all  his  skill  to  rescue  General  Jackson,  and 
to  prevent  war  with  England  and  Spain  by  reason  of 
his  startling  and  extravagant  conduct;  and  now  he 
was  forced  to  take  up  his  pen  again  in  his  behalf 

This  is  the  way  General  Jackson  said  Mr.  Adams 
executed  the  task:  "Mr.  Adams's  letter  is  just   like 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  363 

himself,  a  bold,  manly,  and  dignified  refutation  of 
falsehood,  and  justification  of  justice  and  moral  rule." 
That  is,  indeed,  about  what  Mr.  Adams  was  all  his 
life,  but  General  Jackson  would  not  have  cared  always 
afterwards  to  say  so.  The  General  now  felt  as  he  had 
never  done  before,  perhaps,  that  he  had  enough  of 
public  position,  and  wished  to  return  to  the  Hermitage 
where  he  could  remain  in  quiet  among  his  friends  for 
the  rest  of  his  life.  This  sentiment  he  freely  ex- 
pressed. At  the  approaching  session  of  Congress  his 
term  of  appointment  would  expire,  and  he  now  deter- 
mined to  leave  the  affairs  of  the  already  organized 
Territory  in  the  care  of  his  "alcaldes,"  return  to 
delightful  Nashville,  and  send  up  to  Washington  his 
resignation.  This  he  did.  In  the  sixth  volume  of 
this  work  may  be  found  some  reference  to  Mr. 
Adams's  defense  of  Jackson's  conduct  in  the  governor- 
ship of  Florida.  Mr.  Adams  was  preparing  the  way 
for  General  Jackson  to  beat  him  in  a  race  for  the 
Presidency.  But  the  General  did  not  leave  Florida 
without  a  parting  shot  for  himself  in  a  very  spirited 
proclamation. 

Early  in  November,  1821,  General  Jackson  returned 
to  Nashville.  His  reception  was  as  it  always  had  been, 
and  always  would  be  at  Nashville.  But  his  course  in 
Florida  had  been  extraordinary  beyond  anything  of 
the  kind  which  had  even  occurred  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  His  popularity  was,  notwithstanding, 
proof  against  anything  however  bad.  Whatever  his 
rash  conduct  brought  to  the  Administration,  it  mattered 
little,  his  reputation  went  unsinged. 


364  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

GENERAL   JACKSON'S  NEW    DREAM  — THE    WHITE    HOUSE 

IN    THE    DISTANCE— "WAYS    THAT   ARE    DARK  "— 

THE  RACE— THE  MEANS— THE  THWARTED 

WILL    OF    THE    PEOPLE. 

GENERAL  Jackson  now  enjoyed  comparative  quiet 
on  his  farm.  In  farming,  as  in  most  other  mat- 
ters, he  was  successful.  At  this  period  he  built  the 
new  dwelling  which  has  become  the  famous  "  Hermit- 
age," as  he  called  it.  In  1825,  when  Lafayette  visited 
this  country,  he  was  for  a  time  the  guest  of  the  Gen- 
eral, who  accompanied  him  on  his  tour  through  the 
State.  These  were  among  Jackson's  most  happy  days. 
He  and  "  Aunt  Rachel  "  entertained  their  many  friends, 
educated  their  sons,  smoked  their  pipes,  and  talked 
over  the  past.  The  General's  themes  were  mainly  the 
scenes  in  which  he  was  the  chief  actor ;  always  first 
and  last  among  men  who  read  little,  and  therefore 
think  to  little  advantage,  and  enjoy  that  cheap  and 
coarse  refinement  which  bears  them  to  the  front  in 
every  form  of  repetition. 

Mr.  Monroe  still  labored  under  the  hallucination 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  go  on  in  further  pampering 
General  Jackson.  It  was  the  popular  demand,  he  be- 
lieved ;  and  after  all  the  mischief  he  had  already  done, 
and  in  the  face  of  his  own  experience  and  the  warn- 
ings of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  others,  offered  to  send  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  365 

General  as  Minister  to  Mexico.  This  appointment 
Jackson  wisely  declined,  and,  as  usual  with  him,  wrote 
a  letter  showing  why,  in  which  he  took  occasion  to 
say  that  the  mission  should  not  be  established,  and 
that  the  expense  attaching  to  it  should  be  avoided  for 
the  country,  thus  very  directly  implying  a  censure  of 
the  conduct  of  his  patron,  the  President.  But  strangely 
enough  this  performance  went  into  his  fast  accumu- 
lating stock  of  popularity. 

Soon  after  the  offer  of  this  mission,  for  which  he 
was  so  utterly  unfit  in  every  sense,  the  General  Wrote 
the  following  letter  to  his  friend,  Edward  Livingston  : — 

"  Hermitage,  March  24,  1823. 
"My  Dear  Sir, — On  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  25th 
ult.,  I  had  only  time  by  the  return  mail  to  acknowledge  its  re- 
ceipt ;  and  say  to  you  that  on  the  subject  of  the  mission  to  Mexico 
I  had  not  been  consulted,  and  that  I  had  declined  accepting  of 
this  mission.  It  was*  a  just  deduction  of  my  friends  to  conclude 
that  I  had  been  consulted  before  my  nomination  to  the  Senate, 
and,  of  course,  that  I  would  accept  the  appointment ;  and  many 
of  them  may  conclude  under  this  impression,  that  I  am  very 
fickle,  when  they  learn  that  I  have  declined ;  for  this  reason,  I 
have  thought  it  due  to  you  that  you  should  be  informed  truly  on 
this  subject,  and  also  my  reasons  for  declining.  The  first  I  heard 
of  the  intention  of  the  President  was  in  a  letter  from  Major  Eaton, 
our  Senator,  who  advised  me  that  Mr.  Monroe  had  sent  for  and 
consulted  him  upon  the  subject,  inquiring  his  opinion  whether  I 
would  accept,  to  which  the  Major  replied  that  he  could  form  no 
opinion  upon  the  subject.  Mr.  Monroe  expressing  a  wish  that  he 
would  assure  me  of  his  friendly  views  in  making  this  nomination, 
I  immediately  answered  that  I  would  not  accept,  and  a  few  days 
after  this  answer  to  Major  Eaton,  I  received  Mr.  Monroe's  letter 
advising  me  of  his  nomination  and  the  approval  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  to  which  I  replied  that  I  could  not  accept  for 
the  reasons  following  in  substance.  .  .  .  Had  I  accepted  the 
mission,  it  would  have  been  among  the  first  of  my  wishes  to  have 
had  you  with  me.  Should  I  ever  be  again  brought  by  the  unso- 
licited call   of  my  country  on  the  public  or  political   theater,  I 


366  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

should  calculate  to  have  you  near  me ;  but  on  such  an  event  I  do 
not  calculate.  I  am  no  intriguer.  I  would  not  act,  in  one  single 
instance,  that  character  for  all  the  public  favors  that  could  be 
bestowed.  My  country  has  brought  my  name  before  the  Amer- 
ican Nation,  and  the  people  must  decide.  The  Presidential  chau* 
is  a  situation  that  ought  not  to  be  sought  for,  nor  ought  it  to  be 
declined  when  offered  by  the  unsolicited  voice  of  the  people.  To 
their  choice  the  Constitution  has  left  it,  and  happy  for  the  per- 
manency of  the  Constitutional  Government  and  the  perpetuation 
of  the  Union,  if  designing  demagogues  will  let  the  people  exercise 
this,  their  Constitutional  privilege,  without  attempting  to  thwart 
it  by  subtle  intrigue  and  management.  On  the  receipt  of  this, 
if  leisure  permit,  I  would  thank  you  for  your  views  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  my  decision,  and  the  ground  I  have  assumed  and  on 
which  I  have  always  practiced,  and,  I  would  add,  I  have  grown 
too  old  in  the  practice  ever  to  change. 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

But  General  Jackson  was  not  altogether  easy.  A 
new  dream,  once  repugnant  to  him,  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  his  daily  walks.  He  was  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  All  things  have  a  beginning,  and  this 
candidacy  of  General  Jackson's  was  not  his  work,  nor 
was  it  the  work  of  a  day.  Edward  Livingston  had 
first  discovered  that  Jackson  would  be  an  available 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  had  hinted  as  much 
to  him.  He  thought  the  8th  of  January  would  win. 
Not  long  after  this  light  entered  Livingston's  mind,  and 
was  for  the  time  shut  in  by  the  disgust  in  which  the 
General  received  it,  Aaron  Burr,  not  behind  any  man 
as  a  political  discoverer,  although  under  an  eternal 
cloud  himself,  revealed  to  his  son-in-law,  then  Governor 
of  South  Carolina,  the  same  fact.  But  so  far  as  it  is 
known  now.  Burr's  view  went  no  further  at  this  time, 
and  had  no  part  in  hurrying  forward  coming  events. 

It  is  said  that  some  mechanic  in  the  great  State 
of  Pennsylvania  was  the  first  to  halloo,  "  Hurrah  for 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  367 

Jackson !"  and  the  whole  country  heard  it,  and  took  up 
the  cry.  But  above  all  others  the  man  who  had  put 
him  in  the  most  flattering  light  before  the  people  stood 
John  Quincy  Adams.  He  had,  in  his  zeal  to  serve  the 
country,  greatly  aided  in  establishing  a  reputation  for 
General  Jackson  in  foreign  nations,  and  the  friends  and 
supporters  of  the  General,  everywhere  in  every  emer- 
gency, appealed  to  the  double  defense  of  Mr.  Adams 
for  justifying  the  course  of  their  hero.  Even  Mrs. 
Adams  did  no  little  in  introducing  him  to  the  people. 
It  is  said  that  her  famous  8th  of  January  ball,  in  1824, 
settled  his  canidacy.  But  the  political  process,  usually 
necessary  to  make  a  Presidential  candidate,  like  the 
steps  necessary  to  make  a  queen  bee,  had  been  going 
on  for  several  years  in  Tennessee. 

After  the  sharp  manipulations  of  Major  Lewis  and 
others  leading  to  the  farcical  election  of  General 
Jackson  as  a  Senator  in  Congress,  the  next  step  in 
order  was  a  formal  nomination  for  the  Presidency, 
and  a  response  from  the  General  which  could  be  util- 
ized in  a  national  way.  In  the  winter  of  1822, 
Dauphin  County,  Tennessee,  was  made  to  "  start  the 
ball."  In  the  General's  reply  to  this  nomination,  dated 
February  23,  1823,  from  New  Orleans,  he  said  : — 

"For  the  services  which  I  may  have  rendered,  and  which,  it 
is  hoped,  proved  in  a  degree  beneficial  to  my  country,  I  have 
nothing  to  ask.  They  are  richly  repaid  with  the  confidence  and 
good  opinion  of  the  virtuous  and  well-deserving  part  of  the  com- 
munity. I  have  only  essayed  to  discharge  a  debt  which  every 
man  owes  his  country  when  her  rights  are  invaded  ;  and  if  twelve 
years'  exposure  to  fatigue  and  numerous  privations  can  warrant 
the  assertion,  I  may  venture  to  assert  that  my  portion  of  public 
service  has  been  performed,  and  that  with  this  impression  I  have 
retired  from  the  busy  scenes  of  public  life  with  a  desire  to  be  a 
spectator  merely  of  passing  events. 


368  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

"The  office  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union  is  one  of  great 
responsibility.  As  it  should  not  be  sought  by  any  one  individual 
of  the  Republic,  so  it  can  not  with  propriety  be  declined  when 
offered  by  those  who  have  the  power  of  selection.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  the  American  people  alone,  and  in  the  election  they 
should  exercise  their  free  and  unbiased  judgment.  It  was  with  these 
impressions,  I  presume,  and  without  any  consultation  with  me, 
that  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  as  an  additional 
testimony  of  their  confidence  in  me,  thought  proper  to  present  my 
name  to  the  American  community.  My  political  creed  prompts 
me  to  leave  the  affair,  uninfluenced  by  any  expression  on  my  part, 
to  the  free  will  of  those  who  have  alone  the  right  to  decide." 

This  is  a  polished,  diplomatic  letter,  and  meant  all 
that  an  old,  experienced  political  wire-puller  could  desire. 
The  sentiment  as  to  the  seeking  or  rejecting  of  the  office 
of  President  was  by  no  means  new,  but  the  writer  of 
this  letter  knew  its  influence  upon  the  people  for  whom 
it  was  designed.  "The  virtuous  and  well-deserving" 
recommended  him.  Those  who  opposed  him  could  never 
be  virtuous  nor  well-deserving  in  his  estimation.  When 
asked  to  become  a  President  he  put  aside  the  offer  by 
the  gentle  reminder  that  he  had  already  performed  his 
share  of  J-he  public  services,  and  now,  for  the  rest  of 
his  life,  like  the  man  in  the  bow-window,  only  desired 
to  look  on  the  scenes  as  they  rolled  by  !  This  was  a 
wonderfullly  innocent,  modest,  coquettish  letter.  Men 
who  expected  to  profit  by  it  were  now  cautiously  and 
surely  working  in  harmony  with  General  Jackson  to 
train  the  people  in  his  behalf. 

This  is  the  way  the  General  accepted  the  election 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  after  he  '"  had  per- 
formed his  share  of  the  public  services  :" — 

"Hermitage,  21st  September,  1823. 
"Your  letter  of  yesterday  has  reached  me,  stating  it  to  be  the 
desire  of  many  members  of  the  Legislature  that  my  name  may 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  369 

be  proposed  for  the  appointment  of  Senator  to  Congress.  It  is 
very  true,  as  you  remark,  that  I  have  not  only  said,  but  have,  I 
believe,  through  life  acted  upon  the  principle  that  office,  in  a 
republican  government  like  ours,  should  not  be  solicited,  nor  yet, 
when  conferred,  declined  ;  still,  I  would  suggest  to  my  friends 
whether  they  ought  not  to  excuse  me  from  accepting  the  appoint- 
ment they  have  proposed.  There  are  many  better  qualified  to 
meet  the  fatigues  of  the  journey  than  myself,  and  on  whose  serv- 
ices a  reliance  for  a  time  to  come,  with  a  prospect  of  becoming 
better  as  they  advance,  might  be  safely  reposed  ;  whereas,  from 
health  impaired  and  advancing  age,  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
could  be  calculated  upon  from  me;  and,  besides,  it  might  be 
thought,  nay,  would  be  said,  that  my  State  had  conferred  it  upon 
me  with  a  view  to  other  objects  and  for  other  purposes,  which 
are  at  present  pending  before  the  Nation.  I  have,  therefore, 
earnestly  to  request  my  friends,  and  beg  of  you,  not  to  press  me 
to  an  acceptance  of  the  appointment.  If  appointed,  I  could  not 
decline ;  and  yet,  in  accepting,  I  should  do  great  violence  to  my 
wishes  and  to  my  feelings.  The  length  of  time  I  have  passed  in 
public  service  authorizes  me  to  make  this  request,  which,  with  my 
friends,  I  trust  will  be  considered  reasonable  and  proper." 

But  the  "friends"  knew  better  than  to  excuse  him, 
and,  of  course,  the  General  was  elected.  It  was  a 
part  of  a  scheme  to  which  he  was  entirely  cognizant. 
The  "friends"  had  been  hard  at  work  to  destroy  the 
power  of  the  Congressional  Caucus,  not  that  they  had 
any  scruples  about  it,  or  that  they  had  any  great 
degree  of  hatred  for  the  Washington  Caucus  mode  of 
selecting  a  President  for  the  people,  but  because  it 
was  in  the  way  of  their  scheme.  A  few  unknown 
men  in  Tennessee  could  not  hope  to  control  the  "  Cau- 
cus." The  "  friends "  very  well  knew  that  General 
Jackson  could  not  become  the  Caucus  nominee,  and 
that  they  must  kill  the  Caucus  in  order  to  make  the 
way  possible  for  their  man. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1823,  General  Jackson, 
for  the  second  time,  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the 

24— r. 


370  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

United  States,  to  which  the  Tennessee  Legislature 
had  elected  him.  Twenty-three  members  of  that  body 
voted  against  him,  and,  for  doing  so,  most  of  them  lost 
their  places,  the  people  declining  to  return  to  the 
Legislature  men  who  were  reckless  enough  to  oppose 
the  election  of  General  Jackson  to  any  position.  His 
career  in  the  Senate  is  easily  told,  as  it  was  before. 
Four  times  he  made  brief  speeches,  and  was  usually 
in  his  seat  to  cast  his  vote  on  all  important  measures. 
He  voted  against  the  reduction  of  the  duty  on  im- 
ported iron,  on  cotton  and  woolen  goods,  and  cotton- 
bagging  ;  for  abolishing  imprisonment  for  debt,  and  for 
lowering  or  removing  duties  on  certain  articles.  He 
favored  the  construction  of  a  road  by  the  Government 
into  Florida;  favored  appropriations  for  several  similar 
public  improvements  and  voted  for  them,  such  as 
making  roads  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  extending 
the  Cumberland  Road  through  Ohio,  improving  the 
Miss'issippi  and  Ohio,  and  for  taking  stock  in  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Delaware  and  the  Louisville  Canals.  This 
was  the  General's  tariff  record,  and  of  great  value  to 
him  did  it  become  in  the  approaching  Presidential  con- 
test. In  fact,  this  record  made  him  appear  to  be  the 
very  kind  of  tariff  man  that  Pennsylvania  wanted  in 
the  President's  Chair. 

The  following  letters,  made  public  at  the  right 
moment  and  in  the  right  manner,  settled  the  tariff" 
question  to  the  satisfaction  of  General  Jackson's  doubt- 
ful supporters  : — 

DR.  COLMAN  TO  GENERAL  JACKSON. 

"  Warkenton,  Va.,  April  21,  1824. 
"  Dear  Sir, — Being  one  of  the  six  members  of  the  Virginia 
Assembly  in   the  caucus  last  winter  who  voted   for  you   as  a   fit 
and  proper  person   to  be  supported   by  the  people  of  the  State 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  371 

for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  and  having  since  heard 
that  you  are  in  favor  of  the  '  protecting  duty  policy,'  I  take  the 
liberty  of  desiring  you  to  inform  me  whether  you  intend  voting 
for  the  Tarifi"  Bill  now  before  Congress.  I  wish  to  have  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  as  soon  as  your  convenience  will  permit,  that 
I  may  answer  the  Fredericksburg  Committee,  who  invite  my 
co-operation  in  getting  up  a  ticket  for  the  Hero  of  New  Orleans. 
In  this  county  you  have  many  friends,  and  some  think  your  sup- 
port will  be  better  in  Petersburg  than  in  any  of  the  contiguous 
counties.  We  are  anti-tariff  here ;  and  candor  requires  me  to 
say  that  should  you  be  the  advocate  of  a  measure  to  which  our 
interest  is  evidently  opposed,  the  zeal  with  which  you  have  beea 
hitherto  supported  will  be  relaxed.     I  am,  etc., 

"L.  H.  COLMAN." 

GENERAL  JACKSON  TO  DR.  COLMAN. 

"Washington  City,  April  26,  1824. 

"  Sir, — I  have  had  the  honor  this  day  to  receive  your  letter 
of  the  21st  instant,  and  with  candor  shall  reply  to  it.  My  name 
has  been  brought  before  the  nation  by  the  people  themselves 
without  any  agency  of  mine ;  for  I  wish  it  not  to  be  forgotten 
that  I  have  never  solicited  office,  nor  when  called  upon  by  the 
constituted  authorities  have  ever  declined  where  I  conceived 
my  services  would  be  beneficial  to  my  country.  But  as  my 
name  has  been  brought  before  the  nation  for  the  first  office  in 
the  gift  of  the  people,  it  is  incumbent  on  me,  when  asked,  frankly 
•  to  declare  my  opinion  upon  any  political  or  national  question 
pending  before  and  about  which  the  country  feels  an  interest. 

' '  You  ask  me  ray  opinion  on  the  Tariff.  I  answer,  that  I 
am  in  favor  of  a  judicious  examination  and  revision  of  it ;  and 
so  far  as  the  Tariff  before  us  embraces  the  design  of  fostering, 
protecting,  and  preserving  within  ourselves  the  means  of  national 
defense  and  independence,  particularly  in  a  state  of  war,  I  would 
advocate  and  support  it.  The  experience  of  the  late  war  ought 
to  teach  us  a  lesson,  and  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  If  our 
liberty  and  republican  form  of  government,  procured  for  us  by 
our  Revolutionary  fathers,  are  worth  the  blood  and  treasure  at 
which  they  were  obtained,  it  surely  is  our  duty  to  protect  and 
defend  them.  Can  there  be  an  American  patriot,  who  saw  the 
privations,  dangers,  and  difficulties  experienced  for  the  want  of 
a  proper  means  of  defense  during  the  last  war,  who  would  be 


372  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

willing  again  to  hazard  the  safety  of  our  country  if  embroiled ; 
or  rest  it  for  defense  on  the  precarious  means  of  national  re- 
sources to  be  derived  tVom  commerce,  in  a  state  of  war  with  a 
maritime  power  which  might  destroy  that  commerce  to  prevent 
our  obtaining  the  means  of  defense,  and  thereby  subdue  us?  I 
hope  there  is  not ;  and  if  there  is,  I  am  sure  he  does  not  deserve 
to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  freedom.  , 

"  Heaven  smiled  upon,  and  gave  us  liberty  and  independence. 
That  same  Providence  ha^  blessed  us  with  the  means  of  national 
independence  and  national  defense.  If  we  omit  or  refuse  to  use 
the  gifts  which  He  has  extended  to  us,  we  deserve  not  the  con- 
tinuation of  His  blessings.  He  has  filled  our  mountains  and  our 
plains  with  minerals,  with  lead,  iron,  and  copper,  and  given 
us  a  climate  and  soil  for  the  growing  of  hemp  and  wool.  These 
being  the  grand  materials  of  our  national  defense,  they  ought  to 
have  extended  to  them  adequate  and  fair  protection,  that  our 
own  manufactories  and  laborers  may  be  placed  on  a  fair  competi- 
tion with  those  of  Europe  ;  and  that  we  may  have  within  our 
own  country  a  supply  of  those  leading  and  important  articles  so 
essential  to  war.  Beyond  this,  I  look  at  the  Tariff  with  an  eye 
to  the  proper  distribution  of  labor  and  revenue ;  and  with  a  view 
to  discharge  our  national  debt.  I  am  one  of  those  who  do  not 
believe  that  a  national  debt  is  a  national  blessing,  but  rather  a 
curse  to  a  republic ;  inasmuch  as  it  is  calculated  to  raise  around 
the  Administration  a  moneyed  aristocracy  dangerous  to  the  lib- 
erties of  the  country. 

"This  Tariff — I  mean  a  judicious  one — possesses  more  fanciful 
than  real  dangers.  I  will  ask  what  is  the  real  situation  of  the 
agriculturist?  Where  has  the  American  farmer  a  market  for  his 
surplus  products?  Except  for  cotton  he  has  neither  a  foreign 
nor  a  home  market.  Does  not  this  clearly  prove,  when  there  is 
no  market  either  at  home  or  abroad,  that  there  is  too  much  labor 
employed  in  agriculture  ?  and  that  the  channels  of  labor  should 
be  multiplied  ?  Common  sense  points  put  at  once  the  remedy. 
Draw  from  agriculture  the  superabundant  labor,  employ  it  in 
mechanism  and  manufactures,  thereby  creating  a  home  market 
for  your  breadstuffs,  and  distributing  labor  to  a  most  profitable 
account,  and  benefits  to  the  country  will  result.  Take  from 
agriculture  in  the  United  States  six  hundred  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  you  at  once  give  a  home  market  for 
more   breadstuffs  than   all   Europe   now  furnishes  us.     In  short. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  373 

sir,  we  have  been  too  long  subject  to  the  policy  of  the  British 
merchants.  It  is  time  we  should  become  a  little  more  American- 
ized, and  instead  of  feeding  the  paupers  and  laborers  of  Europe, 
feed  our  own,  or  else  in  a  short  time,  by  continuing  our  present 
policy,  we  shall  all  be  paupers  ourselves. 

"It  is,  therefore,  my  opinion  that  a  careful  Tariff  is  much 
wanted  to  pay  our  national  debt,  and  afford  us  the  means  of 
that  defense  within  ourselves  on  which  the  safety  and  liberty  of 
our  country  depend;  and  last,  though  not  least,  give  a  proper 
distribution  to  our  labor,  which  must  prove  beneficial  to  the 
happiness,  independence,  and  wealth  of  the  community. 

"This  is  a  short  outline  of  my  opinions,  generally,  on  the 
subject  of  your  inquiry,  and  believing  them  correct  and  calculated 
to  further  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  my  country,  I  declare 
to  you  I  would  not  barter  them  for  any  oflfice  or  situation  of  a 
temporal  character  that  could  be  given  me. 

"I  have  presented  you  my  opinions  freely,  because  I  am  with- 
out concealment,  and  should  indeed  despise  myself  if  I  could  be- 
lieve myself  capable  of  acquiring  the  confidence  of  any  by  means 
80  ignoble. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

This  Colman  letter  had  a  wide  circulation  in  the 
newspapers.  Whether  General  Jackson  believed  in 
its  contents,  or  knew  what  extreme  tariff  doctrines  it 
contained,  or  knew  it  to  be  a  sharp  political  adventure, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  at  this  time,  but  certain 
it  is  that  the  letter  was  one  of  his  fortunate  hits.  It 
made  many  friends  and  votes  then.  At  no  distant 
day,  however,  this  letter  began  to  be  used  as  a  sharp 
weapon  against  him.  There  was  really,  or  seemed  to 
be.  more  tariff  in  this  letter,  which  Senator  Jackson 
was  made  to  write,  than  President  Jackson  could 
support. 

The  8th  of  January  had  cropped  out  this  year  with 
extraordinary  splendor  everywhere,  and  at  Washington, 
General  Jackson  was   unquestionably  the   man  of  the 


374  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

moment.  At  this  fortunate  juncture  another  event 
occurred  which  gave  a  tremendous  impulse  to  Jackson's 
prospects.  Through  Major  Lewis,  or  one  of  the  other 
managers,  it  reached  the  public  ear  that  in  1816  and 
1817,  a  very  praiseworthy  and  extraordinary  corre- 
spondence had  taken  place  between  President  Monroe 
and  General  Jackson,  in  which  the  latter  appeared  in 
an  attitude  which  would  gladden  the  hearts  of  his 
followers  and  stiffen  the  joints  of  his  doubting  ad- 
herents. Of  course,  the  next  step  was  to  publish 
these  Monroe-Jackson  letters  concerning  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Federalist  to  a  position  in  the  Cabinet,  and 
a  more  general  disregard  of  party  lines  in  the  public 
patronage.  These  letters,  on  the  part  of  General 
Jackson,  had  a  Washingtonian  civil-service  ring  about 
them  which  greatly  pleased  many  of  the  old  Federal- 
ists ;  but  which  never  did  have  the  remotest  degree 
of  consideration  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  Jackson 
when  he  reached  the  position  in  which  he  could  verify 
the  principles  and  pretensions  of  the  Monroe  letters. 
These  celebrated  letters  which  became  so  vast  a  ficti- 
tious capital  in  Jackson's  first  races  for  the  Presidency 
may  be  found  in  a  preceding  volume  of  this  work. 
William  B.  Lewis  had  been  the  writer  and  polisher  of 
the  letters,  but  the  sentiments  had  undoubtedly  been 
the  General's  at  the  time.  Hundreds  of  the  old  Fed- 
eralists were  captivated  by  these  baseless  letters,  and 
not  only  supported  Jackson  in  the  race  of  1824, 
but  also  adhered  to  him  until  after  his  election  four 
years  later. 

The  Congress  Caucus  had  now  fallen  into  disfavor, 
a  large  majority  even  of  the  members  of  Congress  be- 
ing opposed   to   it.     Notwithstanding   this   fact,  a  call 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  375 

was  made  to  the  Democratic  Congressmen  to  meet  in 
the  Representatives'  Hall  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1824,  to  select  candidates  to  be  supported  for  the 
Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency  at  the  approaching 
election.  Sixty-six  members  attended  and  two  others 
were  represented.  Of  these  Mr.  Crawford  received 
sixty-four  votes,  John  Quincy  Adams,  two,  Nathaniel 
Macon,  one,  and  Andrew  Jackson,  one,  for  President; 
and  for  Vice-President,  Albert  Gallatin  received  fifty- 
seven,  Mr.  Adams,  one,  Erastus  Root,  two,  and  Samuel 
Smith,  William  Eustis,  Walter  Lowrie,  Richard  Rush, 
John  Todd,  and  Rufus  King,  one  each.  Crawford 
and  Gallatin  were,  therefore,  declared  to  be  the  Caucus 
candidates,  and  a  sort  of  official  character  was  given 
to  their  nomination. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1824,  the  Federalists  of 
Pennsylvania  formally  nominated  General  Jackson  for 
the  Presidency,  in  a  meeting  at  Harrisburg. 

On  the  fourth  day  of  the  following  month  a  State 
convention  met  at  Harrisburg  in  the  interests  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson  and  Mr.  Calhoun.  Jackson  received  the 
votes  of  all  the  delegates  but  one  for  the  Presidency, 
and  Mr.  Calhoun  had  eighty-seven  votes  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  and  was  nominated.  Other  candidates 
brought  before  this  convention  were  Henry  Clay, 
Albert  Gallatin,  William  Findlay,  John  Tod,  and 
Daniel  Montgomery.  Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Calhoun 
had  been  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  first  place. 
But  it  was  deemed  politic  to  lay  him  aside,  for  the 
time,  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  be  brought 
forward  for  the  succession.  ^  George  M.  Dallas,  who 
had  previously  supported  him  for  the  Presidency,  came 
out  at  this  meeting  in  favor  of   General   Jackson  on 


376  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  foregoing  understanding.  Mr.  Calhoun  thought 
he  was  young  enough  and  strong  enough  to  submit  to 
this  arrangement,  and  consequently  there  became  one 
less  Presidential  candidate  in  the  field.  Some  other 
States  followed  Tennessee  and  Pennsylvania  in  this 
action,  and  the  candidacy  of  General  Jackson  for  the 
Presidency  became  a  fact,  although  some  of  his 
friends  or  acquaintances  still  looked  upon  the  whole 
matter  as  a  big  joke. 

There  were  now  in  the  field  for  the  Presidency 
Henry  Clay,  John  Quincy  Adams,  William  H.  Craw- 
ford, and  Andrew  Jackson,  and  De  Witt  Clinton  had 
not  relinquished  his  claim  to  that  office.  All  of  these 
men  belonged  to  one  party.  They  were  all  supposed 
to  be  Republicans  (Democrats),  and  the  contest  was 
between  men,  not  principles.  There  was  only  one 
party,  and  a  state  of  affairs  existed  which  could  never 
again  occur,  perhaps.  The  race  four  years  later  was, 
indeed,  a  similar  conflict,  or  the  sequel  to  this,  mainly 
narrowed  down  to  Mr.  Adams  and  General  Jackson, 
but  there  were  some  very  decided  differences  of  pub- 
lic policy. 

Jackson  took  as  great  interest  in  this  race  as  he 
did  in  the  Seminole  campaign.  New  Orleans,  or  any- 
thing that  concerned  him.  It  was  impossible  for  him 
to  be  an  idle  spectator  under  such  circumstances. 
From  Washington  he  wrote  many  letters  to  his  friends. 
Into  their  mouths  he  put  words  to  be  used  for  his 
benefit,  framed  with  a  manager's  skill,  if  not  a  wire- 
puller's. He  really  stood  at  the  head  of  the  cohort 
of  zealous,  able  workers  for  his  success.  In  the  sum- 
mer he  returned  home.  The  new  dwelling  or  real 
"  Hermitage  "  was  now  a  greater  resort  than  ever.    It 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  377 

had  become  a  political  center.  There  was  no  rest 
there  now.  He  had  known  what  personal  hatred  was, 
and  had  felt  how  vulnerable  some  things  in  his  life 
could  be  made  to  appear,  but  he  now  for  the  first  saw 
them  brought  out  in  every  possible  shape.  The  pens 
and  tongues  of  his  friends  were  all  busy.  Their  task 
was  stupendous.  Among  his  many  assailants  was 
Jesse  Benton.  Benton  came  out  in  a  pamphlet 
attacking  Jackson  in  great  fury  in  a  long  array  of 
charges,  among  which  was  the  execution  of  John 
Woods  and  the  Baptist  preacher,  with  the  other  five 
Tennessee  militia.  Yet  it  was  not  until  four  and 
eight  years  later  that  all  the  sins  of  Jackson's  life 
were  paraded  in  all  their  intensity  against  him.  There 
was  more  of  the  policy  of  the  politician  in  his  con- 
duct during  this  campaign  than  he  had  ever  been  able 
to  show  in  all  his  career  before.  In  mildness,  toler- 
ance, and  even  forgiveness  he  far  outdid  himself;  show- 
ing himself  to  his  intimate  friends  in  a  light  in  which 
they  had  never  walked  before,  and  never  would  have 
an  opportunity  to  do  so  again,  to  any  great  extent. 
And  while  all  this  tended  to  exhibit  him  as  a  politi- 
cian, it  was  to  his  advantage  in  every  way.  His  con- 
duct in  the  whole  campaign  was  admirable,  greatly 
gratifying  his  friends,  and  increasing  their  number. 
They  believed  he  would  triumph,  as  he  always  had 
done,  and  he,  sharing  this  belief,  felt  satisfied  with 
the  world.  One  of  the  most  wonderful  things  in  this 
wonderful  man's  career  occurred  during  this  campaign. 
This  was  in  his  becoming  reconciled  to  some  of  his 
old  enemies.  General  Scott  was  in  Washington  in 
the  spring  of  1824,  and  not  wishing  to  leave  until  he 
had  afforded  Senator  Jackson  an   opportunity  to  treat 


378  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

him  as  a  friend  or  an  enemy,  sent  him  this  brief  and 
somewhat  ominous  letter  : — 

"Sir, — One  portion  of  the  American  community  has  long 
attributed  to  you  the  most  distinguished  magnanimity,  and  the 
other  portion  the  greatest  desperation  in  your  resentments.  Am 
I  to  conclude  that  both  are  equally  in  error  ?  I  allude  to  the 
circumstances  which  have  transpired  between  us,  and  which  need 
not  here  be  recapitulated,  and  to  the  fact  that  I  have  now  been 
six  days  in  your  immediate  vicinity  without  having  attracted 
your  notice.  As  this  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  have  been 
within  a  hundred  miles  of  you,  and  as  it  is  barely  possible  that 
you  may  be  ignorant  of  my  presence,  I  beg  leave  to  state  that  I 
shall  not  leave  the  District  before  the  morning  of  the  14th  instant." 

It  was  no  time  for  fighting  duels.      If  it  had   been 

a  few  years  earlier,  or  the  General    had    not  become 

suddenly  politic,  the  answer  to  this   bantering  epistle 

might  have  been  quite  different.     The  General  merely 

replied : — 

"Sir, — Your  letter  of  to-day  has  been  received.  Whether 
the  world  are  correct  or  in  error,  as  regards  my  '  magnanimity,' 
is  for  the  world  to  decide.  I  am  satisfied  of  one  fact,  that  when 
you  shall  know  me  better,  you  will  not  be  disposed  to  harbor  the 
opinion,  that  anything  like  '  desperation  in  resentment '  attaches 
to  me.  Your  letter  is  ambiguous ;  but,  concluding  from  occur- 
rences heretofore,  that  it  was  written  with  friendly  views,  I  take 
the  liberty  of  saying  to  you,  that  whenever  you  shall  feel  dis- 
posed to  meet  me  on  friendly  terms,  that  disposition  will  not  be 
met  by  any  other  than  a  corresponding  feeling  on  my  part." 

There  was  none  of  his  former  tone  about  this.  A 
duel  would  have  been  out  of  the  question  with  him 
then,  although  he  yet  believed  in  the  brutal  and  infer- 
nal method  of  settling  disputes  with  pistols.  In  1821, 
while  Governor  of  Florida,  he  had  allowed  a  duel  to  be 
fought  at  Pensacola  in  a  most  open  manner,  in  which 
his  friend  was  killed,  all  of  which  he  could  have  pre- 
vented, by  a  word.      This  affair  was  always  numbered 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  379 

justly  among  the  charges  against  him  by  his  political 
enemies.  The  result  of  this  interchange  of  letters  was 
a  tolerable  degree  of  friendship  between  Scott  and 
Jackson  for  several  years. 

The  next  case  was  that  of  Thomas  Hart  Benton, 
who  from  this  time  to  the  end  of  his  life,  remained  the 
friend,  and,  from  the  failure  of  Mr.  Crawford  in  this 
contest,  the  defender  and  supporter  of  General  Jack- 
son in  every  step  and  act. 

But  Mr.  Benton  must  himself  tell  how  this  recon- 
ciliation came  about,  making  it  appear  much  to  the 
praise  of  General  Jackson. 

Mr.  Benton  wrote  : — 

' '  Well,  how  many  changes  in  this  life !  General  Jackson  is 
now  sitting  in  the  chair  next  to  me.  There  was  a  vacant  one 
next  to  me,  and  he  took  it  for  the  session.  Several  Senators  saw 
our  situation,  and  offered  mediation.  I  declined  it  upon  the 
ground  that  what  had  happened  could  neither  be  explained,  re- 
canted, nor  denied.  After  this,  we  were  put  upon  the  same  com- 
mittee. Facing  me  one  day,  as  we  sat  in  our  seats,  he  said  to 
me,  '  Colonel,  we  are  on  the  same  committee  ;  I  will  give  you 
notice  when  it  is  necessary  to  attend.'  (He  was  chairman,  and 
had  the  right  to  summon  us.)  I  answered,  '  General,  make  the 
time  suit  yourself;  it  will  be  convenient  for  me  to  attend  at  any 
time.'  In  committee  we  did  business  together  just  as  other  per- 
sons. After  that,  he  asked  me  how  my  wife  was,  and  I  asked 
him  how  his  was.  Then  he  called  and  left  his  card  at  my  lodg- 
ings, '  Andrew  Jackson  for  Colonel  Benton  and  lady ;'  forthwith 
I  called  at  his,  and  left  mine,  '  Colonel  Benton  for  General  Jack- 
son.' Since  then  we  have  dined  together  at  several  places,  and 
yesterday,  at  the  President's,  I  made  him  the  first  bow;  he  held 
forth  his  hand,  and  we  shook  hands.  I  then  introduced  him  to 
my  wife,  and  thus  civil  relations  are  established  between  us. 
Jackson  has  gained  since  he  has  been  here,  by  his  mild  and  con- 
ciliatory manner." 

Friends  had  before  tried  to  bring  these  men  to- 
gether, but  it  was  of  no  use.     There  was  nothing  that 


380  .      LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

could  be  explained.  The  intervention  of  somebody 
might  make  explanations  necessary.  The  reconciliation 
was  now  effected  without  a  word  to  the  past.  The 
strangest  and  most  short-lived  of  all  these  reconciliations 
was  that  with  Henry  Clay. 

At  last  the  election  came,  resulting  in  99  electoral 
votes  for  General  Jackson,  84  for  Mr.  Adams,  41  for 
Mr.  Crawford,  and  37  for  Henry  Clay.  There  not 
having  been  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  for  any  candi- 
date, there  was  no  popular  election ;  and  now  for  the 
second  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  it  devolved 
upon  the  House  of  Representatives  to  choose  a  Presi- 
dent. The  Constitution  provided  that  the  choice  should 
be  made  from  the,  three  candidates  having  the  largest 
number  of  electoral  votes,  and  consequently  the  case  was 
simplified  at  least  by  the  omission  of  Mr.  Clay.  This 
unexpected  and  undesirable  termination  of  the  election 
at  the  polls  was  extremely  vexatious  to  the  country, 
and  perplexing  to  the  candidates  themselves.  Of  the 
261  electoral  votes,  Mr.  Calhoun  received  182,  and  was 
duly  elected  Vice-President,  as  had  been  well  known 
from  the  first.  For  a  time  it  was  generally  believed 
that  the  House  would  elect  General  Jackson,  and  in 
this  belief,  of  course,  the  General  shared.  The  belief 
was  well  founded,  as  it  was  claimed  that  the  States 
giving  their  electoral  votes  to  Jackson  had  mx)re  popu- 
lation than  those  voting  for  any  one  of  the  other  can- 
didates, and  that  he  was  the  second  choice  of  several 
States  in  which  Clay  or  Crawford  had  a  majority. 
General  Jackson  was  himself  so  confident  of  a  result 
in  his  favor  in  the  House  that  when  he  went  to  Wash- 
ington to  attend  the  session  of  Congress,  in  the  fall 
of  1824,    he    took   Mrs.    Jackson   with   him,    with    a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  381 

view  of  being  ready  to  take  possession  of  the  White 
House. 

This  short  session  of  Congress  was  an  exciting  one. 
With  Congress,  as  with  the  people,  little  was  thought 
of  but  who  should  be  the  next  President.  As  Mr. 
Clay  was  left  out,  the  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  were 
sanguine  as  to  his  success.  They  hoped,  vainly  hoped, 
that  the  House  being  unable  to  agree  on  Jackson  or 
Adams,  would  compromise  on  him.  The  result  nearly 
broke  the  heart  of  some  of  Mr.  Crawford's  friends,  who 
were  working  night  and  day  for  him  at  the  Capital,  and 
it  was  the  end  and  death  of  all  his  hopes. 

Mr.  Clay  was  in  the  House,  and  was  now  at  the 
height  of  his  influence  there  and  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Each  State  had  but  one  vote  on  this  important 
question.  All  States  were  equal.  Mr.  Clay  would 
control  and  cast  the  vote  of  Kentucky.  He  never  had 
been  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Adams's.  He  had,  indeed, 
been  averse  to  Mr.  Adams.  But  he  announced  at  once 
that  he  could  not  vote  for  Jackson.  He  never  could 
believe  General  Jackson  a  fit  man  to  be  President  of 
the  United  States.  This  opinion  was  once  Jackson's, 
but  he  would  not  have  shared  such  an  opinion  with 
any  man.  Various  attempts  were  made  to  induce  Mr. 
Clay  to  give  his  influence  to  Jackson.  He  was  courted 
by  the  friends  of  all  of  the  candidates.  It  was  even 
said  that  he  could  name  his  position  under  any  candi- 
date he  would  favor.  On  the  9th  of  February,  1825, 
the  Senate  and  House  assembled  in  the  Representa- 
tives' Hall,  and  after  opening  and  counting  the  electoral 
votes,  the  House  proceeded  alone  to  ballot  for  Presi- 
dent, a  crowded  gallery  looking  anxiously  on.  To  the 
surprise  of  everybody  the  first  ballot  settled  the  matter, 


382  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

by  giving  .Mr.  Adams  thirteen  votes,  the  votes  of 
thirteen  States.  Mr.  Crawford  received  four,  and  Gen- 
eral Jackson  seven  votes ;  thus  electing  Mr.  Adams  by 
a  Constitutional  majority,  and  in  the  way  provided.  It 
was  claimed  that  General  Jackson  received  this  un- 
looked-for ending  of  the  contest  as  a  matter  of  little 
importance  to  him,  and  was,  to  all  appearances,  the 
coolest  and  most  contented  man  in  the  country.  For 
this  extraordinary  tact  and  display  of  good  sense,  the 
General  received  the  highest  praise  of  his  friends,  and 
no  small  amount  of  admiration  from  some  of  his  op- 
ponents. But  they  were  giving  the  man  credit  for 
more  than  he  deserved.  They  did  not  understand  him. 
Was  it  really  in  the  nature  of  Andrew  Jackson  to  be 
contented  or  satisfied  with  his  own  defeat  ?  Was  it 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  would  or  could  entertain 
good  and  manly  feelings  towards  those  who  were  the 
authors  of  his  defeat  ? 

The  interior  and  real  evidence  in  this  case  goes  to 
show  that  he  did  not,  in  the  least,  depart  from  what 
might  have  been  expected  of  him,  from  a  knowledge  of 
his  past  conduct  and  acts.  General  Jackson  was  really 
the  most  completely  disappointed  man  in  America.  His 
disappointment  was  of  the  worst  kind.  He  despised 
and  hated  those  who  were  mainly  the  cause  of  his  fail- 
ure ;  and  notwithstanding  his  easy  exterior,  he  set 
about  at  once  in  directing  the  course  to  be  pursued  by 
his  friends  in  the  case,  by  the  Jackson  newspapers,  and 
especially  by  the  Tennessee  papers. 

His  great  themes,  privately,  at  first,  and  finally  in 
public,  became  the  "  thwarted  will  of  the  people,"  the 
assumed  "  bargain  and  sale,"  the  "  fraud  and  corrup- 
tion "  of  Clay  and  Adams,  by  which  the  latter  became 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  383 

President  against  the  will  of  the  people,  and  the 
former  became  prime  minister  of  the  new  Cabinet. 
To  the  end  of  his  life  this  remained  one  of  his  most 
constant  and  exciting  subjects.  He  worked  himself 
into  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Clay  had,  beforehand,  bar- 
gained his  influence  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State,  and  nothing,  not  a  voice  from  Heaven  even, 
could  have  changed  him  in  this  belief.  If  at  first  it 
was  for  effect,  a  mere  phantom  in  his  mind,  a  piece 
of  demagogism,  he  finally  believed  in  the  truth  of  his 
charges,  and  the  more  they  became  clearly  untrue,  the 
more  he  clung  to  his  faith  and  hated  any  show  of 
opposition.  General  Jackson  was  not  wise  or  good 
enough  to  be  without  or  above  prejudices.  Preju- 
dice, in  the  every-day,  common  acceptation,  implies 
ignorance,  unfounded  bias,  or  a  disposition  to  judge 
wrongly,  unfairly,  ungenerously,  or  unkindly  and  with 
evil  intent.  The  truly  considerate,  conscientious,  and 
intelligent  can  not  be  controlled  or  actuated  by  preju- 
dice, no  matter  what  the  subject.  But  unfortunately 
General  Jackson  did  not  belong  to  this  broad-spirited, 
delicately  just,  and  refined  class.  He  was  a  man  of 
deep,  unyielding  prejudices,  and  the  country  was  made 
to  suffer  egregiously  by  reason  of  them.  Nothing  was 
easier  than  for  him  to  think  evil  of  men  who  opposed 
him;  and  he  generally  did  so.  This  was  one  of  the 
great  defects  in  his  life  and  character. 

Senator  Jackson  left  Washington  in  the  spring  of 
1825,  firmly  persuaded  that  he  had  been  cheated  out 
of  the  Presidency,  that  the  people  expected  and  de- 
sired the  House  to  choose  him,  that  it  was  in  the  very 
spirit  and  nature  of  the  case  that  he  should  have  been 
chosen,  that   he    deserved    to   be    President,    that   he 


384  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ought  to  be  President,  and  that  he  should  hold  to  the 
opinion  that  the  dishonesty  of  Clay  and  Adams  was 
the  cause  of  his  failure.  Still  at  the  President's  re- 
ception on  the  night  of  the  day  on  which  the  House 
decided  who  should  be  President  for  the  next  four 
years,  Jackson  was  one  of  the  first  to  take  the  hand 
of  Mr.  Adams  and  congratulate  him.  This  apparent 
act  of  generosity,  his  political  opponents  put  down  as 
a  marked  display  of  insincerity.  Was  the  charge  not 
well  founded  ?  He  was  yet  directly  under  the  eye  of 
his  managers.  Before  starting  for  Tennessee,  he  had 
given  life  and  strength  to  the  cry  of  "  bargain  and 
corruption "  in  the  mouths  of  his  friends,  and  put  in 
motion  the  bitter  conflict  which  was  to  be  waged  for 
four  long  years  at  least. 

Samuel  Swartwout,  of  New  York,  who  had  figured 
in  the  affairs  of  Aaron  Burr,  was  now  a  devoted  and 
favorite  friend  of  General  Jackson.  To  him  the  Gen- 
eral wrote  a  few  days  after  the  House  election,  show- 
ing himself  to  be  a  disappointed  and  bitter  man,  not 
a  philosopher  and  patriot.  The  letter  was  undoubt- 
edly meant  for  the  public,  and  had  a  very  selfish  and 
reprehensible  end  in  view,  namely,  to  help  on  the  cry 
of  "  bargain  and  corruption,"  already  beginning  to  fill 
the  Jacksonian  newspapers,  and  to  help  the  mass  of 
unreasonable  and  ignorant  voters  into  the  belief  that 
they  had  been  cheated  out  of  their  President  who  was 
the  real  friend  and  patron  of  the  people.  Of  course 
Swartwout  soon  had  the  letter  in  the  newspapers. 

On  his  way  to  Nashville,  the  General  was  every- 
where received  with  boisterous  demonstrations  of  re- 
spect. The  disappointed,  especially  those  who  ex- 
pected to  profit  by  his  success,  were  profuse  in  their 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  335 

sympathy,  and  urged  him  to  talk.     Clay,  Adams,  bar- 
gain and  corruption,  and  subversion  of  the  will  of  the 
people,  were  the  themes.     There  was  a  cause  for  the 
result  reached.     The  General  would  not  listen  to  foul 
propositions  from  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends  !     He  was 
too  honest  and  unsophisticated  for  that !     Mr    Adams 
.  would  listen.     Hence  the  result  was  easily  understood 
On  this  trip,  it  was  held,  that  the  General  more  than 
whispered  his  belief  in  the  "bargain  and  corruption" 
of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Adams. 

Although  more  was  charged  against  him  for  the  in- 
discreet use  of  his  tongue  than  was  true,  no  doubt  his 
conduct  throughout  in  this  case  was  unfortunate  for  his 
reputation,  and  must  be   taken  with   some  grains   of 
charity  as  a  part  of  his  peculiar  and  wonderful  organ- 
ization.    Not  only  through  the  following  long  campaign 
was  this  "  bargain  and  corruption  "  business  the  cry  of 
the  followers  of  General  Jackson,  but  ever  afterwards 
when  occasion  presented,  he   himself  brought   it   for- 
ward, and  would  not  let  it  rest,  although  it  had  been 
refuted    killed,  in  fact,  by  every  fair  and  open  means. 
When  Mr.  Clay  was  before  the  people  a^  late  as  1844 
in  the  race  with  Polk,  Jackson  caused  to  be  printed  in 
a  JMashville  newspaper,  the  following  card  :— 

referrW  rrM?  ^^^^^^\^^"«^  *«  -"ous  newspaper  articles, 
reterr  ng  to  a  letter  said  to  have  been  written  by  me  to  Genera 
Hamilton,  recanting  the  charge  of  bargain  mide  against  Mr 
Clay,  when  he  voted  for  Mr.  Adams  in  1825 

myself  to^'sTat?  fU^.  t\'"  '"'^  '""^"'  ^  '''^  ^'  ''  ^^  ^^    to 
^n  fch?  Pn'  *^"*/,^^^^  ^«  recollection  of  ever  having  writ- 

GeVe^d  HaS^^      '^  °''  '^"^^  *'^^^  ''  ^  ^^"-  ^^  -^  to 
struction      O^  r'  t'  '°^  T  '^'''  '^^'  ^^^^   ^'^'  «"«h  a  con-    ' 
Mr   cTav   ^^I'^'^^^'fl^^ought  against  both  Mr.  Adams  and 
Mr.  Clay,  at  that  time  I  formed  my  opinion  as   the   country  at 

25— G  ^ 


386  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

large  did,  from  facts  and  circumstances  that  were  indisputable 
and  conclusive ;  and  I  may  add,  that  this  opinion  has  undergone 
no  change." 

To  the  last  he  held  out  in  his  belief  and  his  hate. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  charge  was  as  fully 
and  fairly  disproved  as  any  thing  could  be  which 
could  never  be  absolutely  known  to  the  hearts  of  all 
men,  yet  some  of  the  political  descendants  of  General 
Jackson  at  this  day  retain  the  opiilion  of  the  incon- 
siderate and  designing  of  that  time.  They  are,  how- 
ever, less  culpable  than  their  predecessors,  as  the 
"people"  of  this  day  really  know  little  about  it.  Few 
men  now  live  who  are  not  friendly  to  the  memory  of 
General  Jackson,  and  of  all  of  these,  partisans  and 
others,  few,  perhaps,  do  not  now  think  that  this  was 
one  of  the  characteristically  extravagant  phases  of  his 
public  career  which  ought  to  be  mentioned  with  com- 
passion, or  covered  mainly  by  charity's  great  white 
robe.  While  condemning  and  detesting  many  things 
in  the  life  of  General  Jackson,  it  would  be  difficult, 
perhaps,  for  most  Americans  at  this  late  date  to  hold 
any  thing  very  seriously  against  him.  So  much  in  his 
life  was  admirable,  and  all  of  it  was  so  unusual  and 
startling  in  kind,  as  to  mark  him  forever  as  one  of  the 
most  unique  and  interesting  figures  in  American  his- 
tory, however  poorly  his  career  may  serve  to  illustrate 
an  ideal  civilization. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  387 


CHAPTKR  XXII. 

"BARGAIN  AND  CORRUPTION  "—BITTER   CONTEST  FOR   THE 
PRESIDENCY  — SUCCESSFUL   THIS   TIME —  INAUGURA- 
TION  OF    GENERAL   JACKSON  — MR.    ADAMS'S 
OPINION— GRAMMAR   NOT  COUNTED. 

IF  there  could  have  been  any  doubt  about  General 
Jackson's  tongue  being  engaged  in  putting  forward 
the  scandalous  fabrication  in  the  spring  of  1825,  that 
might  have  been  allayed  by  his  formally  fathering 
the  charges  two  years  later.  He  and  his  friends 
when  they  would  have  gone  into  power,  by  hook  or 
by  crook,  were  now  trying  to  start  the  false  proposi- 
tion that  the  "will  of  the  people"  had  been  subverted 
in  the  election.  This  was  Jacksonian  when  Jackson 
was  at  stake,  but  it  was  founded  upon  an  utterly  false 
principle,  and  exhibited  a  dangerous  practice.  The 
Constitution  did  not  provide  for  this  "will  of  the 
people "  of  which  they  prated ;  but  it  did  simply  and 
plainly  provide  for  the  election  of  a  President  in  the 
very  emergency  which  had  occurred,  and  the  pro- 
vision was  exactly  carried  out.  The  Constitution,  for- 
tunately, did  not  leave  the  matter  to  be  settled  by  the 
interests  of  party  under  the  specious  cry  of  the  "  will 
of  the  people,"  or  by  any  other  species  of  trickery. 

From  the  hour  of  General  Jackson's  defeat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  it  was  decided  by  his 
friends  to  run  him  for  the  next  term  of  the  Presidency. 


388  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Indeed,  his  candidacy  was  fixed  upon  even  before  the 
question  had  been  settled.  This  fact  was  to  be  at 
once  announced  as  the  purpose  of  his  supporters.  Ten- 
nessee was  to  take  the  first  step.  Accordingly,  in 
October,  1825,  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  then 
meeting  at  Murfreesboro,  again  nominated  him  for  the 
Presidency,  and  recommended  him  to  the  general  sup- 
port of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  On  the 
13th  of  October  Jackson  visited  Murfreesboro,  and, 
on  the  following  day,  received  addresses  from  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature.  The  whole  plan  of  pro- 
cedure had  been  arranged  beforehand,  and  well  under- 
stood by  all  concerned.  After  the  reception,  the  Gen- 
eral tendered  his  resignation  as  Senator  of  the  United 
States.  This  act  was  accompanied  by  one  of  his  many 
noted  writings.  This  paper  had  a  wide  circulation, 
and  was  an  early  and  direct  appeal  for  the  support  of 
the  people,  and  became,  in  time,  a  source  of  some 
of  the  most  feasible  and  successful  attacks  upon  him. 
The  means  by  which  he  was  defeated,  as  he  claimed, 
were  uppermost  in  this  address.  The  thrust  at  Mr. 
Clay  was  evident  enough.  The  Legislature  had  taken 
some  steps  towards  favoring  a  Constitutional  provision 
to  limit  the  election  of  a  President  to  one  term  of  four 
or  six  years.  This  the  General  approved,  and  then 
declared  his  opposition  to  the  appointment  of  Congress- 
men to  place  under  the  Administration. 

In  May,  1826,  he  was  also  nominated  by  a  public 
meeting  in  Philadelphia,  and  finally  by  meetings  of  his 
advocates  in  most  of  the  States.  The  General  was 
cautious  as  to  his  movements,  and,  to  a  great  extent, 
avoided  public  displays  and  utterances  which  might  be 
construed  into  efforts  for  his  own  success.     But  he  was 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  389 

at  the  head  of  all  campaign  work,  and  took  occasion 
to  be  present  at  a  great  number  of  public  gatherings, 
especially  in  his  own  State. 

To  an  invitation  to  visit  Kentucky,  at  this  time, 
he  made  the  following  admirable  reply  : 

"  Hermitage,  July  31,  1826. 
"My  Dear  Sir.— Your  favor  of  the  21st  instant  is  received 
reassuring  me  of  the  wish  of  many  of  my  friends  in  Kentucky 
that  I  should  visit  the  Harrodsburg  Springs.     I  had  spoken  early 
m  the  spring  of  this  visit,  because  those  waters  had  been  recom- 
mended as  necessary  to  the  restoration  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  health 
and  there  was  additional  gratification  derived  from  the  hope  that 
I  would  see  many  of  my  old  friends  in  Kentucky,  whose  company 
at  all  times   would   be  pleasing  to  me.     But  inasmuch  as  Mrs 
Jackson  IS  lately  so  far  improved  as  not  to  render  this  trip  neces- 
sary, It  seems  tome  very  questionable  whether,  without  this  neces- 
sity, I  ought  to  yield  to  the  other  considerations,  at  this  juncture 
1  know  that  so  far  as  Kentucky  is  concerned,  the  unjust  imputa- 
tions which  It  IS  my  wish  to  avoid,  would  never  be  raised;  or 
rather,  that  a  great  proportion  of  her  citizens  would  attribute  to 
their  proper  origin,  the  objects  of  my  visit ;  yet  when  I  reflect 
upon  the  management  and  intrigue  which  are  operating  abroad, 
the  magnitude  of  the  principles   which  they  are  endeavoring  to 
supplant,  and  the  many  means  which  they  can  draw  to  their  as- 
sistance from  the   patronage  of  the  Government,  I  feel  it  is  not 
less  due  to  myself  and  to  principle,  than  to  the  American  people, 
particularly  so  far  as  they  have  sanctioned  my  political  creed,  to 
steer  clear   of  every  conduct   out   of  which  the  idea  might  arise 
that  I  was  maneuvering  for  my  own  aggrandizement.     If  it  be 
true  that  the  Administration  have  gone  into  power  contrary   to 
the  voice  of  the  Nation,  and  are  now  expecting,  by  means  of  this 
power   thus  acquired,  to  mold  the  public  will  into  an  acquiescence 
with  their  authority,  then  is  the  issue  fairly  made  out— shall  the 
O-overnment  or  the  people  rule?    and  it  becomes  the  man  whom 
the  people  shall  indicate  as  their  rightful   representative  in  this 
solemn  issue,  so  to  have  acquitted  himself,  that,  while  he  displaces 
these  enemies  of  liberty,  there  will  be  nothing  in   his  own  ex- 
ample to  operate  against  the  strength  and  durability  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 


390  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"  With  this  candid  expression  of  my  feelings  on  this  subject, 
I  hope  you  will  recognize  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  claims 
which  my  friends  in  Kentucky  have  upon  me.  Were  I  uncon- 
nected with  the  present  contest,  you  may  rest  assured  that 
,  wherever  my  presence  or  my  labor  would  be  useful  in  arresting 
the  efforts  of  intrigue  and  management,  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
repair  to  the  post  which  my  friends  might  indicate  as  the  most 
exposed.  It  is  a  source  of  much  regret  to  disappoint  your  wishes, 
and  others,  our  mutual  friends  in  Kentucky,  but  as  things  are, 
unless  Mrs.  Jackson's  health  should  render  it  necessary,  I  think 
you  will  coincide  with  me,  that  a  visit  to  Kentucky  would  be  im- 
proper at  this  period.  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  on  the 
receipt  of  this. 

"Hastily,  your  friend,  Andrew  Jackson." 

The  Legislature  of  Louisiana  invited  the  General 
to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  8th  of  January, 
1828,  and  this  he  accepted.  Every  effort  was  put 
forth  by  party  managers  to  make  this  the  most  noted 
affair  of  the  campaign.  They  succeeded.  But  from 
this  time  forward  the  8th  of  January  was  reduced 
from  a  national  to  a  party  celebration,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, as  the  hero  of  the  day  became  the  oracle  of  the 
party  to  which  he  belonged.  At  this  celebration  there 
were  delegations  from  most  States  of  the  Union.  Sev- 
eral persons,  including  Mrs.  Jackson,  accompanied  the- 
General  from  Nashville.  They  sailed  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  the  Pocahontas,  and  before  reaching  New 
Orleans,  were  met  by  other  boats,  and  with  a  great 
squadron  were  accompanied  from  the  city,  without 
landing,  to  the  battle-ground.  There  the  General  was 
received  in  an  extravagant  speech  by  John  R.  Grymes. 
But  it  was  left  for  Mr.  Davezac  to  do  the  spread-eagle 
part  of  this  grand  reception  on  the  field  of  New  Or- 
leans. Mr.  Davezac  made  a  speech  in  which  he  told 
the  General  that  "the  temples  were  opened,  the  incense 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  391 

ascending  to  heaven,  together  with  the  blessings  of  a 
grateful  people."     And  then  said  : — 

"Go,  happy  conqueror!  Go,  and  hear  the  voice  of  mothers 
greeting  the  hero  who  brought  them  back  their  sons.  Go,  and 
hear  the  cheerings  of  the  wives  and  daughters  from  whom  you 
averted  the  insults  of  a  lawless  soldiery.  Go,  and  meet  the  kind, 
the  rapturous  welcome  of  the  new  generation ;  the  children  born 
since  1815,  the  future  men  of  Louisiana,  await  also  the  deliverer 
of  their  fathers." 

General  Jackson,  who  was  really  fond  of  personal 
praise  and  flattery,  and  was  seldom  known  to  think 
too  much  of  these  things  was  bestowed  upon  him,  evi- 
dently suspected  that  the  climate  affected  the  tongue 
and  imagination  of  friend  Davezac,  for  in  his  brief  re- 
ply he  said  :  "  Your  language  and  imagination  attest 
the  fervor  of  the  climate  you  inhabit,  and  do  justice  to 
the  generous  people  you  represent." 

After  the  worshipful  demonstration  down  at  the  old 
battle-ground,  the  fleet  and  the  vast  concourse  of  people 
returned  to  the  city,  where  Jackson  now  landed,  and 
was  escorted  on  foot  to  the  Government  quarters, 
where  he.  made  a  brief  and  sensible  speech  to  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  and  numerous  citizens ; 
and  was  afterwards  "  feasted,"  "  toasted,"  and  in  every 
conceivable  way  honored  and  served  until  the  12th, 
when  he  started  up  the  river  on  his  return  home.  It 
is  much  easier  to  imagine  than  it  is  to  describe  such 
demonstrations  in  honor  of  a  man,  in  a  country  where 
every  individual  has  become  familiarized  with  them  by 
their  numerous  subjects  and' almost  endless,  if  not  dis- 
gusting, frequency. 

The  great  contest  for  the  Presidency  was  now  at  its 
hottest.     The  evil  passions  of  men  were  aroused.     No 


392  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

stone  was  left  unturned.  Where  truth  would  not  suffice, 
and  it  is  seldom  deemed  sufficient  in  these  cases,  false- 
hood and  slander  were  made  subservient.  Not  only 
all  the  evil  things  and  faux  pas  Jackson  had  done  from 
the  time  he  became  a  "  limb  of  the  law  "  at  Salisbury, 
to  the  murder  of  old  Hillis  Hajo  and  the  present  time, 
but  all  assailable  points  in  his  official,  military,  and 
political  life,  his  private  affairs,  and  personal  conduct, 
down  to  his  bad  orthography  and  poor  grammar,  were 
assailed  with   great  virulence. 

Nor  were  the  friends  and  supporters  of  General 
Jackson  a  whit  behind  in  their  attacks  upon  the  char- 
acter of  Mr.  Adams.  Every  false,  improbable,  and 
wicked  device  was  employed  to  injure  him.  But  the 
most  prominent  was  the  exploded  charge  of  "  bargain 
and  corruption." 

The  newspapers  throughout  the  country  were  ar- 
rayed on  one  side  or  the  other.  New  ones,  campaign 
papers,  were  now  for  the  first  time  started.  In  his 
own  State,  especially.  General  Jackson  controlled  de- 
cidedly all  of  those  in  his  support.  The  worst  feature, 
perhaps,  in  the  diabolical  campaign,  was  the  assault 
made  upon  Mrs.  Jackson.  It  was  well  known  to  all 
intelligent  people  in  the  country  that  she  had  been 
innocent  of  any  offense  to  her  first  husband,  Robards, 
and  that  she  had  been,  through  all  her  life,  one  of  the 
most  faithful  and  exemplary  women.  Then,  too,  she 
was  not  a  candidate,  nor  did  she  wish  her  husband  to 
be.  Major  Wm.  B.  Lewis  devoted  half  of  the  year 
1828  to  a  defense  of  her  early  marital  conduct  and 
her  after  life.  That  such  a  thing  was  necessary  is  a 
sad  comment  on  the  times.  Still  such  has  been  the 
course  of  rival   parties   since,  and   such   unmanly  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  393 

mischievous  means  will  continue  to  be  employed  until 
a  political  millennium  falls  upon  the  Nation. 

The  people  of  Tennessee  gave  the  cue  to  the  cam- 
paign, to  a  great  extent.  The  vast  array  of  charges 
brought  against  Jackson  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
committee  at  Nashville,  composed  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  State,  whose  business  it  was  to  prepare  an 
elaborate  defense.  This  was  done,  and  gave  the  foun- 
dation to  the  line  of  proceeding  throughout  the  country. 
This  committee  took  the  name  of  "Jackson  White- 
washing Committee."  The  vote  against  General  Jack- 
son in  Tennessee  was  very  small,  but  it  was  composed 
of  some  of  the  most  refined  and  respectable  of  her 
citizens.  November  came  at  last,  and  the  muddy  per- 
sonal conflict  was  ended.  Of  the  two  hundred  and 
sixty-one  electoral  votes.  General  Jackson  received 
one  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  and  Mr.  Adams  eighty- 
three.  Mr.  Calhoun  was  again  elected  Vice-President. 
The  General  had  won.  But  see  at  what  a  cost.  The 
death  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  Death,  General  Jackson  could 
not  conquer.  From  this  stroke  he  never  entirely  re- 
covered. But,  in  after  years,  he  gained  a  new  moral 
strength,  which  enabled  him  to  live  out  more  firmly 
and  quietly  the  ever  applicable  "  Thy  will  be  done." 

Towards  the  middle  of  January,  General  Jackson 
started  on  his  journey  to  Washington,  down  the  Cum- 
berland, and  up  the  Ohio  to  Pittsburgh. 

There  was  a  very  general  feeling  of  satisfaction  on 
account  of  his  election.  Even  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Adams  and  Mr.  Rush,  many,  or  most  of  them,  per- 
haps, felt  no  great  anxiety  about  the  result.  Office- 
holders supposed  the  same  course  would  be  pursued, 
which   had   been  the  custom  from  Washington  to  the 


394  LIFE  ANP  TIMES  OF 

younger  Adams.  So  the  attention  and  respect  shown 
the  General  on  his  way  to  the  Capital  was,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  work  of  the  whole  people. 

But  recent  events  at  the  "  Hermitage "  were  too 
fresh  in  the  mind  of  General  Jackson  to  allow  him  to 
become  deeply  absorbed  in  these  demonstrations.  In- 
deed, at  Harrisburg  and  several  other  important  places 
he  declined  accepting  any  formal  attentions,- and  hur- 
ried on  to  Washington.  He  there  took  temporary 
"  quarters  "  at  the  "  Indian  Queen  Hotel,"  where,  con- 
trary to  his  usual  style,  he  kept  so  quiet  and  held  his 
tongue  so  well  for  nearly  a  month,  till  the  4th  of 
March,  that  little  was  known  as  to  the  formation  of 
his  Cabinet. 

When  the  electoral  votes  had  been  formally  counted, 

the    committee  of  Congress  waited   upon   him   at  his 

hotel,  and  Mr.  Tazewell,  of  Virginia,  said  : — 

"  Sni, — In  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the  direction  of 
their  joint  committee,  appointed  for  that  special  purpose,  it  is 
my  duty  to  notify  you,  that  you  have  been  duly  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  for  the  term  of  four  years,  to  com- 
mence with  the  4th  day  of  March  next.  While  performing  this 
act  of  duty,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  you  my  own  and  the  cordial 
congratulations  of  each  of  my  associates  of  this  committee,  on 
this  event,  an  event  which  we  all  very  confidently  believe,  will 
redound  not  less  to  your  fame,  and  to  the  future  benefit  of  our 
common  country,  than  any  other  of  those  occurrences  which  have 
signalized  your  past  life,  and  secured  to  you  that  respect,  and 
esteem,  and  confidence  of  your  fellow-citizens,  which  have  been 
so  fully  illustrated  in  your  recent  election.  The  particulars  of 
this  election  will  be  made  known  to  you  by  the  record  which  I 
now  have  the  honor  to  place  in  your  hands." 

To  this  General  Jackson  simply  replied  : — 
"  Sir, — The   notification   that  I  have  been  elected  President 
of  the  United   States   for   four  years  from  the  fourth  of  March 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  395 

next,  by  the  directions  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, you  have  so  politely  presented,  is  received  with  feelings  of 
the  deepest  sensibility. 

"  I  desire  you  to  communicate  to  the  respective  Houses  of 
Congress,  my  acceptance  of  the  high  trust  which  has  been  con- 
ferred by  my  fellow-citizens,  with  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
responsibility  which  it  enjoins ;  and  that  I  can  make  no  suitable 
return  for  so  flattering  a  proof  of  their  confidence  and  attach- 
ment. All  that  I  can  offer  is  my  willingness  to  enter  upon  the 
duties  which  they  have  confided  to  me,  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
execute  them  in  a  manner  the  best  calculated  to  promote  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  of  our  common  country,  and  to  the  at- 
tainment of  these  objects  shall  my  unceasing  efforts  be  directed, 
I  beg  you,  sir,  to  convey  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, assurances  of  my  respect  and  regard." 

Before  the  4th  of  March  came,  Washington  was  full 
of  strangers,  a  strange  motley  crowd,  faces  that  had 
never  been  seen  on  the  Potomac,  all  looking  for  a 
"  new  deal."'  They  were  not  disappointed.  One  who 
was  present  gave  this  description  of  the  state  of  affairs 
at  the  Capital  on  the  morning  of  the  inauguration  : — 

"No  one  who  was  at  Washington  at  the  time  of  General 
Jackson's  inauguration  is  likely  to  forget  that  period  to  the  day 
of  his  death.  To  us,  who  had  witnessed  the  quiet  and  orderly 
period  of  the  Adams  Administration,  it  seemed  as  if  half  the 
Nation  had  rushed  at  once  into  the  Capital.  It  was  like  the  in- 
undation of  the  northern  barbarians  into  Rome,  save  that  the 
tumultuous  tide  came  in  from  a  different  point  of  the  compass. 
The  West  and  the  South  seemed  to  have  precipitated  themselves 
upon  the  North  and  overwhelmed  it.  On  that  memorable  oc- 
casion you  might  tell  a  'Jackson  man'  almost  as  far  as  you  could 
see  him.  Their  every  motion  seemed  to  cry  out  'victory!' 
Strange  faces  filled  every  public  place,  and  every  face  seemed  to 
bear  defiance  on  its  brow.  It  appeared  to  me  that  every  Jackson 
editor  in  the  country  was  on  the  spot.  They  swarmed,  especially 
in  the  lobbies  of  the  House,  an  expectant  host,  a  sort  of  Praeto- 
rian band,  which,  having  borne  in  upon  their  shields  their  idol- 
ized leader,  claimed  the  reward  of  the  hard-fought  contest.  His 
quarters  were  assailed,  surrounded,  hemmed  in,  so  that  it  was  an 


396  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

achievement  to  get  into  his  presence.  On  the  morning  of  the 
inauguration,  the  vicinity  of  the  Capitol  was  like  a  great  agi- 
tated sea;  every  avenue  to  the  fateful  spot  was  blocked  up  with 
people,  in  so  much  that  the  legitimate  procession  which  accom- 
panied the  President-elect  could  scarce  make  its  way  to  the  east- 
ern portico,  where  the  ceremony  was  to  be  performed.  To  repress 
the  crowd  in  front,  a  ship's  cable  was  stretched  across  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  way  up  the  long  flight  of  steps  by  which  the  Capitol 
is  approached  on  that  side,  but  it  seemed,  at  times,  as  if  even 
this  would  scarce  prove  sufficient  to  restrain  the  eagerness  of  the 
multitude,  every  man  of  whom  seemed  bent  on  the  glory  of  shak- 
ing the  President's  hand." 

At  this  election  the  day  of  voting  for  President 
was  still  not  uniform,  not  the  same  in  all.  the  States, 
but  ranged  from  the  last  day  of  October  to  the  19th 
of  November.  Maine,  New  York,  Maryland,  and  Ten- 
nessee voted  by  districts,  and  the  South  Carolina  and 
Delaware  Legislatures  cast  the  Presidential  votes  in 
those  States.  In  the  other  States  there  was  a  general 
popular  vote.  Adams  got  no  electoral  vote  south  of 
the  Potomac  nor  west  of  the  mountains,  and  Jackson 
got  only  one  electoral  vote  in  New  England,  in  a  dis- 
trict of  Maine.  Jackson  was  elected  as  a  reformer  in 
the  interests  of  reform.  An  illusion  that  began  in 
1800,  and  has  ever  since  been  the  pseudo-battle  cry 
of  every  party  out  of  power.  There  was  a  widely 
inculcated  belief  that  the  success  of  Jackson  was  the 
overthrow  of  a  corrupt  Administration,  at  core  intent 
on  old  Federalist  principles  of  sapping  the  foundations 
of  the  people's  rights.  The  uneducated,  rough,  care- 
less people  believed  they  had  a  personal  success  in 
the  election  of  General  Jackson.  The  bad  and  disor- 
derly shared  this  feeling.  He  was  a  man  of  their  own 
kind,  they  believed,  with  broad  and  magnanimous  sym- 
pathies on  their  side  of  life's  struggle.     Through  him 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  397 

the  administration  of  the  Government  was  to  be  re- 
duced and  adapted  to  their  wants  and  benefit. 

With  his  inauguration  they  thought  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  fall  to  them,  that  they  would  own  it, 
and  when  the  day  came  a  vast  horde  of  them  was 
present  at  the  Capital  to  take  possession  with  him  and 
enter  upon  their  new  and  stupendous  acquisition.  In 
the  main  they  were  right.  It  was  the  inauguration 
of  the  era  of  corruption  and  spoils  in  the  politics  of 
the  country  and  administration  of  public  affairs.  All 
of  the  followers  were  to  be  rewarded,  if  possible.  No 
enemies  were  to  be  fostered  in  this  new  reign.  The 
pure,  just,  and  disinterested  principles  of  the  former 
Administrations  had  ended,  if  they  lay  across  the  will 
of  President  Jackson  and  his  friends.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  and  untried  era.  How  deeply 
mistaken  were  those  men  who  believed  that  the  Wash- 
ington age  was  about  to  be  revived !  It  was  the 
Jacksonian  period,  without  a  pattern  before  it  or  an 
equal  after  it.  Its  evils  have  come  down,  but  no  suc- 
cession could  possibly  be  so  bold  as  to  lie  in  its  tracks. 

The  following  is  General  Jackson's  first 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

March  4,  1829. 

Fellow-citizens, — About  to  undertake  the  arduous  duties  that 
I  have  been  appointed  to  perform  by  the  choice  of  a  free  people, 
I  avail  myself  of  this  customary  and  solemn  occasion  to  express 
the  gratitude  which  their  confidence  inspires,  and  to  acknowledge 
the  accountability  which  my  situation  enjoins.  While  the  mag- 
nitude of  their  interests  convinces  me  that  no  thanks  can  be 
adequate  to  the  honor  they  have  conferred,  it  admonishes  me  that 
the  best  return  I  can  make  is  the  zealous  dedication  of  my  hum- 
ble abilities  to  their  service  and  their  good. 

As  the  instrument  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  it  will  devolve 


398  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

upon  me,  for  a  stated  period,  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  United 
States ;  to  superintend  their  foreign  and  confederate  relations ;  to 
manage  their  revenue ;  to  command  their  forces ;  and,  by  com- 
munications to  the  Legislature,  to  watch  over  and  to  promote 
their  interests  generally.  And  the  principles  of  action  by  which 
I  shall  endeavor  to  accomplish  this  circle  of  duties,  it  is  now 
proper  for  me  briefly  to  explain. 

In  administering  the  laws  of  Congress,  I  shall  keep  steadily 
in  view  the  limitations  as  well  as  the  extent  of  the  executive 
power,  trusting  thereby  to  discharge  the  functions  of  my  office 
without  transcending  its  authority.  With  foreign  nations  it  will 
be  my  study  to  preserve  peace,  and  to  cultivate  friendship  on 
fair  and  honorable  terms;  and  in  the  adjustment  of  any  differ- 
ences that  may  exist  or  arise,  to  exhibit  the  forbearance  becoming 
a  powerful  nation,  rather  than  the  sensibility  belonging  to  a 
gallant  people. 

In  such  measures  as  I  may  be  called  on  to  pursue,  in  regard 
to  the  rights  of  the  separate  States,  I  hope  to  be  animated  by  a 
proper  respect  for  those  sovereign  members  of  our  Union ;  taking 
care  not  to  confound  the  powers  they  have  reserved  to  them- 
selves with  those  they  have  granted  to  the  confederacy. 

The  management  of  the  public  revenue,  that  searching  opera- 
tion in  all  governments,  is  among  the  most  delicate  and  important 
trusts  in  ours ;  and  it  will,  of  course,  demand  no  inconsiderable 
share  of  my  official  solicitude.  Under  every  aspect  in  which  it' 
can  be  considered,  it  would  appear  that  advantage  must  result 
from  the  observance  of  a  strict  and  faithful  economy.  This  I 
shall  aim  at  the  more  anxiously,  both  because  it  will  facilitate 
the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt,  the  unnecessary  duration 
of  which  is  incompatible  with  real  independence,  and  because  it 
will  counteract  that  tendency  to  public  and  private  profligacy 
which  a  profuse  expenditure  of  money  by  the  Government  is  but 
too  apt  to  engender.  Powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  attainment  of 
this  desirable  end  are  to  be  found  in  the  regulations  provided  by 
the  wisdom  of  Congress  for  the  specific  appropriation  of  public 
money,  and  the  prompt  accountability  of  public  officers. 

With  regard  to  a  proper  selection  of  the  subjects  of  impost, 
with  a  view  to  revenue,  it  would  seem  to  me  that  the  spirit  of 
equity,  caution,  and  compromise,  in  which  the  Constitution  was 
formed,  requires  that  the  great  interests  of  agriculture,  com- 
merce, and  manufactures  should   be  equally   favored;   and   that 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  399 

perhaps  the  only  exception  to  this  rule  should  consist  in  the  pe- 
culiar encouragement  of  any  products  of  either  of  them  that  may 
be  found  essential  to  our  national  independence. 

Internal  improvement,  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  so  far 
as  they  can  be  promoted  by  the  Constitutional  acts  of  the  Federal 
Government,  are  of  high  importance. 

Considering  standing  armies  as  dangerous  to  free  governments 
in  time  of  peace,  I  shall  not  seek  to  enlarge  our  present  estab- 
lishment, nor  to  disregard  that  salutary  lesson  of  political  expe- 
rience which  teaches  that  the  military  should  be  held  subordinate 
to  the  civil  power.  The  gradual  increase  of  our  navy,  whose 
flag  has  displayed  in  distant  climes  our  skill  in  navigation  and 
our  fame  in  arras ;  the  preservation  of  our  forts,  arsenals,  and 
dock-yards ;  and  the  introduction  of  progressive  improvements  in 
the  discipline  and  science  of  both  branches  of  our  military  serv- 
ice, are  so  plainly  prescribed  by  prudence,  that  I  should  be  ex- 
cused for  omitting  their  mention,  sooner  than  enlarging  on  their 
importance.  But  the  bulwark  of  our  defense  is  the  national 
militia,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  our  intelligence  and  pop- 
ulation, must  render  us  invincible.  As  long  as  our  Government 
is  administered  for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  is  regulated  by 
their  will ;  as  long  as  it  secures  to  us  the  rights  of  person  and 
property,  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the  press,  it  will  be 
worth  defending;  and  so  long  as  it  is  worth  defending,  a  patri- 
otic militia  will  cover  it  with  an  impenetrable  cegis.  Partial 
injuries  and  occasional  mortifications  we  may  be  subject  to;  but 
a  million  of  armed  freemen,  possessed  of  the  means  of  war,  can 
never  be  conquered  by  a  foreign  foe.  To  any  just  system,  there- 
fore, calculated  to  strengthen  this  natural  safeguard  of  the  coun- 
try, I  shall  cheerfully  lend  all  the  aid  in  my  power. 

It  will  be  my  sincere  and  constant  desire  to  observe  toward 
the  Indian  tribes  within  our  limits  a  just  and  liberal  policy,  and 
to  give  that  humane  and  considerate  attention  to  their  rights  and 
their  wants  which  are  consistent  with  the  habits  of  our  Govern- 
ment and  the  feelings  of  our  people. 

The  recent  demonstration  of  public  sentiment  inscribes  on  the 
list  of  executive  duties,  in  characters  too  legible  to  be  over- 
looked, the  task  of  reform ;  which  will  require  particularly  the 
correction  of  those  abuses  that  have  brought  the  patronage  of 
the  Federal  Government  into  conflict  with  the  freedom  of  elec- 
tions, and  the  counteraction  of  those  causes  which  have  disturbed 


400  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  rightful  course  of  appointment,  and  have  placed  or  continued 
power  in  unfaithful  or  incompetent  hands. 

In  the  performance  of  a  task  thus  generally  delineated,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  select  men  whose  diligence  and  talents  will  in- 
sure, in  their  respective  stations,  able  and  faithful  co-operation ; 
depending,  for  the  advancement  of  the  public  service,  more  on  the 
integrity  and  zeal  of  the  public  oflBcers  than  on  their  numbers. 

A  diffidence,  perhaps  too  just,  in  my  own  qualifications,  will 
teach  me  to  look  with  reverence  to  the  examples  of  public  vir- 
tue left  by  my  illustrious  predecessors,  and  with  veneration  to 
the  lights  that  flow  from  the  mind  that  founded,  and  the  mind 
that  reformed,  our  system.  The  same  diffidence  induces  me  to 
hope  for  instruction  and  aid  from  the  co-ordinate  branches  of  the 
Government,  and  for  the  indulgence  and  support  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  generally.  And  a  firm  reliance  on  the  goodness  of  that 
Power  whose  providence  mercifully  protected  our  national  in- 
fancy, and  has  since  upheld  our  liberties  in  various  vicissitudes, 
encourages  me  to  oflTer  up  my  ardent  supplications  that  he  will 
continue  to  make  our  beloved  country  the  object  of  his  divine 
care  and  gracious  benediction. 

This  address  was  constructed  with  more  political 
acumen  than  General  Jackson  possessed,  and  meant 
more  than  it  seemed  to  mean.  Up  to  this  time  the 
Administrations  had  never  lent  themselves  to  elec- 
tioneering. The  Executive  had  never  tampered  with 
the  elections.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  were  espe- 
cially annoyed  by  the  baseless  and  foolish  attack  the 
Inaugural  made  upon  the  application  of  the  "patron- 
age of  the  Federal  Government."  Nobody  knew  what 
this  meant  until  the  heads  of  office-holders  of  every 
description  began  to  fall  as  leaves  in  autumn.  Then, 
to  some  extent,  they  knew  what  the  General  meant 
by  "reform."  At  that  moment  that  kind  of  "reform" 
began  in  this  Nation;  and  since  that  day  party  "re- 
form" has  mainly  meant  turning  the  full  fat  ins  out, 
and  putting  the  hungry,  lean  outs  in.     "  The  correction 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  401 

of  those  abuses  that  have  brought  the  patronage  of 
the  Federal  Government  into  conflict  with  the  free- 
dom of  elections."  This  was,  indeed,  a  vicious  and 
truthless  thrust.  It  is  difficult  to  see,  at  this  remote 
period,  how  any  man  who  had  respect  for  the  real 
facts  of  the  case,  and  an  ordinary  degree  of  intelli- 
gence in  the  people,  could  have  made  such  a  state- 
ment, especially  in  an  official  way.  In  this  respect  no 
Administration  in  the  history  of  the  Government  had 
a  purer  and  less  impeachable  record  than  Mr.  Adams's. 
If  the  patronage  of  the  Federal  Government  had,  in 
any  way,  been  involved  in  thet>last  election,  it  had 
been  in  favor  of  General  Jackson,  through  the  post- 
office,  and  for  this  Mr.  McLean  was  to  be  rewarded. 
Those  men  who  had  looked  at  General  Jackson  and 
supposed  him  to  be  George  Washington,  had  now  taken 
the  first  prescription  for  their  malady.  The  illusion 
was  fading.  The  plain  backwoodsman  had  issued  a 
cunning  political  address,  and  had  fully  exhibited  in  it 
his  great  faculty  of  exaggeration.  From  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Government  useful  and  upright  men  had 
been  retained  in  office,  no  matter  what  had  been  the 
color  of  their  political  opinions.  This  had  especially 
been  true  of  all  the  lower  grades  of  public  places ; 
and  Mr.  Adams  had  even  retained  his  influential  ene- 
mies in  office  for  fear  the  sin  would  be  charged  to  him 
of  turning  men  out  of  position  for  their  political  opin- 
ions. He  even  went  so  far  as  to  invite  William  H. 
Crawford  to  remain  in  his  Cabinet ;  and  John  McLean 
had  bitterly  opposed  his  re-election,  and  had,  for  years, 
used  the  department  over  which  he  presided  for  the 
defeat  of  Mr.  Adams,  yet  he  would  not  dismiss  him. 
Mr.  Adams  honorably  said  that  the  country  could  not 

26— G 


402  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

afford  to   lose  the  valuable  labors  of  McLean   in  the 
post-office    service.     His    unfair   machinations    against 
himself  could  much  better  be  borne.     But  the  custom 
of  continuance  in  office  was  considered  so  firmly  estab- 
lished that  the  members  of  Mr.  Adams's  Cabinet  were 
in   doubt   about    sending  in  their  resignations.     Jack- 
son's quietness  on  the  subject  had  furnished  them  no 
clue  to  his  intentions.      But  the  only  important  official 
connected    with     Mr.     Adams's     Administration,    who 
remained    to   General-  Jackson's,   was    John    McLean. 
His  retention  was  owing  mainly  to  the  cause  already 
mentioned.     McLean   had    raised    the    Post-office    De- 
partment  to  a  high    state    of    efficiency  and    respecta- 
bility.    He  had  been  the  most  able  and  successful  man 
who   had  yet   filled  that   position,   and,  being  an  out- 
and-out  Jackson  man,  he  had  turned  the  great  strength 
of  his  department  to  the  benefit  of  his  candidate  as  far 
as  he  wished,  which  was  the  only  abuse  of  the  kind 
yet  known  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Government.     For  this  help   and   friendship  Mr.  Mc- 
Lean was  to  be  retained  in  the  new  Administration  ; 
and,    to    satisfy  his  ambition,   the   position    was    to  be 
raised  to  a  regular  Cabinet  office,  which   it  never  had 
been.     But  more  was  meditated  in  the  new  deal  than 
Mr.    McLean  was    conscientiously   able   to   carry  out, 
and  he  did  not  become  a  member  of  the  new  Cnbinet. 
When   apprised    by   General   Jackson   of  the  real  sig- 
nification of  the  hickory-brooms,  he  emphatically  de- 
clined to  be  an  instrument  in  the  unreasonable  removal 
of  men  from  the  places  they  held.     Many  good  men 
held  positions  in  the  post-office,  and  he  could  not  see 
the   propriety  of   dismissing  them.     The   Department 
had    risen    to    great  proportions    and    efficiency  under 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  403 

them.  He  -was,  therefore,  placed  on  the  Supreme 
Bench,  where  there  was  a  vacancy  which  Mr.  Adams 
was  not  allowed  to  fill. 

This  was,  indeed,  a  remarkable  beginning  for  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  Administration.  The  Washingtonian 
traits  had  not  yet  appeared.  It  was  beginning  in  a 
truly  characteristic  Jacksonian  way,  and  nothing  more. 
It  certainly  should  be  supposed,  however,  that  'General 
Jackson  had  left  the  "Hermitage"  bent  with  his  first 
great  misfortune,  as  he  thought,  meaning  to  be  a  good 
President,  to  do  the  best  he  could  for  the  whole 
country,  and  bring  about  a  happy  state  of  affairs  to  be 
felt,  as  such,  by  all  its  citizens.  How  well  he  suc- 
ceeded in  this  laudable  purpose  the  reader  must  de- 
cide. He  had,  perhaps,  made  some  reservations  in 
favor  of  himself  in  becoming  the  "Great  Father"  of 
all  the  people.  The  Indians,  the  original  proprietors 
of  the  country,  he  hardly  considered  as  having  any 
rights  worthy  of  his  respect.  And  those  miscreants 
whom  he  believed  to  have  been  concerned  in  slandering 
and  breaking  the  heart  of  poor  "Aunt  Rachel"  were  to 
be  the  objects  of  his  unalterable  hatred.  These  last 
he  meant  to  pursue  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Nor  did 
he  fail  or  become  weary  in  his  purpose. 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1829,  he  had  reached 
Washington,  but  .believing  that  President  Adams  had 
sanctioned  the  attacks  upon  the  character  of  Mrs.  Jack- 
son, he  positively  refused  to  call  on  him,  which  it  was  his 
duty  to  do  according  to  all  precedents.  So  offensive 
and  apparent  was  this  conduct  that  some  of  the  Jack- 
son newspapers  deemed  it  necessary  to  make  some 
defense  of  the  General's  course.  This  they  did  on  the 
utterly  unfeasible    and    ftilse   ground  that  it  was  Mr. 


404  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Adams's  duty  to  call  first  on  the  President-elect. 
But  this  defense  was  foolish,  if  the  whole  business 
was  not,  for  the  custom  was  fixed,  and  nobody  knew 
better  what  it  was  than  did  Mr.  Adams,  who  had  a 
big  grievance  of  his  own,  and  did  not  go  to  see  his 
successor  inaugurated,  as,  perhaps,  he  should  have 
done.  He  had  better  grounds,  however,  for  his  con- 
duct than  his  father  had  before  him.  "  Great "  men 
are  much  like  other  people. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1827,  President  Adams 
made  this  record  of  his  opinion  as  to  the  probable  re- 
sult of  the  race  he  was  then  running  : — 

"General  Jackson  will,  therefore,  be  elected.  But  it  is  im- 
possible that  his  Administration  should  give  satisfaction  to  the 
people  of  this  Union.  He  is  incompetent  both  by  his  ignorance 
and  by  the  fury  of  his  passions." 

Subsequently  in  speaking  of  what  was  published 
as  the  General's  elegant  addresses  at  New  Orleans,  in 
1828,  where  he  went  for  a  personal  "boom,"  Mr. 
Adams  wrote  : — 

"These  answers  were  all  written  by  Harry  Lee,  who  has  be- 
come an  inmate  of  his  family,  and  attended  him  to  New  Orleans. 
As  they  were  in  an  ambitious  and  court-dress  style,  some  of  his 
impudent  jackals  fell  into  ecstasies  in  the  newspapers  at  his  elo- 
quence and  the  fine  literary  composition,  and  they  were  boldly 
claiming  for  him  the  reputation  of  an  elegant  writer.  But  the 
General,  in  one  of  his  raving  fits,  had  sent  one  of  his  Nashville 
white-washing  committee's  pamphlets  on  his  matrimonial  adven- 
tures to  Peter  Force,  editor  of  the  '  National  Journal,'  and  had 
written  with  his  own  hand,  though  without  signing  his  name,  on 
the  title-page,  about  four  lines,  insulting  to  Force  and  grossly  in- 
solent to  the  Administration.  Coarse,  vulgar,  and  false  in  its 
invective,  it  was  couched  in  language  worthy  of  ancient  Pistol, 
and  set  all  grammar  and  spelling  alike  at  defiance." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  405 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  CABINET— WORK  OF  REFORM— REIGN  OF  TERROR— 

THE  SCANDAL— ALL  ABOUT  NOTHING— THE 

COUNTRY  PUT  TO  SHAME. 

THE  Cabinet  of  President  Jackson  was  nominally 
as  follows  : — 

Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York,  Secretary  of 
State ;  Samuel  D.  Ingham,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury ;  John  H.  Eaton,  of  Tennessee,  Secre- 
tary of  War ;  John  Branch,  of  North  Carolina,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy ;  John  McPherson  Berrien,  of 
Georgia,  Attorney-General ;  and  William  Tecumseh 
Barry,  of  Kentucky,  Postmaster-General,  the  newly 
established  Cabinet  office.  One  of  General  Jackson's 
partial,  partisan  biographers  plainly  intimates  that  the 
appointment  of  some  of  these  men  was  mainly  owing 
to  their  ill-will  towards  Mr.  Clay.  Nobody  ever  main- 
tained that  this  was  a  very  brilliant  Cabinet.  Jtjiid 
not  compare  favorably  with  the  one  that  preceded  it. 
It  was,  however,  the  misfortune  of  the  members  of 
this  Cabinet  to  gain  a  notoriety  which  they  did  not 
deserve,  as  will  appear  in  the  following  pages. 

General  Jackson  was  beset  by  advisers  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  some  of  whom  soon  became  of 
more  importance  to  him  than  his  acknowledged 
Cabinet.  From  Nashville,  his  friend  and  relative, 
William     B.    Lewis,    had    accompanied    him    to    the 


406  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Capital,  to  see  the  inauguration  and  to  see  the  Gen- 
eral's family  well  organized,  and  affairs  smoothly  set 
in  motion;  but  he  had  been  too  much  of  a  necessity 
to  Jackson  to  be  dispensed  with  at  this  time.  He 
had  been  an  unselfish  friend.  He  believed  in  General 
Jackson,  and  he  was  sufficiently  compensated  for  all 
his  work,  when,  at  last,  he  saw  it  well  and  safely 
done.  He  needed  no  office,  wanted  none.  But  Jack- 
son still  needed  him,  and  finally,  with  the  same  gen- 
erosity that  had  characterized  him  in  all  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  his  interesting  friend,  he  consented  to  be- 
come one  of  the  auditors  of  the  Treasury,  a  position 
unequal  to  his  abilities,  yet  having  the  virtue  of  giving 
him  all  the  time  he  needed  for  his  more  essential  and 
equally  undignified  services  in  the  Administration. 
The  inaugural  speech  was  partly  his  and  partly  the 
production  of  the  General,  but  Henry  Lee  had  given 
it  the  final  polish.  Lee  had  accompanied  the  General 
to  Washington  to  get  an  office,  and  he  was  nominated 
for  some  unimportant  foreign  place,  but  the  Senate 
declined  to  confirm  the  appointment,  and  he  died  with- 
out his  reward. 

With  the  exception  of  his  wife,  the  best  friend 
General  Jackson  ever  had  was  Wm.  B.  Lewis.  Many 
men  were,  strangely  enough,  attached  to  his  person, 
conduct,  and  good  fortune,  but  in  greater  or  less  de- 
grees all  of  these  men,  perhaps,  like  poor  Lee,  ex- 
pected their  reward  ;  whereas  Lewis  was  simply  and 
unqualifiedly  devoted  to  Jackson  and  his  interests, 
without  the  remotest  thought  or  desire  of  compensa- 
tion. His  friendship  was  genuine,  and  well  enough 
exemplified  the  possibility  of  unselfish  and  disinter- 
ested  friendship    among    men.      Among    all    General 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  407 

Jackson's  advisers,  counselors,  instigators,  guides,  and 
helpers,  Lewis  really  stood  at  the  top  as  not  only  the 
safest  and  most  conscientious,  but,  perhaps,  also,  the 
most  able.  His  knowledge  of  men  and  the  ways  best 
to  lead  and  control  them  for  political  purposes  was 
extraordinary.  He  seldom,  or  never,  made  a  misstep 
in  these  things,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate 
the  share  his  mind  and  hand  took  in  shaping  the  for- 
tunes of  General  Jackson. 

President  Jackson  and  his  clans  took  possession  of 
the  White  House  in  an  entirely  characteristic  manner. 
Preparations  had  been  made  to  receive  "  the  people," 
who  had  won,  at  the  White  House,  on  the  night  of 
the  inauguration.  Many  barrels  of  "  orange-punch " 
were  prepared  for  the  occasion,  to  be  distributed,  with 
some  other  things,  to  as  disorderly  and  mob-like  a 
crowd  as  could  assemble  to  introduce  an  Administra- 
tion. By  this  strangely  coarse  and  vulgar  perform- 
ance. General  Jackson  took  charge  of  the  stately  resi- 
dence of  the  Presidents,  and  a  hitherto  unknown  order 
of  things  began  there,  and  in  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs.  Andrew  Jackson  Donelson  was  the  private 
secretary,  and  his  wife  was  to  be  the  "  Lady  of  the 
White  House."  The  General's  adopted  son,  Andrew 
Jackson,  Jr.,  was  soon  afterwards  married,  and  his 
wife  shared  the    "  honors  "  of  the    President's  House. 

The  Senate  adjourned  on  the  17th  of  March,  and 
the  President  and  his  advisers,  public  and  private, 
were  left  to  start  the  great  work  of  "  reform  "  in  their 
own  way,  or  more  strictly  speaking,  in  his  way. 

General  Jackson  followed  in  no  man's  tracks.  He 
proceeded  at  once  to  break  down  all  standards.  The 
system  of  precedents,  so  laboriously  arrived  at  by  his 


408  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

predecessors,  was  of  little  note  to  him.  Although 
the  Constitution  had  given  the  President  absolute 
power  in  removing  individuals  from  office  in  the  civil 
employ  of  the  Government,  as  was  decided  after  no 
little  contention  and  anxiety,  it  did  not  appear  by  any 
means,  that  this  power  would  ever  be  exercised  for 
the  mere  purposes  of  friendship,  or  partisan  advance- 
ment ;  nor  could  it  at  that  early  date  be  supposed  that 
it  had  entered  the  minds  of  the  "  Framers  "  that  the 
power  should  ever  be  employed  otherwise  than  to 
serve  the  most  open,  single,  honorable  business  and 
official  interests  of  the  Government.  They  did  not 
consider,  or  deem  it  worthy  to  consider,  that  this  power 
would  be  converted  to  personal  aggrandizement,  be 
made  the  great  engine  of  party  conquest.  Up  to  the 
time  of  the  inauguration  of  Andrew  Jackson,  in  1829, 
the  original  design  of  this  power  had,  in  the  main, 
been  most  scrupulously  maintained.  So  far  was  this 
sentiment  generally  carried  with  General  Jackson's 
predecessors,  that  removal  from  office  without  good  ap- 
parent business  cause,  was  considered  slanderous  and 
disreputable  to  the  Executive.  And  without  excep- 
tion down  to  this  date  the  appointment  of  a  friend  or 
relative  to  office,  though  he  had  all  the  requisite  quali- 
ties, was  held  as  a  matter  of  great  delicacy  and  doubt 
on  the  part  of  the  President.  Even  the  private  sec- 
retary was  barely  allowed  to  be  a  member  of  the 
President's  own  family.  So  fearful  was  General  Jack- 
son's immediate  predecessor  of  making  a  partial  or 
one-sided  step  that  he  could  not  carry  out  his  own 
principles,  where  such  action  was  to  be  expected,  by 
reason  of  the  enemies  he  kept  everywhere  in  public 
places. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  409 

The  qualifications  for  position  in  the  civil  employ 
up  to  March  4,  1829,  were  honesty,  capacity,  ability, 
and  the  respect  and  confidence  of  men.  Although  Mr, 
Jefiersiia  had  dismissed  mare  office-holders  than  all 
other  Presidents  up  to  this  date,  he  had,  in  the  main, 
held  to  the  general  and  well-understood  principle,  and 
stubbornly  declined  to  admit  that  he  h^d  ever  removed 
men  from  office  for  partisan  reasons,  notwithstanding 
his  situation  at  the  breaking  up  or  overthrow  of  the 
Federal  party,  after  a  most  bitter  party  contest.  It 
was  left  for  another  age,  and  another  class  of  public 
men,  to  depart  from  this  honorable  and  safe  practice. 

For  a  race  of  "  strict  constructionists,"  who,  them- 
selves, and  their  descendants,  have  held  as  peculiarly 
their  own  property  the  cry  of  the  "  Constitution  as  it 
is  "  with  all  its  ancient  landmarks,  it  was  left  strangely, 
or  perhaps  naturally,  enough  to  introduce  the  new  re- 
publican doctrine,  "  To  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils." 
The  statesman,  if  there  be  such,  pure  and  simple,  in 
America  to-day,  can  but  deplore  this  innovation,  the 
establishment  of  this  vast,  untold,  unmitigated  system 
of  political  corruption  in  the  very  machinery  of  his 
Government.  Even  the  politician  whose  whole  life  has 
not  yet  become  a  question  of  plunder,  may  turn  with 
disgust  from  a  system  which  comes  down  to  his  pocket 
and  bowels  at  every  turn,  and  is  fostered  by  his  lying 
smiles  and  promises  for  the  future.  Read  American 
history,  read  American  biography,  and  see  where  lies 
the  responsibility  for  this  national  calamity. 

But  to  return  to  the  story.  It  had  been  a  serious 
question  with  previous  Administrations  as  to  appointing 
members  of  Congress  to  Cabinet  and  other  places.  But 
notwithstanding  his   "  ad  hominem "  announcement  on 


410  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

this  subject  a  few  years  before,  General  Jackson  did 
not  allow  it  to  bother  him.  Four  or  five  members  of 
his  Cabinet  were,  at  the  time  of  their  appointment, 
members  of  Congress,  and  a  large  number  of  his  other 
appointments,  as  collectors,  foreign  ministers,  and  dis- 
trict attorneys,  fell  to  members  of  Congress.  In  the 
whole  history  of  the  Government  before,  all  the  ap- 
pointments from  this  source  did  not  equal  in  number 
those  made  by  General  Jackson  in  a  short  time. 

In  Washington  City  the  Jacksonian  mode  of  "  re- 
form "  amounted  to  a  reign  of  terror.  The  General 
forgot  his  advice  to  Mr.  Monroe  in  1816.  Circum- 
stances had  altered  the  case.  The  departments  were 
soon  swept,  and  none  but  the  President's  friends  and 
supporters  were  placed  in  office.  One  of  his  first  steps 
was  to  create  a  new  Cabinet  officer  in  the  Postmaster- 
General.  Although  this  step  was  well  enough  in  itself, 
it  was  hastened  forward  at  the  time  to  accommodate 
and  honor  John  McLean,  who  had  exerted  the  influence 
of  his  position  under  Mr.  Adams  for  the  success  of 
General  Jackson.  But  it  turned  out  that  Mr.  McLean 
did  not  favor  the  wholesale,  indiscriminate  dismissal 
policy  about  to  be  entered  upon,  and  of  this  fact  he 
duly  notified  the  President.  Mr.  McLean  did  not,  in 
truth,  believe  in  discharging  competent  and  valuable 
men  from  place  for  mere  political  or  personal  preference, 
nor  that  such  a  practice  could  be  safe  and  best  for  the 
country.  This  was  an  unexpected  turn,  but  it  did  not 
check  General  Jackson.  Mr.  McLean  was  at  once  of- 
fered the  vacancy  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  and  readily 
accepted  it  as  his  reward. 

One  of  the  first  men  removed  from  office  without 
cause  was  General  William  Henry  Harrison,  Minister 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  411 

to  Colombia,  South  America.  General  Harrison  had 
barely  reached  his  post  and  entered  upon  his  duties 
with  great  satisfaction  to  the  new  republic.  He  had 
mildly  dissented  from  the  course  of  General  Jackson  in 
the  Seminole  campaign,  but  he  had  yet  taken  no  official 
steps  which  could  have  rendered  him  in  any  degree  cen- 
surable to  General  Jackson  or  the  country,  as  may  be 
seen  in  a  succeeding  volume  of  this  work.  Washington 
was  now  in  a  great  hubbub.  The  permanent  character 
of  life  and  business  there  was  derived  directly  from 
the  permanence  among  the  Government  employes.  No 
man  now  knew  what  a  day  would  bring  forth. 

The  following  taken  from  an  old  Washington  news- 
paper will  give  some  idea  of  how  the  new  order  of 
things  was  working  : — 

"Thirty-three  houses  which  were  to  have  been  built  this  year 
have,  we  learn,  been  stopped,  in  consequence  of  the  unsettled  and 
uncertain  state  of  things  now  existing  here ;  and  the  merchant 
can  not  sell  his  goods  or  collect  his  debts  from  the  same  cause. 
We  have  never  known  the  city  to  be  in  a  state  like  this  before, 
though  we  have  known  it  for  many  years.  The  individual  dis- 
tress, too,  produced,  in  many,  cases,  by  the  removal  of  the  desti- 
tute officers,  ,is  harrowing  and  painful  to  all  who  possess  the  or- 
dinary sympathies  of  our  nature,  without  regard  to  party  feeling. 
No  man,  not  absolutely  brutal,  can  be  pleased  to  see  his  personal 
friend  or  neighbor  suddenly  stripped  of  the  means  of  support, 
and  cast  upon  the  cold  charity  of  the  world  without  a  shelter  or  a 
home.  Frigid  and  insensible  must  be  the  heart  of  that  man  who 
could  witness  some  of  the  scenes  that  have  lately  been  exhibited 
here,  without  a  tear  of  compassion  or  a  throb  of  sympathy.  But 
what  is  still  more  to  be  regretted  is,  that  this  system,  having  been 
once  introduced,  must  necessarily  be  kept  up  at  the  commence- 
ment of  every  Presidential  term ;  and  he  who  goes  into  office 
knowing  its  limited  and  uncertain  tenure,  feels  no  disposition  to 
make  permanent  improvements  or  to  form  for  himself  a  permanent 
residence.  He,  therefore,  takes  care  to  lay  up  what  he  can  dur- 
ing his  brief  official  existence,  to  carry  off  to  some  more  congenial 


412  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

spot,  where  he  means  to  spend  his  life,  or  re-enter  into  business. 
All,  therefore,  that  he  might  have  expended  in  city  improve- 
ments is  withdrawn,  and  the  revenue  of  the  corporation,  as  well 
as  the  trade  of  the  city,  is  so  far  lessened  and  decreased.  It  is 
obviously  a  most  injurious  policy  as  it  respects  the  interests  of  our 
city.  Many  of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  citizens  of  Wash- 
ington, those  who  have  adhered  to  its  fortunes  through  all  their 
vicissitudes,  who  have  '  grown  with  its  growth  and  streugthened 
with  its  strength,'  have  been  cast  off  to  make  room  for  strangers 
who  feel  no  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  our  infant  metropolis,  and 
who  care  not  whether  it  advances  or  retrogrades." 

Mr.  Samuel  Swartv^^out  was  among  the  new-comers 
at  the  Capital,  who  expected  to  have  their  fortune  bet- 
tered by  what  Mr.  Benton  called  "  a  revolution  of 
parties."  Swartwout  was  singularly  representative  of 
the  class  of  men,  as  a  rule,  who  have  become  the 
scramblers  for  political  office,  and  who  now,  for  the 
first  time,  appeared  at  the  Nation's  Capital.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  a  somewhat  famous  letter  written 
by  him  to  a  friend  in  New  York  contains  the  ring, 
well  known  to  everybody  in  these  latter  days  : — 

"I  hold  to  your  doctrine  fully,  that  no  rascal  who  made  use 
of  his  office  or  its  profits  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  Mr.  Adams 
in,  and  General  Jackson  out  of  power,  is  entitled  to  the  least 
lenity  or  mercy,  save  that  of  hanging.  So  we  think  both  alike 
on  that  head.  Whether  or  not  I  shall  get  anything  in  the  gen- 
eral scramble  for  plunder,  remains  to  be  proven  ;  but  I  rather 
guess  I  shall.  What  it  will  be  is  not  yet  so  certain  ;  perhaps 
keeper  of  the  Bergen  light-house.  I  rather  think  Massa  Pomp 
stands  a  smart  chance  of  going  somewhere,  perhaps  to  the  place 
you  have  named,  or  to  the  devil.  Your  man,  if  you  want  a 
place,  is  Colonel  Hamilton,  he  being  now  the  second  officer  in 
the  Government  of  the  Union,  and  in  all  probability  our  next 
President.  Make  your  suit  to  him,  then,  and  you  will  get  what 
you  want.  I  know  Mr.  Ingham  slightly,  and  would  recommend 
you  to  push  like  a  devil  if  you  expect  anything  from  that  quar- 
ter.    I  can  do  you  no  good  in  any  quarter  of  the  world,  having 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  413 

mighty  little  influence  beyond  Hoboken.  The  great  goers  are  the 
new  men  ;  the  old  troopers  being  all  spavined  and  ring-boned 
from  previous  hard  travel.  I've  got  the  bots,  the  fetlock,  hip- 
joint,  gravel,  halt,  and  founders  ;  and  I  assure  you  if  I  can  only 
keep  my  own  legs,  I  shall  do  well ;  but  I  'ra  darned  if  I  can 
carry  any  weight  with  me.  When  I  left  home,  I  thought  my 
nag  sound  and  strong,  but  the  beast  is  rather  broken  down  here. 
I'll  tell  you  more  about  it  when  I  see  you  in  New  York.  In 
seriousness,  my  dear  sir,  your  support  must  come  from  Mr.  Van 
Buren  and  Mr.  Colonel  Hamilton  ;  I  could  not  help  you  any 
more  than  your  clerk." 

The  great  Colonel  Hamilton  mentioned  in  this  let- 
ter, was  James  A.  Hamilton,  son  of  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton, the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  was 
acting  as  Secretary  of  State  until  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren.  But  his  greatness  never  reached  that 
elevation  which  Swartwout  predicted.  Swartwout  him- 
self fared  much  better  than  he  expected,  and  he  actu- 
ally got  the  position  for  which  he  had  the  impudence 
to  apply. 

Some  of  General  Jackson's  most  intimate  friends, 
his  confidential  advisers,  opposed  this  wholesale  dis- 
missal of  office-holders,  and  advised  him  openly  and 
decidedly  against  it.  But  the  General  had  his  own 
sentiments  on  the  subject,  mainly  based  upon  his  unal- 
terable feelings  against  men  who  had  opposed  him  or 
stood  in  his  way,  and  his  strong  desire  to  be  of  service 
to  his  friends  and  admirers.  The  counsels  of  his 
needy  friends  had  great  weight  with  him  ;  and  not- 
withstanding his  hickory  will  and  adventurous  personal 
strength,  they  often  led  him.  Indeed,  no  other  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  has  been  so  deeply  and 
dangerously  influenced  by  his  personal  whims  and  at- 
tachments as  was  Geneial  Jackson  in  the  exercise  of 
his    official    duties.     While   there   may   be    something 


414  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

admirable  in  the  mere  animal  trait  of  personal  attach- 
ments, as  a  dominant  quality  in  a  public  functionary, 
it  is  not  fortunate. 

Thomas  H.  Benton,  who  became  General  Jackson's 
most  undeviating  defender  under  all  circumstances, 
right  or  wrong,  thus  talks  of  the  removals : — 

"Having  vindicated  General  Jackson  and  Mr,  Adams  from 
the  reproach  of  Mons.  de  Tocqueville,  and  having  shown  that  it 
was  neither  a  principle  nor  a  practice  of  the  Jefferson  school  to 
remove  officers  for  political  opinions,  I  now  feel  bound  to  make  the 
declaration,  that  the  doctrine  of  that  school  has  been  too  much 
departed  from  of  late,  and  by  both  parties,  and  to  the  great 
detriment  of  the  right  and  proper  working  of  the   Government. 

"The  practice  of  removals  for  opinion's  sake  is  becoming  too 
common,  and  is  reducing  our  Presidential  elections  to  what  Mr. 
Jefferson  deprecated,  'a  contest  of  office  instead  of  principle,' and 
converting  the  victories  of  each  party,  so  far  as  office  is  concerned, 
into  the  political  extermination  of  the  other ;  as  it  was  in  Great 
Britain  between  the  Whigs  and  Tories  in  the  bitter  contests  of 
one  hundred  years  ago,  and  when  the  victor  made  a  '  clean  sweep' 
of  the  vanquished,  leaving  not  a  wreck  behind." 

Some  of  General  Jackson's  appointments  were  so 
manifestly  bad  that  the  Senate  never  would  confirm 
them,  and  there  was  a  wide  feeling  of  regret  and 
shame  over  the  existence  of  such  sweeping  changes  in 
office  when  the  political  sentiment  of  the  country  was 
so  largely  unanimous. 

Although  there  is  a  great  variety  of  opinion  as  to 
the  number  of  removals  made  by  President  Jackson 
during  the  first  month  and  year  of  his  Administration, 
it  may  pretty  safely  be  concluded  that  in  the  chief 
places  and  their  subordinate  ones  of  all  grades,  great 
and  small,  not  less  than  two  thousand  office-holders  lost 
their  positions  the  first  year,  to  give  way  to  friends  and 
supporters  of  the  President. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  415 

The  most  scandalous  affair  ever  connected  with  the 
Presidential  office  of  the  United  States  was  started 
soon  after  the  organization  of  General  Jackson's  Cab- 
inet, and  much  of  his  time,  during  the  summer  of 
1829,  was  spent  in  looking  into  the  matter  and  using 
his  authority  in  attempts  to  correct  the  evil  conse- 
quences. The  case  was  one  of  the  few  misfortunes 
which  befell  General  Jackson,  but  it  was  not  numbered 
among  his  faults. 

John  H.  Eaton,  the  Secretary  of  War,  had  recently 
married  Margaret  Timberlake,  widow  of  John  B.  Tim- 
berlake,  an  officer  in  the  navy,  who  died  of  disease, 
or  according  to  common  belief,  committed  suicide, 
while  serving  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  in  1828. 
Mrs.  Timberlake  lived  with  her  father,  "  Mfijor " 
O'Neal,  who,  like  almost  everybody  else  in  Washing- 
ton, kept  a  hotel  or  boarding-house.  Here  both  Gen- 
eral Jackson  and  Major  Eaton  were  accustomed  to  stop 
when  serving  as  members  of  Congress  from  Tennessee. 
Mrs.  Timberlake  assisted  her  parents  in  the  care  of 
their  business  as  she  had  done  when  she  was  "Peg" 
O'Neal.  She  was  exceedingly  attractive,  well  edu- 
cated, and  had  a  remarkable  tongue  for  "  gab,"  which, 
however,  she  used  in  such  a  way  as  to  increase  in- 
stead of  diminish  her  other  attractive  qualities.  Her 
position  in  her  father's  house,  and  her  vivacious  and 
pleasant  manners  made  her  a  favorite  among  the 
boarders,  and  gained  for  her  an  unenviable  reputation, 
which  she  did  not  deserve.  At  least  General  Jackson 
thought  she  did  not.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  ditficult 
for  any  good-looking  and  sprightly  woman  to  grow  up 
or  live  in  a  hotel  or  a  boarding-house,  without  a  social 
or  moral  taint  of  some  kind. 


416  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  wives  of  the  Vice-President,  the  Cabinet  min- 
isters, and  several  foreign  representatives,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  unofficial  leaders  of  fashion  at  the  Capital, 
refused  to  associate  with  Secretary  Eaton's  wife. 
Among  the  most  stubborn  of  these  persons,  bent  on 
the  utter  excommunication  of  Mrs.  Eaton,  was  the 
"Lady  of  the  White  House,"  Mrs.  A.  J.  Donelson. 
J.  N.  Campbell,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
which  was  attended  by  General  Jackson,  and  had 
been  attended  by  "  Aunt  Rachel "  during  the  winter 
she  spent  in  Washington,  was  deeply  concerned  about 
what  he  felt  would  soon  come  out  as  a  public  topic  to 
the  great  injury  of  the  General.  Among  the  friends 
who  came  to  see  Jackson  enter  upon  his  "  reign," 
as  his  Administration  was  not  unfrequently  called 
by  contemporary  writers,  was  another  Presbyterian 
preacher  from  Philadelphia.  To  him  Mr.  Campbell 
told  all  he  knew  about  it,  which,  indeed,  seemed  to  be 
too  much  for  a  man  of  his  profession  to  know  or  tell, 
or  anybody  else,  in  fact ;  and  these  two  careful  men 
concluded  that  General  Jackson  ought,  at  least,  to  be 
apprised  of  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  he  might  be 
able  to  correct  the  error  of  appointing  Mr.  Eaton  to 
a  place  in  the  Cabinet. 

After  Mr.  Ely  returned  to  Philadelphia  he  divulged 
the  whole  case  in  a  letter  to  the  President,  who,  at 
once,  assumed  that  all  this  story  was  without  founda- 
tion in  truth,  and  espousing  the  cause  of  Major  Eaton 
and  his  wife,  began  himself  an  investigation*,  which 
resulted  to  his  satisfaction  in  proving  that  this  great 
tempest  raised  in  "  high  society  "  was  as  usual,  "  much 
ado  about  nothing."  Yet  he  found  that  to  stop  the 
tongue  of   "  society,"   and   make    the    stubborn    "  fair 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  417 

sex  "  take  Mrs.  Eaton  into  their  "  circle,"  or  even  re- 
turn a  call  or  invite  her  to  a  ball,  was  a  more  difficult 
task  than  conquering  Red  Eagle  or  training  obstreper- 
ous Spanish  governors.  It  was,  indeed,  the  most  diffi- 
cult task  he  had  ever  undertaken.  And  in  the  main 
he  failed.  It  was  pitiable  to  see  the  President  of  the 
United  States  engaged  in  a  great  scandal,  and  making 
himself  the  central  figure.  But  he  was  not  the 
man  to  desert  a  friend.  Then,  he  had  two  other 
motives  for  his  participation  in  this  affair.  .  He  saw  in 
it  something  similar  to  the  case  of  his  own  wife,  and 
he  felt  that  he  was  again  fighting  over  her  battles. 
He  believed  Mr.  Clay  had  some  hand  in  that  case, 
and  he  now  believed  that  his  minions  were  at  work  in 
this,  to  ruin  his  friends  and  injure  his  Administration. 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  had  no  family,  took  an  active 
part  with  the  President,  and  was  successful  in  induc- 
ing some  of  the  bachelors  in  the  diplomatic  corps  to 
favor  Mrs.  Eaton.  But  the  General  broke  with  Mr. 
Campbell,  and  stopped  attending  his  church.  Mrs. 
Donelson  held  out  so  persistently  that  she  had  to  be 
sent  home  to  Tennessee.  Her  husband  also  resigned 
his  place.  But  the  Donelsons  were  both  reinstated 
in  their  positions,  and  in  the  old  man's  favor.  Mrs. 
Eaton  had  extraordinary  tact.  She  had  a  giant  on 
her  side.  She  would  not  be  put  down.  Her  success 
was  indeed  very  great.  Men  whd  wanted  the  favor 
of  the  President  had  to  be  her  friends,  to  all  appear- 
ances. But  after  all  was  done,  the  affair  proved  dis- 
astrous to  General  Jackson's  first  Cabinet.  It  was,  at 
all  events,  one  of  the  great  causes  of  its  dissolution. 
For  many  a  year,  if  not  forever,  Mrs.  Eaton  kept  her 
place  in  the  esteem  of  General  Jackson. 

27— Q 


418  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Major  Eaton  died  in  1856,  but  he  had  forfeited  his 
standing  in  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  General 
by  his  desertion  of  the  Democracy,  and  by  advocating 
the  claims  of  General  Harrison  in  1840.  Although 
Eaton  still  held  his  respect  for  his  old  friend,  he  was 
guilty  of  this  sin  which  Jackson  never  could  forgive. 

Mrs.  Eaton,  a  brilliant  woman,  and  a  first-class 
politician  and  diplomate,  lived  until  1879.  The  Major 
left  her  a  fortune,  but  she  fell  into  bad  hands  and  lost 
most  of  it.  She  became  attached  to  a  musician,  a 
foreigner,  and  married  him.  But  he  converted  much 
of  her  fortune  into  money  w^ith  which  he  sailed  for 
Europe,  leaving  a  bad  reputation  behind  him,  and 
misfortune  and  regret  to  this  once  too  gay  and  fasci- 
nating woman. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  419 


CHAPTKR    XXIV. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— ACTS  OF 
CONGRESS— THE  VETO  BREAKS  THE  DREAM  OF 
INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENT— NULLIFI- 
CATION  SANCTIONED   IN 
GEORGIA. 

BUT  more  important  events  now  demand  attention. 
On  the  7th  of  December,  1829,  Congress  con- 
vened, and  remained  in  session  until  the  last  day 
of  May,  1830.  In  the  Senate,  Samuel  Smith,  of 
Maryland,  presided  as  president,  in  the  absence  of  the 
Vice-President.  Andrew  Stevenson,  of  Virginia,  was 
re-elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  by  152  against  39 
votes ;  and  in  both  Houses  the  Administration,  what- 
ever it  might  do  or  be,  had  a  considerable  majority. 

FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 
December  S,  1829. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  tender  my  friendly  greetings  to  you 
on  the  occasion  of  your  assembling  at  the  seat  of  government,  to 
enter  upon  the  important  duties  to  which  you  have  been  called 
by  the  voice  of  our  countrymen.  The  task  devolves  on  me, 
under  a  provision  of  the  Constitution,  to  present  to  you,  as  the 
Federal  Legislature  of  twenty-four  sovereign  States,  and  twelve 
millions  of  happy  people,  a  view  of  our  affairs ;  and  to  purpose 
such  measures  as,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  functions,  have 
suggested  themselves  as  necessary  to  promote  the  objects  of  our 
Union. 

In  communicating  with   you   for  the  first  time,  it  is  to  me  a 


420  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

source  of  unfeigned  satisfaction,  calling  for  mutual  gratulation 
and  devout  thanks  to  a  benign  Providence,  that  we  are  at  peace 
with  all  mankind,  and  that  our  country  exhibits  the  most  cheer- 
ing evidence  of  general  welfare  and  progressive  improvement. 
Turning  our  eyes  to  other  nations, 'our  great  desire  is  to  see  our 
brethren  of  the  human  race  secured  in  the  blessings  enjoyed  by 
ourselves,  and  advancing  in  knowledge,  in  freedom,  and  in  social 
happiness. 

Our  foreign  relations,  although  in  their  general  character 
pacific  and  friendly,  present  subjects  of  difference  between  us  and 
other  powers,  of  deep  interest,  as  well  to  the  country  at  large  as 
to  many  of  our  citizens.  To  effect  an  adjustment  of  these  shall 
continue  to  be  the  object  of  my  earnest  endeavors ;  and  notwith- 
standing the  difficulties  of  the  task,  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  ap- 
prehend unfavorable  results.  Blessed  as  our  country  is  with 
everything  which  constitutes  national  strength,  she  is  fully  ade- 
quate to  the  maintenance  of  all  her  interests.  In  discharging 
the  responsible  trust  confided  to  the  Executive  in  this  respect,  it 
is  my  settled  purpose  to  ask  nothing  that  is  not  clearly  right, 
and  to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong  ;  and  I  flatter  myself 
that,  supported  by  the  other  branches  of  the  Government,  and 
by  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  people,  we  shall  be  able, 
under  the  protection  of  Providence,  to.  cause  all  our  just  rights 
to  be  respected. 

Of  the  unsettled  matters  between  the  United  States  and  other 
powers,  the  most  prominent  are  those  which  have  for  years  been 
the  subject  of  negotiation  with  England,  France,  and  Spain. 
The  late  periods  at  which  our  ministers  to  those  governments 
left  the  United  States  render  it  impossible,  at  this  early  day,  to 
inform  you  of  what  has  been  done  on  the  subjects  with  which  they 
have  been  respectively  charged.  Relying  upon  the  justice  of  our 
views  in  relation  to  the  points  committed  to  negotiation,  and  the 
reciprocal  good-feeling  which  characterizes  our  intercourse  with 
those  nations,  we  have  the  best  reason  to  hope  for  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  existing  differences. 

With  Great  Britain,  alike  distinguished  in  peace  and  war, 
we  may  look  forward  to  years  of  peaceful,  honorable,  and  ele- 
vated competition.  Everything  in  the  condition  and  history  of 
the  two  nations  is  calculated  to  inspire  sentiments  of  mutual 
respect,  and  to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  both,  that  it  is 
their  policy  to  preserve  the  most  cordial  relations.     Such  are  my 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  421 

own  views,  and  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  such  are  also  the 
prevailing  sentiments  of  our  constituents.  Although  neither  time 
nor  opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  a  full  development  of  the 
policy  which  the  present  cabinet  of  Great  Britain  designs  to 
pursue  toward  this  country,  I  indulge  the  hope  that  it  will  be  of 
a  just  and  pacific  character ;  and  if  this  anticipation  be  realized, 
we  may  look  with  confidence  to  a  speedy  and  acceptable  adjust- 
ment of  our  affairs. 

Under  the  convention  for  regulating  the  reference  to  arbitra- 
tion of  the  disputed  points  of  boundary  under  the  fifth  article  of 
the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  the  proceedings  have  hitherto  been  con- 
ducted in  that  spirit  of  candor  and  liberality  which  ought  ever 
to  characterize  the  acts  of  sovereign  States,  seeking  to  adjust,  by 
the  most  unexceptionable  means,  important  and  delicate  subjects 
of  contention.  The  first  statements  of  the  parties  have  been  ex- 
changed, and  the  final  replication,  on  our  part,  is  in  a  course  of 
preparation.  This  subject  has  received  the  attention  demanded 
by  its  great  and  peculiar  importance  to  a  patriotic  member  of 
this  confederacy.  The  exposition  of  our  rights,  already  made,  is 
such  as,  from  the  high  reputation  of  the  commissioners  by  whom 
it  has  been  prepared,  we  had  a  right  to  expect.  Our  interests  at 
the  court  of  the  sovereign  who  has  evinced  his  friendly  disposi- 
tion by  assuming  the  delicate  task  of  arbitration,  have  been  com- 
mitted to  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Maine,  whose  character,  talents, 
and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  eminently  qualify 
him  for  so  responsible  a  trust.  With  full  confidence  in  the  jus- 
tice of  our  cause,  and  in  the  probity,  intelligence,  and  uncom- 
promising independence  of  the  illustrious  arbitrator,  we  can  have 
nothing  to  apprehend  from  the  result. 

From  France,  our  ancient  ally,  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
that  justice  which  becomes  the  sovereign  of  a  powerful,  intelli- 
gent, and  magnanimous  people.  The  beneficial  effects  produced 
by  the  commercial  convention  of  1822,  limited  as  are  its  pro- 
visions, are  too  obvious  not  to  make  a  salutary  impression  upon 
the  minds  of  those  who  are  charged  with  the  administration  of 
her  government.  Should  this  result  induce  a  disposition  to  em- 
brace, to  their  full  extent,  the  wholesome  principles  which  con- 
stitute our  commercial  policy,  our  minister  to  that  court  will  be 
found  instructed  to  cherish  such  a  disposition,  and  to  aid  in  con- 
ducting it  to  useful  practical  conclusions.  The  claims  of  our 
citizens  for  depredations  upon   their  property,  long  since  com- 


422  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

mitted  under  the  authority,  and,  in  many  instances,  by  the  ex- 
press direction,  of  the  then  existing  Government  of  France, 
remain  unsatisfied ;  and  must,  therefore,  continue  to  furnish 
a  subject  of  unpleasant  discussion,  and  possible  collision,  between 
the  two  goveruments.  I  cherish,  however,  a  lively  hope,  founded 
as  well  on  the  validity  of  those  claims,  and  the  established  policy 
of  all  enlightened  governments,  as  on  the  known  integrity  of  the 
French  monarch,  that  the  injurious  delays  of  the  past  will  find 
redress  in  the  equity  of  the  future.  Our  minister  has  been  in- 
structed to  press  these  demands  on  the  French  Government  with 
all  the  earnestness  which  is  called  for  by  their  importance  and 
irrefutable  justice ;  and  in  a  spirit  that  will  evince  the  respect 
which  is  due  to  the  feelings  of  those  from  whom  the  satisfaction 
is  required. 

Our  minister  recently  appointed  to  Spain  has  been  authorized 
to  assist  in  removing  evils  alike  injurious  to  both  countries,  either 
by  concluding  a  commercial  convention,  upon  liberal  and  recip- 
rocal terms;  or  by  urging  the  acceptance,  in  their  full  extent, 
of  the  mutually  beneficial  provisions  of  our  navigation  acts.  He 
has  also  been  instructed  to  make  a  further  appeal  to  the  justice 
of  Spain,  in  behalf  of  our  citizens,  for  indemnity  for  spoliations 
upon  our  commerce,  committed  under  her  authority — an  appeal 
which  the  pacific  and  liberal  course  observed  on  our  part,  and  a 
due  confidence  in  the  honor  of  that  government,  authorize  us  to 
expect  will  not  be  made  in  vain. 

With  other  European  powers,  our  intercourse  is  on  the  most 
friendly  footing.  In  Russia,  placed  by  her  territorial  limits,  ex- 
tensive population,  and  great  power,  high  in  the  rank  of  nations, 
the  United  States  have  always  found  a  steadfast  friend.  Although 
her  ^^recent  invasion  of  Turkey  awakened  a  lively  sympathy  for 
those  who  were  exposed  to  the  desolations  of  war,  we  can  not  but 
anticipate  that  the  result  will  prove  favorable  to  the  cause  of 
civilization,  and  to  the  progress  of  human  happiness.  The  treaty 
of  peace  between  these  powers  having  been  ratified,  we  can  not 
be  insensible  to  the  great  benefit  to  be  derived  by  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States,  from  unlocking  the  navigation  of  the  Black 
Sea,  a  free  passage  into  which  is  secured  to  all  merchant  vessels 
bound  to  ports  of  Russia  under  a  flag  at  peace  with  the  Porte. 
This  advantage,  enjoyed,  upon  conditions,  by  most  of  the  powers 
of  Europe,  has  hitherto  been  withheld  from  us.  During  the 
past  summer,  an  antecedent,  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  obtain 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  423 

it,  was  renewed  under  circumstances  which  promised  the  most 
favorable  results.  Although  these  results  have  fortunately  been 
thus  in  part  attained,  further  facilities  to  the  enjoyment  of  this 
new  field  for  the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  are,  in  my  opinion, 
sufficiently  desirable  to  insure  to  them  our  most  zealous 
attention. 

Our  trade  with  Austria,  although  of  secondary  importance, 
has  been  gradually  increasing ;  and  is  now  so  extended  as  to  de- 
serve the  fostering  care  of  the  Government.  A  negotiation, 
commenced  and  nearly  completed  with  that  power,  by  the  late 
Administration,  has  been  consummated  by  a  treaty  of  amity, 
navigation,  and  commerce,  which  will  be  laid  before  the  Senate. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress,  our  diplomatic  relations  with 
Portugal  have  been  resumed.  The  peculiar  state  of  things  in 
that  country  caused  a  suspension  of  the  recognition  of  the  repre- 
sentative who  presented  himself  until  an  opportunity  was  had 
to  obtain  from  our  official  organ  there  information  regarding  the 
actual,  and  as  far  as  practicable,  prospective,  condition  of  the 
authority  by  which  the  representative  in  question  was  appointed. 
This  information  being  received,  the  application  of  the  established 
rule  of  our   Government,  in    like  cases,  was  no  longer  withheld. 

Considerable  advances  have  been  made,  during  the  present 
year,  in  the  adjustment  of  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  Denmark 
for  spoliations ;  but  all  that  we  have  a  right  to  demand  from 
that  government,  in  their  behalf,  has  not  yet  been  conceded. 
From  the  liberal  footing,  however,  upon  which  this  subject  has, 
with  the  approbation  of  the  claimants,  been  placed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, together  with  the  uniformly  just  and  friendly  disposi- 
tion which  has  been  evinced  by  his  Danish  Majesty,  there  is  a 
reasonable  ground  to  hope  that  this  single  subject  of  difference 
will  speedily  be  removed. 

Our  relations  with  the  Barbary  powers  continue,  as  they  have 
long  been,  of  the  most  favorable  character.  The  policy  of  keep- 
ing an  adequate  force  in  the  Mediterranean,  as  security  for  the 
continuance  of  this  tranquillity,  will  be  persevered  in  ;  as  well  as 
a  similar  one  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce  and  fisheries  in 
the  Pacific. 

The  southern  Republics,  of  our  own  hemisphere,  have  not 
yet  realized  all  the  advantages  for  which  they  have  been  so  long 
struggling.  We  trust,  however,  that  the  day  is  not  distant,  when 
the   restoration  of  peace   and   internal   quiet,  under  permanent 


424  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

systems  of  government,  securing  the  liberty,  and  promoting  the 
happiness  of  the  citizens,  will  crown,  with  complete  success,  their 
long  and  arduous  efforts  in  the  cause  of  self-government,  and 
enable  us  to  salute  them  as  friendly  rivals  in  all  that  is  truly 
great  and  glorious. 

The  recent  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  the  effect  thereby  pro- 
duced upon  her  domestic  policy,  must  have  a  controlling  influence 
upon  the  great  question  of  South  American  emancipation.  We 
have  seen  the  fell  spirit  of  civil  dissension  rebuked  and,  perhaps, 
forever  stifled  in  that  republic,  by  the  love  of  independence.  If 
it  be  true,  as  appearances  strongly  indicate,  that  the  spirit  of  in- 
dependence is  the  master  spirit,  and  if  a  corresponding  sentiment 
prevails  in  the  other  States,  this  devotion  to  liberty  can  not  be 
without  a  proper  effect  upon  the  counsels  of  the  mother  country. 
The  adoption,  by  Spain,  of  a  pacific  policy  towards  her  former 
Colonies — an  event  consoling  to  humanity,  and  a  blessing  to  the 
world,  in  which  she,  herself,  can  not  fail  largely  to  participate — 
may  be  most  reasonably  expected. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  South  American  govern- 
ments, generally,  are  in  a  train  of  settlement ;  while  the  princi- 
pal part  of  those  upon  Brazil  have  been  adjusted,  and  a  decree 
in  council,  ordering  bonds  to  be  issued  by  the  minister  of  the 
treasury  for  their  amount,  has  received  the  sanction  of  his  im- 
perial majesty.  This  event,  together  with  the  exchange  of  the 
ratifications  of  the  treaty  negotiated  and  concluded  in  1828,  hap- 
pily terminates  all  serious  causes  of  difference  with  that  power. 
Measures  have  been  taken  to  place  our  commercial  relations 
with  Peru  upon  a  better  footing  than  that  upon  which  they  have 
hitherto  rested  ;  and  if  met  by  a  proper  disposition  on  the  part 
of  that  government,  important  benefits  may  be  secured  to  both 
countries. 

Deeply  interested  as  we  are  in  the  prosperity  of  our  sister 
republics,  and  more  particularly  in  that  of  our  immediate  neigh- 
bor, it  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me,  were  I  permitted  to  say, 
that  the  treatment  which  we  have  received  at  her  hands  has  been 
as  universally  friendly  as  the  early  and  constant  solicitude  mani- 
fested by  the  United  States  for  her  success  gave  us  a  right  to 
expect.  But  it  becomes  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  prejudices, 
long  indulged  by  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  against 
the  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the 
United    States,    have    had    an    unfortunate    influence    upon    the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  425 

affairs  of  the  two  countries,  and  iiave  diminished  that  usefulness 
to  its  own  which  was  justly  to  be  expected  from  his  talents  and 
zeal.  To  this  cause,  in  a  great  degree,  is  to  be  imputed  the 
failure  of  several  measures  equally  interesting  to  both  parties; 
but  particularly  that  of  the  Mexican  Government  to  ratify  a 
treaty  negotiated  and  concluded  in  its  own  capital  and  under  its 
own  eye.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  appeared  expedient  to 
give  to  Mr.  Poinsett  the  option  either  to  return  or  not,  as,  in,  his 
judgment,  the  interest  of  his  country  might  require;  and  in- 
structions to  that  end  were  prepared ;  but,  before  they  could  be 
dispatched,  a  communication  was  received  from  the.  Government 
of  Mexico,  through  its  charge  d'affaires  here,  requesting  the  recall 
of  our  Minister.  This  was  promptly  complied  with ;  and  a  rep- 
resentative of  a  rank  corresponding  with  that  of  the  Mexican 
diplomatic  agent  near  this  Government  was  appointed.  Our 
conduct  towards  that  republic  has  been  uniformly  of  the  most 
friendly  character;  and  having  thus  removed  the  only  alleged 
obstacle  to  harmonious  intercourse,  I  can  not  but  hope  that  an 
advantageous  change  will  occur  in  our  affairs. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Poinsett,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  my  imme- 
diate compliance  with  the  application  for  his  recall,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  his  successor,  are  not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  evidence 
that  the  imputation  of  an  improper  interference  by  him  in  the 
local  politics  of  Mexico  was  well  founded  ;  nor  to  a  want  of  con- 
fidence in  his  talents  or  integrity ;  and  to  add,  that  the  truth  of 
that  charge  has  never  been  affirmed  by  the  Federal  Government 
of  Mexico,  in  its  communication  with  this. 

I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  urgent  of  my  duties  to  bring  to 
your  attention  the  propriety  of  amending  that  part  of  our  Con- 
stitution which  relates  to  the  election  of  President  and  Vice- 
President.  Our  system  of  Government  was,  by  its  framers, 
deemed  an  experiment ;  and  they,  therefore,  consistently  provided 
a  mode  of  remedying  its  defects. 

To  the  people  belongs  the  right  of  electing  their  Chief  Magis- 
trate;  it  was  never  designed  that  their  choice  should,  iu  any 
case,  be  defeated,  either  by  the  intervention  of  electoral  colleges, 
or  by  the  agency  confided,  under  certain  contingencies,  to  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Experience  proves,  that,  in  propor- 
tion as  agents  to  execute  the  will  of  the  people  are  multiplied, 
there  is  danger  of  their  wishes  beiug  frustrated.  Some  may  be 
unfaithful ;  all  are  liable  to  err.     So  far,  therefore,  as  the  people 


426  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

can,  with  convenience,  speak,  it  is  safei-  for  them  to  express  their 
own  will. 

The  number  of  aspirants  to  the  Presidency,  and  the  diversity 
of  the  interests  which  may  influence  their  claims,  leave  little 
reason  to  expect  a  choice  in  the  first  instance ;  and,  in  that 
event,  the  election  must  devolve  on  the  House  of  Representatives, 
where,  it  is  obvious,  the  will  of  the  people  may  not  be  always 
ascertained  ;  or,  if  ascertained,  may  not  be  regarded.  From  the 
mode  of  voting  by  States,  the  choice  is  to  be  made  by  twenty- 
four  votes ;  and  it  may  often  occur,  that  one  of  these  may  be 
controlled  by  an  individual  representative.  Honors  and  ofiices 
are  at  the  disposal  of  the  successful  candidate.  Repeated  ballot- 
iugs  may  make  it  apparent  that  a  single  individual  holds  the 
cast  in  his  hand.  May  he  not  be  tempted  to  name  his  reward? 
But  even  without  corruption — supposing  the  probity  of  the  rep- 
resentative to  be  proof  against  the  powerful  motives  by  which  he 
may  be  assailed — the  will  of  the  people  is  still  constantly  liable 
to  be  misrepresented.  One  may  err  from  ignorance  of  the  wishes 
of  his  constituents ;  another,  from  a  conviction  that  it  is  his  duty 
to  .be  governed  by  his  own  judgment  of  the  fitness  of  the  candi- 
dates ;  finally,  although  all  were  inflexibly  honest — all  accurately 
informed  of  the  wishes  of  their  constituents — yet,  under  the  present 
mode  of  election,  a  minority  may  often  elect  a  President ;  and 
when  this  happens,  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  that  efforts  will 
be  made  on  the  part  of  the  majority  to  rectify  this  injurious  opera- 
tion of  their  institutions.  But  although  no  evil  of  this  character 
should  result  from  such  a  perversion  of  the  first  principle  of  our  sys- 
tem— that  the  majority  is  to  govern — it  must  be  very  certain  that 
a  President  elected  by  a  minority  can  not  enjoy  the  confidence 
necessary  to  the  successful  discharge  of  his  duties.  * 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters  of  public  concern,  policy 
requires  that  as  few  impediments  as  possible  should  exist  to  the 
free  operation  of  the  public  will.  Let  us,  then,  endeavor  so  to 
amend  our  system,  that  the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate  may  not  be 
conferred  upon  any  citizen  but  in  pursuance  of  a  fair  expression 
of  the  will  of  the  majority. 

I  would,  therefore,  recommend  such  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  as  may  remove  all  intermediate  agency  in  the  elec- 
tion of  President  and  Vice  President.  The  mode  may  be  so 
regulated  as  to  preserve  to  each  State  its  present  relative  weight 
in    the    election ;    and    a    failure   in    the    first  attempt  may   be 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  427 

provided  for,  by  confining  the  second  to  a  choice  between  the  two 
highest  candidates.  In  connection  with  such  an  amendment, 
it  would  seem  advisable  to  limit  the  service  of  the  Chief  Mag- 
istrate to  a  single  term,  of  either  four  or  six  years.  If,  how- 
ever, it  should  not  be  adopted,  it  is  worthy  of  consideration 
whether  a  provision  disqualifying  for  office  the  representatives  in 
Congress  on  whom  such  an  election  may  have  devolved,  would 
not  be  proper. 

While  members  of  Congress  can  be  Constitutionally  appointed 
to  offices  of  trust  and  profit,  it  will  be  the  practice,  even  under 
the  most  conscientious  adherence  to  duty,  to  select  them  for  such 
stations  as  they  are  believed  to  be  better  qualified  to  fill  than  other 
citizens ;  but  the  purity  of  our  Government  would,  doubtless,  be 
promoted  by  their  exclusion  from  all  appointments  in  the  gift  of 
the  President,  in  whose  election  they  may  have  been  officially 
concerned.  The  nature  of  the  judicial  office,  and  the  necessity 
of  securing  in  the  Cabinet  and  in  diplomatic  stations  of  the  highest 
rank,  the  best  talents  and  political  experience  should,  perhaps, 
except  these  from  the  exclusion. 

There  are,  perhaps,  few  men  who  can  for  any  great  length  of 
time  enjoy  office  and  power,  without  being  more  or  less  under  the 
influence  of  feelings  unfavorable  to  a  faithful  discharge  of  their 
public  duties.  Their  integrity  may  be  proof  against  improper 
considerations  immediately  addressed  to  themselves  ;  but  they  are 
apt  to  acquire  a  babit  of  looking  with  indifference  upon  the  public 
interests,  and  of  tolerating  conduct  from  which  an  unpracticed 
man  would  revolt.  Office  is  considered  as  a  species  of  property; 
and  government  rather  as  a  means  of  promoting  individual  inter- 
ests than  as  an  instrument  created  solely  for  the  service  of  the 
people.  Corruption  in  some,  and,  in  others,  a  perversion  of  cor- 
rect feelings  and  principles,  divert  government  from  its  legitimate 
ends,  and  make  it  an  engine  for  the  support  of  the  few  at  the 
expense  of  the  many.  The  duties  of  all  public  officers  are,  or 
at  least  admit  of  being  made,  so  plain  and  simple  that  men  of 
intelligence  may  readily  qualify  themselves  for  the'ir  performance  ; 
and  I  can  not  but  believe  that  more  is  lost  by  the  long  con- 
tinuance of  men  in  office  than  is  generally  to  be  gained  by  their 
experience.  I  submit,  therefore,  to  your  consideration,  whether 
the  efficiency  of  the  Government  would  not  be  promoted,  and 
official  industry  and  integrity  better  secured,  by  a  general  exten- 
sion of  the  law  which  limits  appointments  to  four  years. 


428  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

In  a  country  where  offices  are  created  solely  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people,  no  one  man  has  any  more  intrinsic  right  to  official 
station  than  another.  Offices  were  not  established  to  give  sup- 
port to  particular  men  at  the  public  expense.  No  individual 
wrong  is,  therefore,  done  by  removal,  since  neither  appointment 
to,  nor  continuance  in  office,  is  matter  of  right.  The  incumbent 
became  an  officer  with  a  view  to  public  benefits,  and,  when  these 
require  his  removal,  they  are  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  private  inter- 
ests. It  is  the  people,  and  they  alone,  who  have  a  right  to  com- 
plain when  a  bad  officer  is  substituted  for  a  good  one.  He  who 
is  removed  has  the  same  means  of  obtaining  a  living  that  are 
enjoyed  by  the  millions  who  never  held  office.  The  proposed 
limitation  would  destroy  the  idea  of  property,  now  so  generally 
connected  with  official  station ;  and,  although  individual  distress 
may  be  sometimes  produced,  it  would,  by  promoting  that  rotation 
which  constitutes  a  leading  principle  in  the  republican  creed,  give 
healthful  action  to  the  system. 

No  very  considerable  change  has  occurred,  during  the  recess 
of  Congress,  in  the  condition  of  either  our  agriculture,  com- 
merce, or  manufactures.  The  operation  of  the  tarifi"  has  not 
proved  so  injurious  to  the  two  former,  or  as  beneficial  to  the 
latter,  as  was  anticipated.  Importations  of  foreign  goods  have 
not  been  sensibly  diminished,  while  domestic  competition,  under 
an  illusive  excitement,  has  increased  the  production  much  be- 
yond the  demand  for  home  consumption.  The  consequences 
have  been  low  prices,  temporaiy  embarrassment,  and  partial  loss. 
That  such  of  our  manufacturing  establishments  as  are  based  upon 
capital,  and  are  prudently  managed,  will  survive  the  shock,  and 
be  ultimately  profitable,  there  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt. 

To  regulate  its  conduct,  so  as  to  promote  equally  the  pros- 
perity of  these  three  cardinal  interests,  is  one  of  the  most  dif- 
ficult tasks  of  government;  and  it  may  be  regretted  that  the 
complicated  restrictions  which  now  embarrass  the  intercourse  of 
nations  could  not,  by  common  consent,  be  abolished,  and  com- 
merce allowed  'to  flow  in  those  channels  to  which  individual  enter- 
prise, always  its  surest  guide,  might  direct  it.  But  we  must  ever 
expect  selfish  legislation  in  other  nations ;  and  are,  therefore, 
compelled  to  a(laj)t  our  own  to  their  regulations,  in  the  manner 
best  calculated  to  avoid  serious  injury,  and  to  harmonize  the  con- 
flicting interests  of  our  agriculture,  our  commerce,  and  our 
manufactures.     Under  these  impressions,  I  invite  your  attention 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  429 

to  the  existing  tariff,  believing  that  some  of  its  provisions  require 
modification. 

The  general  rule  to  be  applied  in  graduating  the  duties  upon 
articles  of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture,  is  that  which  will  place 
our  own  in  fair  competition  with  those  of  other  countries;  and  the 
inducements  to  advance  even  a  step  beyond  this  point,  are  con- 
trolling in  regard  to  those  articles  which  are  of  primary  neces- 
sity in  time  of  war.  When  we  reflect  upon  the  difficulty  and 
delicacy  of  this  operation,  it  is  important  that  it  should  never  be 
attempted  but  with  the  utmost  caution.  Frequent  legislation  in 
regard  to  any  branch  of  industry,  aflfecting  its  value,  and  by 
which  its  capital  may  be  transferred  to  new  channels,  must 
always  be  productive  of  hazardous  speculation  and  loss. 

In  deliberating,  therefore,  on  these  interesting  subjects,  local 
feelings  and  prejudices  should  be  merged  in  the  patriotic  determi- 
nation to  promote  the  great  interests  of  the  whole.  All  attempts 
to  connect  them  with  the  party  conflicts  of  the  day  are  necessa- 
rily injurious,  and  should  be  discountenanced.  Our  action  upon 
them  should  be  under  the  control  of  higher  and  purer  motives. 
Legislation,  subjected  to  such  influence,  can  never  be  just,  and 
will  not  long  retain  the  sanction  of  a  people  whose  active  patriot- 
ism is  not  bounded  by  sectional  limits,  nor  insensible  to  that  spirit 
of  concession  and  forbearance,  which  gave  lifie  to  our  political 
compact,  and  still  sustains  it.  Discarding  all  calculations  of  po- 
litical ascendancy,  the  North,  the  South,  the  East,  and  the  West 
should  unite  in  diminishing  any  burthen  of  which  either  may 
justly  complain. 

The  agricultural  interests  of  our  country  are  so  essentially 
connected  with  every  other,  and  so  superior  in  importance  to 
them  all,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  invite  to  it  your  par- 
ticular attention.  It  is  principally  as  manufactures  and  com- 
merce tend  to  increase  the  value  of  agricultural  productions,  and 
to  extend  their  application  to  the  wants  and  comforts  of  society, 
that  they  deserve  the  fostering  care  of  Government. 

Looking  forward  to  the  period,  not  far  distant,  when  a  sinking 
fund  will  no  longer  be  required,  the  duties  on  those  articles  of 
importation  which  can  not  come  in  competition  with  our  own 
productions,  are  the  first  that  should  engage  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress in  the  modification  of  the  tariff.  Of  these,  tea  and  coffee 
are  the  most  prominent ;  they  enter  largely  into  the  consumption 
of  the  country,   and  have   become   articles   of  necessity  to    all 


430  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

classes.  A  reduction,  therefore,  of  the  existing  duties  will  be  felt 
as  a  common  benefit ;  but,  like  all  other  legislation  connected 
with  commerce,  to  be  efficacious,  and  not  injurious,  it  should  be 
gradual  and  certain. 

The  public  prosperity  is  evinced  in  the  increased  revenue 
arising  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands ;  and  in  the  steady 
maintenance  of  that  produced  by  imposts  and  tonnage,  notwith- 
standing the  additi(>ual  duties  impqged  by  the  act  of  19th  May, 
1828,  and  the  unusual  importations  in  the  early  part  of  that  year. 

The  balance  in  the  Treasury,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1829,  was 
five  millions  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  thousand  four  hundred 
and  thirty-five  dollars  and  eighty-one  cents.  The  receipts  of 
the  current  year  are  estimated  at  twenty-four  millions  six  hun- 
dred and  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  and  the 
expenditures,  for  the  same  time,  at  twenty-six  millions  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-five  dol- 
lars; leaving  a  balance  in  the  Treasury,  on  the  1st  of  January 
next,  of  four  millions  four  hundred  and  ten  thousand  and  seventy 
dollars  and  eighty-one  cents. 

There  will  have  been  paid,  on  account  of  the  public  debt, 
during  the  present  year,  the  sum  of  twelve  millions  four  hundred 
and  five  thousand  and  five  dollars  and  eighty  cents ;  reducing  the 
whole  debt  of  the  Government,  on  the  1st  of  January  next,  to 
forty-eight  millions  five  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  four 
hundred  and  six  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  including  seven  millions 
of  five  per  cent  stock  subscribed  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  payment  on  account  of  the  public  debt,  made  on 
the  1st  of  July  last,  was  eight  millions  seven  hundred  and  fifteen 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-two  dollars  and  eighty-seven 
cents.  It  was  apprehended  that  the  sudden  withdrawal  of  so 
large  a  sum  from  the  banks  in  which  it  was  deposited,  at  a  time  of 
unusual  pressure  in  the  money  market,  might  cause  much  injury 
to  the  interests  dependent  on  bank  accommodations.  But  this 
evil  was  wholly  averted  by  an  early  anticipation  of  it  at  the 
Treasury,  aided  by  the  judicious  arrangements  of  the  officers  of 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

This  state  of  the  finances  exhibits  the  resources  of  the  Nation 
in  an  aspect  highly  flattering  to  its  industry;  and  auspicious  of 
the  ability  of  Government,  in  a  very  sliort  time,  to  extinguish 
the  public  debt.  When  this  shall  be  done,  our  population  will  be 
relieved  from  a  considerable  portion  of  its  present  burthens;  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  431 

will  find,  not  only  new  motives  to  pati'iotic  affection,  but  addi- 
tional means  for  the  display  of  individual  enterprise.  The  fiscal 
power  of  the  States  will  also  be  increased  ;  and  may  be  more  exten- 
sively exerted  in  favor  of  education  and  other  public  objects  ;  while 
ample  means  will  remain  in  the  Federal  Government  to  promote 
the  general  weal,  in  all  the  modes  permitted  to  its  authority. 

After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt,  it  is  not  probable 
that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff,  upon  principles  satisfactory  to 
the  people  of  the  Union,  will,  until  a  remote  period,  if  ever, 
leave  the  Government  without  a  considerable  surplus  in  the 
Treasury,  beyond  what  may  be  required  for  its  current  service. 
As,  then,  the  period  approaches  when  the  application  of  the  rev- 
enue to  the  payment  of  debt  will  cease,  the  disposition  of  the 
surplus  will  present  a  subject  for  the  serious  deliberation  of  Con- 
gress; and  it  may  be  fortunate  for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to 
be  decided.  Considered  in  connection  with  the  difficulties  which 
have  heretofore  attended  appropriations  for  purposes  of  internal 
improvement ;  and  with  those  which  this  experience  tells  us  will 
certainly  arise,  whenever  power  over  such  subjects  may  be  exer- 
cised by  the  General  Government ;  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to 
the  adoption  of  some  plan  which  will  reconcile  the  diversified 
interests  of  the  States,  and  strengthen  the  bonds  which  unite 
them.  Every  member  of  the  Union,  in  peace  and  in  war,  will 
be  benefited  by  the  improvement  of  inland  navigation  and  the 
construction  of  highways  in  the  several  States.  Let  us,  then, 
endeavor  to  attain  this  benefit  in  a  mode  which  will  be  satisfac- 
tory to  all.  That  hitherto  adopted  has,  by  many  of  our  fellow- 
citizens,  been  deprecated  as  an  infraction  of  the  Constitution; 
while  by  others  it  has  been  viewed  as  inexpedient.  All  feel  that 
it  has  been  employed  at  the  expense  of  harmony  in  the  legisla- 
tive councils. 

To  avoid  these  evils,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe,  just, 
and  federal  disposition  which  could  be  made  of  the  surplus  rev- 
enue, would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  several  States  ac- 
cording to  their  ratio  of  representation  ;  and  should  this  measure 
not  be  found  warranted  by  the  Constitution,  that  it  would  be 
expedient  to  propose  to  the  States  an  amendment  authorizing  it. 
I  regard  an  appeal  to  the  source  of  power,  in  cases  of  real  doubt, 
and  where  its  exercise  is  deemed  indispensable  to  the  general 
welfare,  as  among  the  most  sacred  of  all  our  obligations.  Upon 
this  country,  more  than  any   other,   has,    in   the   providence   of 


432  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

God,  been  cast  the  special  guardianship  of  the  great  principle  of 
adherence  to  written  constitutions.  If  it  fail  here,  all  hope  in 
regard  to  it  will  be  extinguished.  That  this  was  intended  to  be  a 
Government  of  limited  and  specific,  aud  not  general  powers, 
must  be  admitted  by  all ;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  preserve  for  it  the 
character  intended  by  its  framers.  If  experience  points  out  the 
necessity  for  an  enlargement  of  these  powers,  let  us  apply  for  it 
to  those  for  whose  benefit  it  is  to  be  exercised ;  and  not  under- 
mine the  whole  system  by  a  resort  to  overstrained  constructions. 
The  scheme  has  worked  well.  It  has  exceeded  the  hopes  of  those 
who  devised  it,  and  become  an  object  of  admiration  to  the  world. 
We  are  responsible  for  our  country,  and  to  the  glorious  cause  of 
self-government,  for  the  preservation  of  so  great  a  good.  The 
great  mass  of  legislation  relating  to  our  internal  affairs  was  in- 
tended to  be  left  Avhere  the  federal  convention  found  it,  in  the 
State  governments.  Nothing  is  clearer,  in  my  view,  than  that 
we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  success  of  the  Constitution  under 
which  we  are  now  acting,  to  the  watchful  and  auxiliary  operation 
of  the  State  authorities.  This  is  not  the  reflection  of  a  day,  but 
belongs  to  the  most  deeply  rooted  convictions  of  my  mind.  I 
can  not,  therefore,  too  strongly  or  too  earnestly,  for  my  own 
sense  of  its  importance,  warn  you  against  all  encroachments  upon 
the  legitimate  sphere  of  State  sovereignty.  Sustained  by  its  health- 
ful and  invigorating  influence,  the  federal  system  can  never  fall. 

In  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  the  long  credits  authorized 
on  goods  imported  from  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  are  the 
chief  cause  of  the  losses  at  present  sustained.  If  these  were 
shortened  to  six,  nine,  and  twelve  months,  and  warehouses  pro- 
vided by  Government,  sufficient  to  receive  the  goods  oflfered  in 
deposit  for  security  and  for  debenture;  and  if  the  right  of  the 
United  States  to  a  priority  of  payment  out  of  the  estates  of  its 
insolvent  debtors  were  more  efl^ectually  secured,  this  evil  would, 
in  a  great  measure,  be  obviated.  An  authority  to  construct  such 
houses  is,  therefore,  with  the  proposed  alteration  of  the  credits, 
recommended  to  your  attention. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  laws  for  the  collection  and 
security  of  the  revenue  arising  from  imposts,  were  chiefly  framed 
when  the  rates  of  duties  on  imported  goods  presented  much  less 
temptation  for  illicit  trade  than  at  present  exists.  There  is  rea- 
son to  believe  that  these  laws  are,  in  some  respects,  quite  insuffi- 
cient for  the  proper  security  of  the  revenue,  and  the  protection 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  433 

of  the  interests  of  those  who  are  disposed  to  observe  them.  The 
injurious  and  demoralizing  tendency  of  a  successful  system  of 
smuggling  is  so  obvious  as  not  to  require  comment,  and  can  not 
be  too  carefully  guarded  against.  I  therefore  suggest  to  Con- 
gress the  propriety  of  adopting  efficient  measures  to  prevent  this 
evil,  avoiding,  however,  as  much  as  possible,  every  unnecessary 
infringement  of  individual  liberty,  and  embarrassment  of  fair  and 
lawful  business. 

On  an  examination  of  the  rceords  of  the  Treasury,  I  have 
been  forcibly  struck  with  the  large  amount  of  public  money 
which  appears  to  be  outstanding.  Of  the  sum  thus  due  from 
individuals  to  the  Government,  a  considerable  portion  is  un- 
doubtedly desperate  ;  and,  in  many  instances,  has  probably  been 
rendered  so  by  remissness  in  the  agents  charged  with  its  collection. 
By  proper  exertions,  a  great  part,  however,  may  yet  be  recov- 
ered;  and,  whatever  may  be  the  portions  respectively  belonging 
to  these  two  classes,  it  behooves  the  Government  to  ascertain  the 
real  state  of  the  fact.  This  can  be  done  only  by  the  prompt 
adoption  of  judicious  measures  for  the  collection  of  such  as  may 
be  made  available.  It  is  believed  that  a  very  large  amount  has 
been  lost  through  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  provided  for  the 
collection  of  debts  due  to  the  public  ;  and  that  this  inadequacy 
lies  chiefly  in  the  want  of  legal  skill,  habitually  and  constantly 
employed  in  the  direction  of  the  agents  engaged  in  the  service. 
It  must,  I  think,  be  admitted,  that  the  supervisory  power  over 
suits  brought  by  the  public,  which  is  now  vested  in  an  account- 
ing officer  of  the  Treasury,  not  selected  with  a  view  to  his  legal 
knowledge,  and  encumbered  as  he  is  with  numerous  other  duties, 
operates  unfavorably  to  the  public  interest. 

It  is  important  that  this  branch  of  the  public  service  should 
be  subjected  to  the  supervision  of  such  professional  skill  as  will 
give  it  efficiency.  The  expense  attendant  upon  such  a  modification 
of  the  Executive  Department,  would  be  justified  by  the  soundest 
principles  of  economy.  I  would  recommend,  therefore,  that  the 
duties  now  assigned  to  the  agent  of  the  Treasury,  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  the  superintendence  and  management  of  legal  proceed- 
ings on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  be  transferred  to  the 
Attorney-General;  and  that  this  officer  be  placed  on  the  same 
footing,  in  all  respects,  as  the  heads  of  the  other  departments,  re- 
ceiving like  compensation,  and  having  such  subordinate  officers 
provided  for  his  department,  as  may  be  requisite  for  the  discharge 

28— G 


434  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  these  additional  duties.  The  professional  skill  of  the  Attorney- 
General,  employed  in  directing  the  conduct  of  marshals  and  dis- 
trict attorneys,  would  hasten  the  collection  of  debts  now  in  suit, 
and  hereafter  save  much  to  the  Government.  It  might  be  fur- 
ther extended  to  the  superintendence  of  all  criminal  proceedings 
for  offenses  against  the  United  States.  In  making  this  transfer, 
great  care  should  be  taken,  however,  that  the  power  necessary  to 
the  Treasury  Department  be  not  impaired ;  one  of  its  greatest 
securities  consisting  in  a  control  over  all  accounts,  until  they  are 
audited  or  reported  for  suit. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  views,  I  would  suggest,  also, 
an  inquiry,  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress, 
authorizing  the  discharge  of  the  persons  of  debtors  to  the  Gov- 
ernment from  imprisonment,  may  not,  consistently  with  the 
public  interest,  be  extended  to  the  release  of  the  debt,  where  the 
conduct  of  the  debtor  is  wholly  exempt  from  the  imputation  of 
fraud.  Some  more  liberal  policy  than  that  which  now  prevails, 
in  reference  to  this  unfortunate  class  of  citizens,  is  certainly  due 
to  them,  and  would  prove  beneficial  to  the  country.  The  con- 
tinuance of  the  liability,  after  the  means  to  discharge  it  have 
been  exhausted,  can  only  serve  to  dispirit  the  debtor;  or,  where 
his  resources  are  but  partial,  the  want  of  power  in  the  Govern- 
ment to  compromise  and  release  the  demand,  instigates  to  fraud, 
as  the  only  resource  for  securing  a  support  to  his  family.  He 
thus  sinks  into  a  state  of  apathy,  and  becomes  a  useless  drone  in 
society,  or  a  vicious  member  of  it,  if  not  a  feeling  witness  of  the 
rigor  and  inhumanity  of  his  country.  All  experience  proves 
that  oppressive  debt  is  the  bane  of  enterprise  ;  and  it  should  be 
the  care  of  a  republic  not  to  exert  a  grinding  power  over  mis- 
fortune and  poverty. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  numerous  frauds  on  the 
Treasury  have  been  discovered,  which  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
bring  under  the  cognizance  of  the  United  States  Court  for  this 
district,  by  a  criminal  prosecution.  It  was  my  opinion,  and  that 
of  able  counsel  who  were  consulted,  that  the  cases  came  within 
the  penalties  of  the  act  of  the  Seventeenth  Congress,  approved  3d 
March,  1823,  providing  for  the  punishment  of  frauds  committed 
on  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Either  from  some 
defect  in  the  law,  or  in  its  administration,  every  effort  to  bring 
the  accused  to  trial,  under  its  provisions,  proved  ineffectual ;  and 
the  Government  was  driven  to  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  435 

vague  and  inadequate  provisions  of  the  common  law.  It  is 
therefore  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  the  laws  which  have 
been  passed  for  the  protection  of  the  Treasury.  If,  indeed, 
there  be  no  provision  by  which  those  who  may  be  unworthily 
intrusted  with  its  guardianship  can  be  punished  for  the  most 
flagrant  violation  of  duty,  extending  even  to  the  most  fraudulent 
appropriation  of  the  public  funds  to  their  own  use,  it  is  time  to 
remedy  so  dangerous  an  omission.  Or,  if  the  law  has  been  per- 
verted from  its  original  purposes,  and  criminals,  deserving  to  be 
punished  under  its  provisions,,  have  been  rescued  by  legal  subtle- 
ties, it  ought  to  be  made  so  plain,  by  amendatory  provisions,  as 
to  baffle  the  arts  of  perversion,  and  accomplish  the  ends  of  its 
original  enactment. 

In  one  of  the  most  flagrant  cases,  the  court  decided  that  the 
prosecution  was  barred  by  the  statute  which  limits  prosecution  for 
fraud  to  two  years.  In  this  case  all  the  evidences  of  the  fraud, 
and  indeed  all  knowledge  that  a  fraud  had  been  committed,  were 
in  possession  of  the  party  accused,  until  after  the  two  years  had 
elapsed.  Surely  the  statute  ought  not  to  run  in  favor  of  any 
man  while  he  retains  all  the  evidences  of  his  crime  in  his  own 
possession;  and,  least  of  all,  in  favor  of  a  public  officer  who  con- 
tinues to  defraud  the  Treasury,  and  conceal  the  transaction 
for  the  brief  term  of  two  years.  I  would,  therefore,  recom- 
mend such  an  alteration  of  the  law  as  will  give  the  injured 
party  and  the  Government  two  years  after  the  disclosure  of 
the  fraud,  or  after  the  accused  is  out  of  office,  to  commence 
their  prosecution. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  I  invite  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress to  a  general  and  minute  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
Government,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  what  offices  can  be  dis- 
pensed with,  what  expenses  retrenched,  and  what  improvements 
may  be  made  in  the  organization  of  its  various  parts,  to  secure 
the  proper  responsibility  of  public  agents,  and  promote  efficiency 
and  justice  in  all  its  operations. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will  make  you  acquainted 
with  the  condition  of  our  army,  fortifications,  arsenals,  and  Indian 
affiiirs.  The  proper  discipline  of  the  army,  the  training  and 
equipment  of  the  militia,  the  education  bestowed  at  West  Point, 
and  the  accumulation  of  the  means  of  defense,  applicable  to  the 
naval  force,  will  tend  to  prolong  the  peace  we  now  enjoy,  and 
which  every  good  citizen — more  especially  those  who  have  felt  the 


436  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

miseries  of  even  a  successful  warfare — must  ardently  desire  to 
perpetuate. 

The  returns  from  the  subordinate  branches  of  this  service  ex- 
hibit a  regularity  and  order  highly  creditable  to  its  character ;  both 
officers  and  soldiers  seem  imbued  with  a  proper  sense  of  duty,  and 
conform  to  the  restraints  of  exact  discipline,  with  that  cheerful- 
ness which  becomes  the  profession  of  arms.  There  is  need,  how- 
ever, of  further  legislation,  to  obviate  the  inconveniences  specified 
in  the  report  under  consideration,  to  some  of  which  it  is  proper 
that  I  should  call  your  particular  attention. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  2d  March,  1821,  to  reduce  and  fix 
the  military  establishment,  remaining  unexecuted  as  it  regards  the 
command  of  one  of  the  regiments  of  artillery,  can  not  now  be 
deemed  a  guide  to  the  Executive  in  making  the  proper  appoint- 
ment. An  explanatory  act,  designating  the  class  of  officers  out 
of  which  this  grade  is  to  be  filled — ^whether  from  the  military  list 
as  existing  prior  to  the  act  of  1821,  or  from  it  as  it  has  been  fixed 
by  that  act — would  remove  this  difficulty.  It  is  also  important 
that  the  laws  regulating  the  pay  and  emoluments  of  officers  gener- 
ally, should  be  more  specific  than  they  now  are.  Those,  for  ex- 
ample, in  relation  to  the  paymaster  and  surgeon-general,  assign 
to  them  an  annual  salary  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars, 
but  are  silent  as  to  allowances,  which,  in  certain  exigencies  of  the 
service,  may  be  deemed  indispensable  to  the  discharge  of  their 
duties.  This  circumstance  has  been  th*e  authority  for  extending 
to  them  various  allowances,  at  different  times,  under  former  Ad- 
ministrations ;  but  no  uniform  rule  has  been  observed  on  the  sub- 
ject. Similar  inconveniences  exist  in  other  cases,  in  which  the 
construction  put  upon  the  laws  by  the  public  accountants  may 
operate  unequally,  produce  confusion,  and  expose  officers  to  the 
odium  of  claiming  what  is  not  their  due. 

I  recommend  to  your  fostering  care,  as  one  of  your  safest 
means  of  national  defense,  the  military  academy.  This  institu- 
tion has  already  exercised  the  happiest  influence  upon  the  moral 
and  intellectual  character  of  our  army  ;  and  such  of  the  graduates 
as,  from  various  causes,  may  not  pursue  the  profession  of  arms, 
will  be  scarcely  less  useful  as  citizens.  Their  knowledge  of  the 
military  art  will  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  militia  serv- 
ice ;  and,  in  a  measure,  secure  to  that  class  of  troops  the  advan- 
tages which,  in  this  respect,  belong  to  standing  armies. 

I   would  also   suggest   a  review  of  the  pension  law,  for  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  437 

purpose  of  extending  its  benefits  to  every  Revolutionary  soldier  who 
aided  in  establishing  our  liberties,  and  who  is  unable  to  maintain 
himself  in  comfort.  These  relics  of  the  War  of  Independence 
have  strong  claims  upon  their  country's  gratitude  and  bounty. 
The  law  is  defective,  in  not  embracing  within  its  provisions  all 
those  who  were,  during  the  last  war,  disabled  from  supporting 
themselves  by  manual  labor.  Such  an  amendment  would  add  but 
little  to  the  amount  of  pensions,  and  is  called  for  by  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  people,  as  well  as  by  considerations  of  sound  policy. 
It  will  be  perceived  that  a  large  addition  to  the  list  of  pensioners 
has  been  occasioned  by  an  order  of  the  late  Administration,  de- 
parting materially  from  the  rules  which  had  previously  prevailed. 
Considering  it  an  act  of  legislation,  I  suspended  its  operation  as 
soon  as  I  was  informed  that  it  had  commenced.  Before  this  period, 
however,  applications  under  the  new  i-egulation  had  been  preferred, 
to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four,  of  which,  on  the  27th 
March,  the  date  of  its  revocation,  eighty-seven  were  admitted. 
For  the  amount,  there  was  neither  estimate  nor  appropriation ; 
and  besides  this  deficiency,  the  regular  allowances,  according  to 
the  rules  which  have  heretofore  governed  the  department,  exceed 
the  estimate  of  its  late  secretary  by  about  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
for  which  an  appropriation  is  asked. 

Your  particular  attention  is  requested  to  that  part  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  the  money  held 
in  trust  for  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Indians.  It  will  be  perceived 
that,  without  legislative  aid,  the  Executive  can  not  obviate  the 
embarrassments  occasioned  by  the  diminution  of  the  dividends  on 
that  fund,  which  originally  amounted  to  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  has  recently  been  vested  in  United  States  three  per 
cent  stock. 

The  condition  and  ulterior  destiny  of  the  Indian  tribes  within 
the  limits  of  some  of  our  States,  have  become  objects  of  much  in- 
terest and  importance.  It  has  long  been  the  policy  of  Govern- 
ment to  introduce  among  them  the  arts  of  civilization,  in  the  hope 
of  gradually  reclaiming  them  from  a  wandering  life.  This  policy 
has,  however,  been  coupled  with  another,  wholly  incompatible 
with  its  success.  Professing  a  desire  to  civilize  and  settle  them, 
we  have,  at  the  same  time,  lost  no  opportunity  to  purchase  their 
lauds,  and  thrust  them  further  into  the  wilderness.  By  this 
means  they  have  not  only  been  kept  in  a  wandering  state,  but 
been  led  to  look  upon  us  as  unjust  and  indifferent  to  their  fate. 


438  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

• 

Thus,  though  lavish  in  its  expenditures  upon  the  subject,  Gov- 
ernment has  constantly  defeated  its  own  policy ;  and  the  Indians 
in  general,  receding  further  and  further  to  the  west,  have  retained 
their  savage  habits.  A  portion,  however,  of  the  southern  tribes, 
having  mingled  much  with  the  whites,  and  made  some  progress 
in  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  have  lately  attenipted  to  erect  an  in- 
dependent government  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  and  Alabama. 
These  States,  claiming  to  be  the  only  sovereigus  within  their  ter- 
ritories, extended  their  laws  over  the  Indians,  which  induced  the 
latter  to  call  upon  the  United  States  for  protection. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  question  presented  was,  whether 
the  General  Government  had  a  right  to  sustain  those  people  in 
their  pretensions?  The  Constitution  declares  that  "no  new  State 
shall.be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other 
State,"  without  the  consent  of  its  Legislature.  If  the  General 
Government  is  not  permitted  to  tolerate  the  erection  of  a  confed- 
erate State  within  the  territory  of  one  of  the  members  of  this 
Union,  against  her  consent,  much  less  could  it  allow  a  foreign 
and  independent  government  to  establish  itself  there.  Georgia 
became  a  member  of  the  Confederacy  which  eventuated  in  our 
Federal  Union,  as  a  sovereign  State,  always  asserting  her  claim 
to  certain  limits,  which  having  been  originally  defined  in  her 
Colonial  charter,  and  subsequently  recognized  in  the  treaty  of 
peace,  she  has  ever  since  continued  to  enjoy ,^  except  as  they  have 
been  circumscribed  by  her  own  voluntary  transfer  of  a  portion  of 
her  territory  to  the  United  States,  in  the  articles  of  cession  of 
1802.  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  on  the  same  foot- 
ing with  the  original  States,  with  boundaries  which  were  prescribed 
by  Congress.  There  is  no  Constitutional,  conventional,  or  legal 
provision,  which  allows  them  less  power  over  the  Indians  within 
their  borders,  than  is  possessed  by  Maine  or  New  York.  Would 
the  people  of  Maine  permit  the  Penobscot  tribe  to  erect  an  inde- 
pendent government  within  their  State?  and  unless  they  did, 
would  it  not  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Government  to  support 
them  in  resisting  such  a  measure  ?  Would  the  people  of  New 
York  permit  each  remnant  of  the  Six  Nations  within  her  borders 
to  declare  itself  an  independent  people  under  the  protection  of 
the  United  States  ?  Could  the  Indians  establish  a  separate  repub- 
lic on  each  of  their  reservations  in  Ohio?  and  if  they  were  so  dis- 
posed, would  it  be  the  duty  of  this  Government  to  protect  them 
in  the  attempt?     If  the  principle  involved  in  the  obvious  answer 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  439 

to  these  questions  be  abandoned,  it  will  follow  that  the  objects  of 
this  Government  are  reversed ;  and  that  it  has  become  a  part  of 
its  duty  to  aid  in  destroying  the  States  which  it  was  established  to 
protect. 

Actuated  by  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  informed  the  Indians 
inhabiting  parts  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  that  their  attempt  to 
establish  au  independent  government  would  not  be  countenanced 
by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  and  advised  them  to  emi- 
grate beyond  the  Mississippi,  or  submit  to  the  laws  of  those  States. 

Our  conduct  towards  these  people  is  deeply  interesting  to  our 
national  character.  Their  present  condition,  contrasted  with  what 
they  once  were,  makes  a  most  powerful  appeal  to  our  sympathies. 
Our  ancestors  found  them  the  uncontrolled  possessors  of  these 
vast  regions.  By  persuasion  and  force,  they  have  been  made  to 
retire  from  river  to  river,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain,  until 
some  of  the  tribes  have  become  extinct,  and  others  have  left  but 
remnants  to  preserve,  for  a  while,  their  once  terrible  names.  Sur- 
rounded by  the  whites,  with  their  arts  of  civilization,  which,  by 
destroying  the  resources  of  the  savage,  doom  him  to  weakness 
and  decay,  the  fate  of  the  Mohegan,  the  Narragansett,  and  the 
Delaware  is  fast  overtaking  the  Choctaw,  the  Cherokee,  and  the 
Creek.  That  this  fate  surely  awaits  them,  if  they  remain  within 
the  limits  of  the  States,  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt.  Humanity 
and  national  honor  demand  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
avert  so  great  a  calamity.  It  is  too  late  to  inquire  whether  it 
was  just  in  the  United  States  to  include  them  and  their  territory 
within  the  bounds  of  new  States  whose  limits  they  could  control. 
That  step  can  not  be  retraced.  A  State  can  not  be  dismembered 
by  Congress,  or  restricted  in  the  exercise  of  her  Constitutional 
power.  But  the  people  of  those  States,  and  of  every  State,  actu- 
ated by  feelings  of  justice  and  regard  for  our  national  honor,  sub- 
mit to  you  the  interesting  question,  whether  something  can  not 
be  done,  consistently  with  the  rights  of  the  States,  to  preserve 
this  much  injured  race? 

As  a  means  of  effecting  this  end,  I  suggest  for  your  considera- 
tion the  propriety  of  setting  apart  an  ample  district  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  without  the  limits  of  any  State  or  Territory,  now 
formed,  to  be  guaranteed  to  the  Indian  tribes,  as  long  as  they 
shall  occupy  it ;  each  tribe  having  a  distinct  control  over  the  por- 
tion designated  for  its  use.  There  they  may  be  secured  in  the  en- 
joyment of  governments  of  their  own  choice,  subject  to  no  other 


440  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

control  from  the  United  States  than  such  as  may  be  necessary  to 
preserve  peace  on  the  frontier,  and  between  the  several  tribes. 
There  the  benevolent  may  endeavor  to  teach  them  the  arts  of  civ- 
ilization ;  and  by  promoting  union  and  harmony  among  them,  to 
raise  up  an  interesting  commonwealth,  destined  to  perpetuate  the 
race,  and  to  attest  the  humanity  and  justice  of  this  Government. 

This  emigration  should  be  voluntary ;  for  it  would  be  as  cruel 
as  uujust  to  compel  the  aborigines  to  abandon  the  graves  of  their 
fathers,  and  seek  a  home  in  a  distant  land.  But  they  should  be 
distinctly  informed,  that  if  they  remain  within  the  limits  of  the 
States,  they  must  be  subject  to  their  laws.  In  return  for  their 
obedience,  as  individuals,  they  will,  without  doubt,  be  protected 
in  the  enjoyment  of  those  possessions  which  they  have  improved 
by  their  industry.  But  it  seems  to  me  visionary  to  suppose,  that, 
in  this  state  of  things,  claims  can  be  allowed  on  tracts  of  country 
on  which  they  have  neither  dwelt  nor  made  improvements,  merely 
because  they  have,  seen  them  from  the  mountain,  or  passed  them 
in  the  chase.  Submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  States,  and  receiving, 
like  other  citizens,  protection  in  their  persons  and  property,  they 
will,  erelong,  become  merged  in  the  mass  of  our  population. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  will 
make  you  acquainted  with  the  condition  and  useful  employment 
of  that  branch  of  our  service,  during  the  present  year.  Consti- 
tuting, as  it  does,  the  best  standing  security  of  this  country  against 
foreign  aggression,  it  claims  the  especial  attention  of  Government. 
In  this  spirit,  the  measures  which,  since  the  termination  of  the 
last  war,  have  been  in  operation  for  its  gradual  enlargement,  were 
adopted ;  and  it  should  continue  to  be  cherished  as  the  offspring 
of  our  national  experience.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that,  not- 
withstanding the  great  solicitude  which  has  been  manifested  for 
the  perfect  organization  of  this  arm,  and  the  liberality  of  the  ap- 
propriations which  that  solicitude  has  suggested,  this  object  has, 
in  many  important  respects  not  been  secured. 

In  time  of  peace,  we  have  need  of  no  more  ships  of  war  than 
are  requisite  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce.  Those  not 
wanted  for  this  object  must  lie  in  the  harbors,  where,  witliout 
proper  covering,  they  rapidly  decay  ;  and  even  under  the  best 
precautions  for  their  preservation,  must  soon  become  useless. 
Such  is  already  the  case  with  many  of  our  finest  vessels ;  which, 
though  unfinished,  will  now  require  immense  sums  of  money  to 
be   restored  to   the  condition   in    which  they    were    when    com- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  441 

mitted  to  their  proper  element.  On  this  subject  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt  that  our  best  policy  would  be  to  discontinue  the  build- 
ing of  ships  of  the  first  and  second  class,  and  look  rather  to  the 
possession  of  ample  materials,  prepared  for  the  emergencies  of 
war,  than  to  the  number  of  vessels  wliich  we  cau  float  in  a  season 
of  peace,  as  the  Index  of  our  naval  power  Judicious  deposits  in 
navy-yards  of  timber  and  other  materials,  fashioned  under  the 
hands  of  skillful  workmen,  and  fitted  for  prompt  application  to 
their  various  purposes,  would  enable  us,  at  all  times,  to  construct 
vessels  as  fast  as  they  cau  be  manned  ;  and  save  the  heavy  ex- 
pense of  repairs,  except  to  such  vessels  as  must  be  employed  in 
guarding  our  commerce.  The  proper  points  for  the  establishment 
of  these  yards,  are  indicated  with  so  much  force  in  the  report  of 
the  navy  board,  that,  in  recommending  it  to  your  attention,  I 
deem  it  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  express  my  hearty  concur- 
rence in  their  views.  The  yard  in  this  district,  being  already 
furnished  with  most  of  the  machinery  necessary  for  ship-building, 
will  be  competent  to  the  supply  of  the  two  selected  by  the  board 
as  the  best  for  the  concentration  of  materials;  and,  from  the 
facility  and  certainty  of  communication  between  them,  it  will  be 
useless  to  incur,  at  these  depots,  the  expense  of  similar  machin- 
ery, especially  that  used  in  preparing  the  usual  metallic  and 
wooden  furniture  of  vessels. 

Another  improvement  would  be  effected  by  dispensing  alto- 
gether with  the  navy  board,  as  now  constituted,  and  substituting, 
in  its  stead,  bureaus  similar  to  those  already  existing  in  the  War 
Department.  Each  member  of  the  board,  transferred  to  the 
head  of  a  separate  bureau,  charged  with  specific  duties,  would 
feel,  in  its  highest  degree,  that  wholesome  responsibility  which 
can  not  be  divided  without  a  far  more  than  proportionate  dimi- 
nution of  its  force.  Their  valuable  services  would  become  still 
more  so,  when  separately  appropriated  to  distinct  portions  of  the 
great  interests  of  the  navy ;  to  the  prosperity  of  which  each 
would  be  impelled  to  devote  himself  by  the  strongest  motives. 
Under  such  an  arrangement,  every  branch  of  this  important 
service  would  assume  a  more  simple  and  precise  character;  its 
efficiency  would  be  increased,  and  scrupulous  economy  in  the  ex- 
penditure of  public  money  promoted. 

I  would  also  recommend  that  the  marine  corps  be  merged  in 
the  artillery  or  infantry,  as  the  best  mode  of  curing  the  many 
defects  in  its  organization.     But  little  exceeding  in  number  any 


442  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  regiments  of  infantry,  that  corps  has,  besides  its  lieutenant- 
colonel  commandant,  five  brevet  lieutenant-colonels,  who  receive 
the  full  pay  and  emoluments  of  their  brevet  rank,  without  ren- 
dering proportionate  service.  Details  for  marine  service  could 
as  well  be  made  from  the  infantry,  or  artillery — there  being  no 
peculiar  training  requisite  for  it.  • 

With  these  improvements,  and  such  others  as  zealous  watch- 
fulness and  mature  consideration  may  suggest,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that,  under  an  energetic  administration  of  its  affairs,  the 
navy  may  soon  be  made  everything  that  the  Nation  wishes  it 
to  be.  Its  efficiency  in  the  suppression  of  piracy  in  the  West 
India  seas,  and  wherever  its  squadrons  have  been  employed  in 
securing  the  interests  of  the  country,  will  appear  from  the  report 
of  the  Secretary,  to  which  I  refer  you  for  other  intei'esting  details. 
Among  these,  I  would  bespeak  the  attention  of  Congress  for  the 
views  presented  in  relation  to  the  inequality  between  the  army 
and  navy  as  to  the  pay  of  officers.  No  such  inequality  should 
prevail  between  these  brave  defenders  of  their  country ;  and 
where  it  does  exist,  it  is  submitted  to  Congress  whether  it  ought 
not  to  be  rectified. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  is  referred  to  as  exhib- 
iting a  highly  satisfactory  administration  of  that  Department. 
Abuses  have  been  reformed  ;  increased  expedition  in  the  trans- 
mission of  the  mail  secured  ;  and  its  revenue  much  improved.  In 
a  political  point  of  view,  this  Department  is  chiefly  important  as 
affording  the  means  of  diff*using  knowledge.  It  is  to  the  body 
politic  what  the  veins  and  arteries  are  to  the  natural — conveying 
rapidly  and  regularly,  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  system,  correct 
information  of  the  operations  of  the  Government,  and  bringing 
back  to  it  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  people.  Through  its 
agency,  we  have  secured  to  ourselves  the  full  enjoyment  of  the 
blessings  of  a  free  press. 

In  this  general  survey  of  our  affairs,  a  subject  of  high  impor- 
tance presents  itself  in  the  present  organization  of  the  judiciary. 
A  uniform  operation  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  different 
States  is  certainly  desirable  ;  and,  existing  as  they  do  in  the 
Union  on  the  basis  of  perfect  equality,  each  State  has  a  right  to 
expect  that  the  benefits  conferred  on  the  citizens  of  others  should 
be  extended  to  hers.  The  judicial  system  of  the  United  States 
exists  in  all  its  efficiency  in  only  fifteen  members  of  the  Union  ; 
to  three  others,  the  circuit  courts,  which  constitute  an  important 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  443 

part  of  that  system,  have  been  imperfectly  extended ;  and  to  the 
remaining  six,  altogether  denied.  The  effect  has  been  to  with- 
hold from  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  the  advantages  afforded 
(by  the  Supreme  Court)  to  their  fellow-citizens  iu  other  States, 
in  the  whole  extent  of  the  criminal,  and  much  of  the  civil 
authority  of  the  federal  judiciary.  That  this  state  of  things 
ought  to  be  remedied,  if  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the 
public  welfare,  is  not  to  be  doubted  ;  neither  is  it  to  be  disguised 
that  the  organization  of  our  judicial  system  is  at  once  a  difficult 
and  delicate  task.  To  extend  the  circuit  courts  equally  through- 
out the  different  parts  of  the  Union,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
avoid  such  a  multiplication  of  members  as  would  encumber  the 
supreme  appellate  tribunal,  is  the  object  desired.  Perhaps  it 
might  be  accomplished  by  dividing  the  circuit  judges  into  two 
classes,  and  providing  that  the  Supreme  Court  should  be  held  by 
those  classes  alternately,  the  chief  justice  always  presiding. 

If  an  extension  of  the  circuit  court  system  to  those  States 
which  do  not  now  enjoy  its  benefits,  should  be  determined  upon, 
it  would,  of  course,  be  necessary  to  revise  the  present  arrange- 
ment of  the  circuits ;  and  even  if  that  system  should  not  be  en- 
larged, such  a  revision  is  recommended. 

A  provision  for  taking  the  census  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  will,  to  insure  the  completion  of  that  work  within  a  con- 
venient time,  claim  the  early  attention  of  Congress. 

The  great  and  constant  increase  of  business  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  forced  itself,  at  an  early  period,  upon  the  attention 
of  the  Executive.  Thirteen  years  ago,  it  was,  in  Mr.  Madison's 
last  message  to  Congress,  made  the  subject  of  an  earnest  recom- 
mendation, which  has  been  repeated  by  both  of  his  successors ; 
and  my  comparatively  limited  experience  has  satisfied  me  of  its 
justness.  It  has  arisen  from  many  causes,  not  the  least  of  which 
is  the  large  addition  that  has  been  made  to  the  family  of  inde- 
pendent nations,  and  the  proportionate  extension  of  our  foreign 
relations.  The  remedy  proposed  was  the  establishment  of  a  home 
department— a  measure  which  does  not  appear  to  have  met  the 
views  of  Congress,  on  account  of  its  supposed  tendency  to  increase 
gradually,  and  imperceptibly,  the  already  too  strong  bias  of  the 
federal  system  towards  the  exercise  of  authority  not  delegated 
to  it.  I  am  not,  therefore,  disposed  to  revive  the  recommendation ; 
but  am  not  the  less  impressed  with  the  importance  of  so  organ- 
izing that  department,  that  its  secretary  may  devote  more  of  its 


444  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

time  to  our  foreign  relations.  Clearly  satisfied  that  the  public 
good  would  be  promoted  by  some  suitable  provision  on  the  subject, 
I  respectfully  invite  your  attention  to  it. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires  in  1836, 
and  its  stockholders  will  ftiost  probably  apply  for  a  renewal  of 
their  privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils  resulting  from  pre- 
cipitancy in  a  measure  involving  such  important  principles,  and 
such  deep  pecuniary  interests,  I  feel  that  I  can  not,  in  justice  to 
the  parties  interested,  too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  con- 
sideration of  the  Legislature  and  the  people.  Both  the  Constitu- 
tionality and  the  expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  bank,  are 
well  questioned  by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  and  it 
must  be  admitted  by  all,  that  it  has  failed  in  the  great  end  of 
establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency. 

Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is  deemed 
essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Government,  I  submit  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature,  whether  a  national  one,  founded 
upon  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  its  revenues,  might  not 
be  devised,  which  would  avoid  all  Constitutional  difiiculties,  and 
at  the  same  time  secure  all  the  advantages  to  the  Government 
and  country  that  were  expected  to  result  from  the  present  bank. 

I  can  not  close  this  communication  without  bringing  to  your 
view  the  just  claim  of  the  representatives  of  Commodore  Decatur, 
his  ofl[icers  and  crew,  arising  from  the  re-capture  of  the  frigate 
Philadelphia,  under  the  heavy  batteries  of  Tripoli.  Although 
sensible,  as  a  general  rule,  of  the  impropriety  of  executive  inter- 
ference under  a  Government  like  ours,  where  every  individual 
enjoys  the  right  of  directly  petitioning  Congress ;  yet,  viewing 
this  case  as  one  of  a  very  peculiar  character,  I  deem  it  my  duty 
to  recommend  it  to  your  favorable  consideration.  Besides  the 
justice  of  this  claim,  as  corresponding  to  those  which  have  been 
since  recognized  and  satisfied,  it  is  the  fruit  of  a  deed  of  patriotic 
and  chivalrous  daring,  which  infused  life  and  confidence  into  our 
infant  navy,  and  contributed,  as  much  as  any  exploit  in  its  his- 
tory, to  elevate  our  national  character.  Public  gratitude,  there- 
fore, stamps  her  seal  upon  it ;  and  the  meed  should  not  be  with- 
held which  may  hereafter  operate  as  a  stimulus  to  our  gallant  tars. 

I  now  commend  you,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  guidance  of  Al- 
mighty God,  with  a  full  reliance  on  His  merciful  providence  for 
the  maintenance  of  our  free  institutions;  and  with  an  earnest 
supplication,  that,  whatever  errors  it  may  be  my  lot  to  commit, 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  445 

in  discharging  the  arduous  duties  which  have   devolved  on   me, 
will  find  a  remedy  in  the  harmony  and  wisdom  of  your  counsels. 

Andrew  Jackson. 

This  important  but  enormously  long  message  fore- 
shadowed the  course  which  the  new  President  meant 
to  pursue.  Before  long  it  became  entirely  apparent, 
and  well  understood,  that  when  General  Jackson  sug- 
gested or  intimated  to  Congress  anything  for  its  con- 
sideration, it  had  already  been  carried  into  execution 
in  his  mind,  and  its  fulfillment  was  only  a  question  of 
time.  Much  space  is  consumed  in  this  message  in  ar- 
guments supporting  the  work  he  had  already  done,  a 
procedure  which  attached  to  almost  every  step  in 
General  Jackson's  career  from  childhood  to  the  grave. 
His  defense  of  his  system  of  removals  is  sharp  and 
decisive,  however  doubtful  the  character  of  the  argu- 
ment. Even  the  ethical  standard  which  the  argument 
rears  may  well  be  questioned.  This  world  was  then, 
and  is  now,  full  of  honest  men,  honest  this  year,  next 
year,  honest  forever,  under  every  circumstance,  under 
every  temptation.  As  it  was  in  this  message,  so  it 
has  been  always,  to  make  news  and  traffic  of  the  real 
or  supposed  evil  deeds  and  disposition  of  men  rather 
than  of  their  good  ones.  But  that  honesty  is  the  rule, 
not  the  exception,  among  men  and  women  throughout 
the  Nation,  and  always  has  been,  in  public  place  and 
out  of  it,  need  not  be  matter  of  doubt.  The  contrary 
view  is  neither  just,  wise,  nor  manly.  To  the  one, 
bruited  about  as  having  gone  astray,  ninety-nine  re- 
main unsinged,  both  among  the  tried  and  the  untried. 
Who  would  not  to-day  hurl  back  with  scorn  the 
charge  :  "  There  are,  perhaps,  few  men  who  can,  for 
any  great  length  of  time,  enjoy  office  and  power,  with- 


446  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

out  being  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  feelings 
unfavorable  to  a  faithful  discharge  of  their  public 
duties  ?"  This  announcement  was  contrary  to  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past.  Heresies  and  sophistries  are 
like  weeds.  Men  strive  to  believe  what  they  may 
find  it  convenient  and  desirable  to  tolerate  or  regard 
as  true.  Great  ingenuity  has  been  put  forth  even  in 
the  effort  to  prove  that  black  is  white,  that  evil  and 
.good  are  relative  and  interchangeable  terms,  and  that 
the  most  ill-begotten,  ill-formed,  and  most  indifferent 
or  worst-behaved,  will,  in  the  end,  share  equally  in  the 
blessings  of  being.  "  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faith- 
ful servant,"  can  have  no  merit  with  these  sophists. 
"Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not  mocked;  whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

The  message  struck  at  Mr.  Clay  when  it  said, 
"  May  he  not  be  tempted  to  name  his  reward  ?"  It 
was  General  Jackson's  way  to  strike  when  he  could, 
and  the  Nation  must  share  his  quarrels,  and  expe- 
rience the  evils  of  his  personal  hatreds.  First  his  in- 
augural address,  and  now  his  first  message  to  Con- 
gress, exhibit  the  same  evil  and  un-President-like 
spirit.  It  was  the  conduct  of  a  fierce,  relentless,  un- 
tamed, iron  will,  of  which  the  country  had  now  to 
learn.  The  charge  of  fraud  in  the  Administration  of 
a  predecessor  is  here  for  the  first  time  found  in  an 
executive  message.  How  far  such  a  charge  was  jus- 
tifiable against  the  pure  Administration  of  Mr.  Adams 
may  be  seen  in  the  next  preceding  volume  of  this 
work.  The  one  term  of  the  Presidency  to  which 
General  Jackson  had  committed  himself  before  his 
election,  is  here  reiterated.  But  how  long  was  this 
whim  to  stand  ? 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  447 

On  the  appointment  of  Congressmen  to  office, 
against  which  he  had  also  committed  himself,  he  now 
expressed  greatly  modified  and  apologetic  views.  He 
had  already  departed  from  his  prematurely  announced 
faith.  In  this  message  the  strange,  unstatesman-like, 
but  generous  political  idea  is  put  forth  of  distributing 
surplus  revenue  among  the  States.  And  here  for  the 
first  time  it  is  officially  and  authoTitatively  said  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  that  "it  must  be  admitted 
by  all,  that  it  has  failed,  in  the  great  end  of  estab- 
lishing a  uniform  and  sound  currency." 

This  was  the  first  thrust  at  the  leviathan,  which, 
according  to  some,  this  giant  had  fully  determined  to 
kill,  even  before  he  left  Nashville.  However,  this  and 
other  opinions  expressed  concerning  the  Bank  were 
not  admitted  by  the  majority  of  that  Jacksonian  Con- 
gress. But  this  was  the  first  assault,  only  meant  to 
be  a  mere  feint. 

Gne  of  Jackson's  biographers  thus  writes  of  the 
message  before  Congress  : — 

"Many  of  the  recommendations  contained  in  this  message 
were  considered  immediately ;  but  in  some  instances  the  views  of 
the  President  were  not  concurred  in.  Committees  on  retrench- 
ment and  reform  made  reports  agreeably  to  the  wishes  of  the 
President,  but  they  were  coldly  received  in  both  Houses,  and 
little  action  was  taken  on  them  during  the  session.  The  recom- 
mendations of  amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  passed  over 
as  unimportant,  and  neglected.  The  recommendation  on  the  sub- 
ject of  a  revision  of  the  tariff  met  with  better  treatment,  and 
several  bills  were  introduced  to  diminish  or  repeal  the  duties  on 
various  articles  of  general  consumption. 

"  On  the  subject  of  a  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  the  standing  committees  of  the  Senate  and  the 
House,  to  which  it  was  retierred,  made  reports  diametrically 
opposite  to  the  recommendation  of  the  President.     The  friends 


448  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  Administration  formed  a  majority  in  both  committees, 
and  the  marked  difference  in  the  opinions  entertained  by  them 
from  that  expressed  in  the  President's  message,  afforded  a  strik- 
ing proof,  that  Jackson  was  already  far  in  advance  of  the  party 
which  had  brought  him  into  power,  as  the  measures  which  he 
recommended  at  that  time  have  been  nearly  all  subsequently  car- 
ried into  effect." 

The  conduct  of  the  Senate  greatly  excited  and 
enraged  the  General.  He  was  in  a  new  school.  He 
had  not  been  used  to  have  his  opinions  and  desires 
thwarted.  "Who  says  pshaw  to  me?"  was  his  prin- 
ciple now  as  well  as  at  any  other  moment  of  his  life. 
A  little  time  and  patience,  on  the  part  of  the  reader, 
will  show  that  the  results  reached,  although  delayed 
more  than  in  former  days  where  the  "  iron  will "  was 
concerned,  were  about  the  same.  The  "  United  States 
Telegraph,"  a  Washington  newspaper,  very  friendly  to 
the  interests  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  while  its  editor,  Mr. 
Duff  Green,  was  still  on  confidential  terms  with  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  gave  this  fine  dialogue,  as  the  substance 
of  an  interview  on  the  conduct  of  the  Senate  : — 

"President. — I  have  sent  for  you  that  we  may  converse  on  the 
subject  of  my  nominations  before  the  Senate.  It  is  time  that 
you  should  let  the  people  know  that,  instead  of  supporting  me 
and  my  measures.  Congress  is  engaged  in  President  making. 

"  Ed{t(n\ — I  trust  that  you  know  that  I  would  not  hesitate  to 
say  so  if  I  believed  the  public  interest  required  it;  but  excuse  me 
for  saying  that,  before  I  can  censure  Congress  for  not  supporting 
your  measures,  I  should  be  possessed  of  the  views  of  the  Admin- 
istration, that  I  may  be  enabled  to  reply  to  those  who  ask  to  be 
informed  what  those  measures  are. 

"President  (much  excited). — Look  at  my  message,  sir;  you 
will  find  them  there;  in  the  message,  sir. 

"  Editor. — Some  of  your  best  friends  complain  that  your  mes- 
sage is  so  general  in  its  terms,  that  no  special  measure  is  recom- 
mended ;    and  I  believe  that  the  want   of   concert  among  your 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  449 

friends  is  attributed  to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  concert  in  your 
Cabinet.  There  being  no  Cabinet  councils,  there  is  no  one  who 
feels  authorized  to  recommend  any  measure  upon  the  authority 
of  the  Administration,  because  it  is  understood  that  no  measures 
are  considered  and  adopted  as  such.  Your  friends  in  Congress 
complain  that  you  do  not  hold  Cabinet  councils. 

"  The  President  (more  excited). — Let  Congress  go  home,  and 
the  people  will  teach  them  the  consequence  of  neglecting  my 
measures  and  opposing  my  nominations.  How  did  you  obtain 
your  popularity,  sir,  as  an  editor?  Was  it  not  by  opposing  Con- 
gress? Speak  out  to  the  people,  sir,  and  tell  them  that  Congress 
are  engaged  in  intrigues  for  the  Presidency,  instead  of  sup- 
porting my  measures,  and  the  people  will  support  you  as  they 
have  done. 

"  Editor. — You  complain  that  the  Senate  have  not  approved 
of  your  nominations.  Will  it  not  be  unwise  to  anticipate  the 
objections  of  that  body  ?  Your  nominations  may  yet  be  ap- 
proved; and  if  they  should  be  rejected,  there  may  be  reasons 
which  would  justify  the  Senate.  If  I  were  to  assail  the  Senate, 
it  would  be  attributed  to  your  influence,  and  thus  array  against 
you  the  body  itself,  and  those  who  deem  it  essential  to  preserve 
its  independence.  I  can  not  know  what  impediments  lie  in  the 
way  of  your  nominations,  and  can  not  condemn  until  my  judg- 
ment disapproves. 

"  President. — The  people,  sir,  the  people  will  put  these  things 
to  rights,  and  teach  them  what  it  is  to  oppose  my  nominations !" 

General  Jackson  was  unable  to  see  that  Congress 
was  under  no  moral  or  Constitutional  obligations  to 
support  his  measures  or  sanction  his  nominations,  apart 
from  its  sense  of  what  was  wise  and  best.  Andrew 
Jackson,  as  President,  was  quite  a  different  person 
from  General  Jackson,  as  commander  of  Tennessee 
militia.     But  this  he  was   utterly    unable   to   realize. 

Many  of  the  President's  appointments  were  not 
confirmed  for  some  time,  and  some  of  them  were  re- 
jected entirely.  One  of  the  rejected  appointments 
was  that  of  Editor  Isaac  Hill,  of  the  "New  Hampshire 
Patriot."     Hill  had  been  made  Second  Comptroller  of 

29— G 


450  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  Treasury,  and  he  was  now  sent  home,  greatly  to 
the  disgust  of  General  Jackson.  Hill  had  been  of 
immense  service  in  the  Presidential  campaign,  and  be- 
longed to  the  "  northern  horde "  which  rolled  down 
upon  the  National  Capital  at  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  Administration. 

Jackson  had  great  confidence  in  Hill,  and  wanted 
him  by  his  side. 

"The  tariff  of  1828  became  a  law  during  the  excitement  of 
the  Presidential  election,  and  in  adjusting  its  details,  more  regard 
had  been  paid  to  the  political  effect  of  the  law  than  to  the  per- 
manent interests  of  the  country,  or  to  the  rules  of  political  econ- 
omy. Hostility  to  the  tariff  had  been  manifested  early  in  the 
session  of  1829-30,  by  many  of  the  friends  of  the  Administration ; 
but  an  equally  strong  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing 
law,  on  the  ground  of  its  inadequate  protection  to  the  woolen 
manufactures,  had  induced  the  friends  of  the  policy  to  bring  foi'- 
ward  the  subject  with  the  view  of  obtaining  a  modification  of  the 
law  more  favorable  to  their  interests,  and  to  prevent  the  frauds 
which  were  alleged  to  be  daily  practiced  on  the  revenue. 

"  A  bill  was  accordingly  reported  in'^he  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, by  Mr.  Mallary,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Manu- 
factures, on  the  27th  of  January,  1830,  to  regulate  the  entry  of 
importations  of  woolens.  After  much  debate  in  both  houses,  it 
was  passed,  and  being  sanctioned  by  the  President,  became  a  law 
in  May  following. 

"Several  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  engraft  upon 
the  above-mentioned  bill  amendments  reducing  the  duties  on 
various  articles.  It  was  finally  concluded  to  attack  the  tariff  in 
detail,  and  separate  bills  were  introduced,  providing  for  a  reduc- 
tion of  duties  on  salt  and  molasses,  both  of  which  were  passed  by 
considerable  majorities.  Another  bill  was  passed,  reducing  the 
duties  on  tea  and  coffee. 

"  The  following  laws,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing,  were  the 
most  important  which  were  passed  during  this  session  :  For  the 
reappropriation  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  the  suppression  of 
the  slave-trade,  which  had  been  appropriated  two  years  before, 
but  was  not  expended,  and  which  was  founded  on  an  act  of  Con- 
gress of  1819 ;  for  repealing  an  act  imposing  tonnage  duties  on 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  451 

vessels  of  which  the  officers  and  two-thirds  of  the  seamen  were 
citizens  of  the  United  States ;  for  the  more  effectual  collection  of 
impost  duties,  appointing  eight  additional  appraisers  to  examine 
goods  imported,  but  no  new  regulations  to  prevent  defaults  in  the 
officers  of  the  customs ;  for  the  appointment  of  an  additional 
officer  to  be  attached  to  the'  Treasury  Department,  called  the  so- 
licitor of  the  Treasury ;  for  allowing  a  drawback  on  spirits  ex- 
ported, distilled  from  molasses,  which  the  existing  laws  did  not 
permit ;  for  allowing  a  portion  of.  the  claims  of  Massachusetts, 
for  services  and  expenses  of  the  militia  in  1812-14,  in  time  of 
war,  and  for  which  that  State  had  not  been  reimbursed,  the 
amount  allowed  being  four  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
about  half  the  sum  claimed ;  for  the  removal  of  the  Indians  from 
lands  occupied  by  them  within  any  State  of  the  Union,  to  a  ter- 
ritory west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  without  the  limits  of  any 
State  or  organized  territory,  and  belonging  to  the  United  States, 
by  purchase  or  relinquishment  of  the  Indians,  by  treaty  ;  to  divide 
such  territory  into  districts,  for  the  reception  and  permanent  set- 
tlement of  those  who  should  consent  to  emigrate  from  their  resi- 
dence on  the  east  of  that  river,  they  relinquishing  all  claims  to 
lands  they  then  occupied;  the  tribes  to  have  the  solemn  assurance 
of  Government  that  it  will  forever  secure  and  guarantee  to  them 
and  their  posterity,  the  tract  of  country  so  exchanged  with  them 
for  the  lands  they  should  quit  in  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  any 
other  States ;  and  should  they  aban-don  the  territory  at  a  future 
time,  the  same  to  revert  to  the  United  States ;  the  Indians  to 
have  the  amount  of  their  improvements  made  on  the  lands  they 
may  leave ;  to  be  aided  in  their  removal,  and  supported  for  one 
year  by  the  Federal  Government ;  to  be  protected  against  assaults 
from  other  tribes  in  the  vicinity  of  their  new  residence ;  and 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  granted  for  carrying  the  act 
into  effect." 

This  act  applied  to  all  the  Indians  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, but  especially  to  those  residing  in  Georgia  and 
Alabama.  The  consent  of  the  Indians  was,  in  form, 
to  be  obtained  to  this  exchange  of  homes.  This  was 
not  an  easy  matter.  Some  of  them  refused  "  to  treat " 
for  removal,  or  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Government.     They  had  set  up  forms  of  government 


452  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

within  the  States,  and  naturally  enough,  held  with  great 
tenacity  to  their  lands.  The  Governor  of  Georgia,  like 
all  his  predecessors,  was  a  stubborn  man,  and  stubbornly 
adhered  to  what  were  termed  the  rights  of  his  State. 
The  Legislature  and  the  people  backed  him.  This  In- 
dian territorial  question  at  the  South  had  been  one  of 
the  most  vexatious  connected  with  the  Administrations 
of  Monroe  and  Adams.  Indeed,  the  difficulty  began 
in  the  days  of  General  Washington,  and  only  came  to 
an  end  when  all  the  Indians  were  forced  to  the  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  American  mode  of  dealing 
with  the  Indians  always  has  been  a  matter  of  interest 
to  other  nations,  especially  to  England.  More  than 
usual,  at  this  time,  was  the  sympathy  of  philanthropists 
in  this  country  and  England  aroused  in  their  behalf. 
Urged  forward  by  these,  and  led  by  several  able 
chiefs,  generally  half-breeds,  a  great  effort  was  made 
to  retain  their  lands.  William  Wirt  was  employed  by 
the  Indians  to  conduct  their  cause.  But  Governor 
Gilmer,  of  Georgia,  declined  to  accept  from  Mr.  Wirt 
any  terms  for  a  full  and  fair  presentation  of  the  case 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  It 
was  a  cause  which  would  not  bear  close  scrutiny. 
George  Tassels,  a  half-breed,  in  resisting  the  laws  of 
Georgia,  committed  murder,  for  which  he  was  tried 
and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  A  writ  of  error  to  bring 
his  case  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  was  unheeded  or  resisted  by  Judge  Clayton 
and  the  Georgia  authorities,  and  Tassels  was  executed. 
The  National  Executive  stood  out  of  the  way,  and 
Georgia  went  on  in  her  course,  and  the  Indians  finally 
submitted  to  what  they  could  not  avoid,  and  consented 
to  remove  to  the  present  Indian  Territory,  where  now 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  453 

are  the  homes  of  all  that  are  left  of  the  once  powerful 
tribes,  the  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws, 
Seminoles,  and  others. 

The  Supreme  Court  had  been  ignored,  the  Govern- 
ment defied,  and  Mr.  Jefferson's  doctrine  of  nullifica- 
tion set  up  in  Georgia  without  the  least  resistance 
from  President  Jackson.  Although  he  was  deeply  cen- 
sured for  the  little  interest  he  took  in  allowing  the  de- 
crees of  the  Court  to  be  set  aside,  and  for  his  apparent 
indisposition  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  General 
Government  in  this  whole  Indian  difficulty,  for  which 
there  was,  perhaps,  no  apology  or  justification,  yet 
after  all,  the  disposition  made  of  the  Indians  was  the 
best  that  could  be  done  under  the  circumstances. 
Jackson  knew  and  believed  this,  and  hence  his  indif- 
ference in  resisting  the  course  events  were  taking. 
The  advance  of  the  white  race  could  not  be  turned 
back,  nor  could  it  be  checked.  The  hunting-grounds 
of  these  people  would  soon  be  gone,  and  surrounded 
by  the  restless  white  race,  their  condition  would  be 
hopeless,  indeed.  To-day  there  would  be  little  division 
of  opinion  on  this  question  which  created  such  feeling 
in  1830.  For  fifty  years  these  Indians  have  been 
comparatively  undisturbed  in  their  western  homes,  but 
what  will  fifty  years  more  bring  to  them  ? 


454  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  MAKES  THE  FIRST  THRUST  AT  NULLTFI- 
CATION— "THE  FEDERAL  UNION:  IT  MUST  BE  PRE- 
SERVED"—BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— 
CALHOUN— PLANS  FOR   "MATTY"— 
"THE  GLOBE." 

ONE  of  the  most  exciting  and  important  events  of 
this  first  session  of  Congress  in  the  Jackson  Ad- 
ministration was  the  veto  of  the  bill  appropriating 
money  to  the  Maysville,  Kentucky,  road. 

One  of  the  General's  biographers  thus  speaks  of 
this  matter : — 

**  The  question  of  internal  improvements  by  the  General  Gov- 
ernment was  also  discussed  at  tlie  first  session  of  the  twenty-first 
Congress,  and  a  bill  was  passed  in  the  House,  by  a  vote  102  to 
85,  and  in  the  Senate  by  24  to  18,  authorizing  a  subscription  to 
the  stock  of  the  Maysville  and  Lexington  Road  Company,  in 
Kentucky.  The  bill  thus  passed  by  so  large  a  majority,  was  sent 
to  the  President  for  his  approval.  After  retaining  it  eight  days, 
he  returned  it  to  the  House  on  the  27th  of  May,  1830,  with  his 
objections. 

"The  reading  of  this  veto  message  caused  much  excitement 
in  Congress.  Many  of  the  friends  of  the  President  from  Pennsyl- 
vania and  from  the  West  had  relied  upon  his  approbation  of  this 
bill  and  of  the  system  of  internal  improvements  by  Congress; 
and  this  message  first  forced  upon  their  minds  a  conviction  as 
unwelcome  as  it  was  unexpected.  The  question  being  taken  upon 
the  passage  of  the  bill,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the 
President,  the  vote  stood  yeas  96,  nays  92.  Two-thirds  of  the 
House  not  agreeing  to   pass   the  bill,    it  was  rejected ;  though  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  455 

majority  of  the  House  thus  refused  to  sustain  the  objections  of 
the  President. 

"Two  days  afterwards  the  House  of  Representatives  took  up 
several  bills,  which  had  been  sent  to  them  from  the  Senate, 
relating  to  internal  improvements ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  veto 
of  the  Maysville  Road  Bill,  passed  by  large  majorities,  three  acts, 
the  first  of  which  authorized  a  subscription  to  the  Washington 
Turnpike  Company,  the  second  to  the  Louisville  and  Portland 
Canal  Company,  and  the  third  appropriating  money  for  light- 
houses, improving  harbors,  directing  surveys,  etc.  The  first  bill 
being  similar  to  the  one  already  rejected  by  the  President,  was 
returned  by  him  to  the  Senate,  where  it  originated,  with  a  refer- 
ence to  the  message  on  the  Maysville  bill  for  his  reasons.  The 
Senate  then  proceeded  to  reconsider  the  bill,  and,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  its  passage,  the  vote  stood  yeas  21,  nays  17 ;  and  the 
majority  being  less  than  two-thirds,  the  bill  was  rejected.  The 
other  two  bills  were  retained  by  the  President  until  after  the 
adjournment  of  Congress,  May  31,  1830,  and  were  conse- 
quently lost." 

This  veto  message  early  ended  the  dream  of  in- 
ternal improvements  under  this  Administration. 

"The  other  two  bills  were  retained  by  the  President  for  further 
consideration  until  the  next  session  of  Congress.  This  determi- 
nation of  the  Executive  against  the  system  of  internal  improve- 
ment gave  great  oflfense  to  many  of  his  friends,  and  entirely  alien- 
ated some  from  his  party.  Even  in  Congress  such  an  increasing 
want  of  confidence  was  manifested,  that  the  decided  majorities 
which  the  Administration  possessed  in  both  Houses  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  session  had  dwindled  before  its  close  into  feeble 
and  inefficient  minorities.  Nor  was  this  the  only  difficulty  in 
which  the  Executive  was  involved  by  the  course  taken  on  inter- 
nal improvement.  He  had  sanctioned  a  bill  for  continuing  the 
Cumberland  Road,  and  making  other  appropriations  for  roads  and 
surveys;  and  another  for  the  improvement  of  harbors  and  rivers, 
both  of  which  were  branches  in  the  general  system  of  internal 
improvement.  The  former  bill  he  approved  of,  with  a  qualifica- 
tion, by  referring  to  a  message  sent  to  the  House,  together  with 
the  bill,  wherein  he  declared  that,  as  a  section  appropriating  eight 
thousand  dollars  for  the  road  from  Detroit  to  Chicago  might  be 
construed   to  authorize   the   application  of  the  appropriation   to 


456  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

continue  the  road  beyond  the  territory  of  Michigan,  he  desired 
to  be  understood  as  having  approved  the  bill,  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  road  is  not  to  be  extended  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  said  territory.  The  novelty  of  this  act  on  the  part  of  the 
President  attracted  much  attention,  as  the  Constitution  confines 
the  action  of  the  President  on  the  legislation  of  Congress  to  a 
mere  naked  right  of  approval  or  disapproval." 

During  this  session  occurred  the  famous  debate  be- 
between  Daniel  Webster  and  Robert  Y.  Hayne.  "  Col- 
onel" Hayne,  as  he  was  called,  here  advanced  the 
doctrines  of  State  supremacy  and  nullification ;  that  a 
State  could,  at  her  pleasure,  for  her  own  protection, 
place  her  authority  before  that  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Webster  declared 
that  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States 
were  the  supreme  sovereign  of  the  land,  and  that  State 
authority  and  enactments  could  have  no  power  over  the 
General  Government.  In  this  speech  of  Mr.  Hayne's, 
universally  admired  and  accepted  by  the  South,  it  was 
squarely  declared  that  any  act  of  Congress  regarded 
as  prejudicial  or  disagreeable  to  the  people  of  the 
State,  that  State  had  the  power,  and  ought  to  nullify 
or  declare  void.  So  the  dogma  of  State  Rights  or 
Nullification,  which  had  been  wickedly,  or,  at  least, 
foolishly,  announced  in  Kentucky,  in  1799,  as  based 
upon  the  dictum  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  which  had  had  a 
vague  existence,  here  and  there,  ever  since  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Government,  from  this  moment  became 
a  political  theory,  and  was  mainly  made  the  property 
of  Southern  politicians,  who,  to  some  extent,  however, 
forced  their  allies  of  the  North  to  adopt  it.  Although 
the  experience  of  the  past  has  fully  demonstrated  the 
utter  fallacy  of  this  dogma,  and  the  unmitigated  evils 
of  its  perpetuation,  it  is  not  only  not  yet  dead,  but 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  457 

also,  at  times,  assumes  much  of  its  ante  helium  impor- 
tance. It  is  made  to  serve  as  a  reserve  stock  in  the 
trade  of  political  mountebanks  and  "great  statesmen" 
for  times  of  need,  when  all  other  instrumentalities 
fail  them. 

Although  Mr.  Webster's  great  speech  laid  bare  the 
doctrine  of  nullification,  and,  to  some  extent,  checked 
its  march  towards  secession,  yet  with  less  effort  and 
fewer  words.  General  Jackson  probably  accomplished 
more  to  the  same  end;  and,  coming  from  the  "Hero 
of  New  Orleans"  and  the  head  of  the  Democratic 
party,  its  force  was  not  unfelt  in  the  remotest  corners 
of  the  country.  While  the  finished  speech  of  Mr. 
Webster  long  ago  was  forgotten,  or  became  a  mere 
matter  of  reference  to  his  political  friends,  the  simple, 
powerful  sentiment  of  Jackson  became  a  national 
watch-word,  and  is,  to-day,  the  common  sentiment 
everywhere  of  patriots  in  all  parties. 

No  important  event  occurred  at  the  Capitol  which 
was  not  known  at  once  to  President  Jackson.  At  the 
outset  his  feeling  was  with  Hayne,  who  was  a  brother 
of  Arthur  P.  Hayne,  his  old  inspector-general.  But  a 
new  doctrine,  practically,  was  now  announced  from  the 
South,  and  this  debate  brought  it  out  in  an  exag- 
gerated form,  and  the  President  was  not  long  in  decid- 
ing where  he  must  stand  in  the  case.  Nor  did  the 
winter  pass  without  giving  him  an  opportunity  to 
express  himself  on  the  subject  in  a  characteristic  way. 
On  the  13th  of  January,  1830,  according  to  the  cus- 
tom in  Washington  at  that  time,  steps  were  taken  for 
celebrating  Mr.  Jefferson's  birth.  The  usual  way  among 
civilized  men,  as  among  savages,  of  celebrating  good  or 
noted  events  by  feasts,  was  adopted  on  this  occasion. 


458  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

There  was  to  be  a  banquet,  and  the  nullification  leaders 
hoped  to  be  able  to  turn  Mr.  Jefferson  to  account  in 
advancing  their  dogma.  The  programme  was  pub- 
lished on  the  previous  day  in  the  "Telegraph,"  whose 
partisan  editor  was  working  for  the  succession  to  fall 
to  Mr.  Calhoun  in  1832.  Jackson  believed  that  this 
banquet  was  designed  to  give  nullification  a  send  off  in 
the  name  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  in  this  belief  he 
was  right.  With  him  to  believe  was  to  do.  He  went 
to  the  banquet  with  the  object  of  throwing  a  shell  into 
the  nest  at  once.  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  the  leader  of  the 
South  Carolina  faction,  was  there,  also  ready  for  the 
emergency.  This  was  one  of  those  critical  occasions 
in  which  General  Jackson  needed  no  advice.  The 
"Kitchen  Cabinet"  was  not  essential  in  this  instance. 
It  was  one  of  the  "  by  the  Eternal "  moments  of  Jack- 
son's life.  The  country  was  at  stake.  Policy  and 
party  were  not  to  be  considered.  Patriotism  had  its 
supreme  moment.  When  the  regular  routine,  which 
was  not  untinctured  with  nullification,  was  disposed 
of,  President  Jackson  was  called  upon  for  a  volunteer 
"toast,"  and  uttered  his  most  memorable  saying,  the 
only  one  destined  to  be  eternal :  "  The  Federal  Union : 
it  must  be  preserved." 

Mr.  Calhoun  then  announced  his  carefully  prepared 
sentiment :  "  The  Union ;  next  to  Liberty,  the  most 
dear;  may  we  all  remember  that  it  can  only  be  pre- 
served by  respecting  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  dis- 
tributing equally  the  benefit  and  burden  of  the  Union." 

These  were  opposing  sentiments.  One  was  open, 
brief,  untrammeled  patriotism,  and  was  received  as  a 
direct  announcement  to  the  whole  country.  The  new 
dogma  had  received  a  fatal  stab   at    the   outset,   and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  459 

from  a  source  little  expected.  This  was  the  moment 
of  the  beginning  of  the  decline  of  Mr.  Calhoun.  The 
influence  of  the  new  dogma  in  carrying  him  to  mis- 
fortune was  no  more  certain  and  direct  than  was  the 
power  of  General  Jackson,  the  arbitrary  expounder  of 
a  safer  and  more  durable  democracy.  The  President's 
memorable  utterance,  not  only  startled  the  friends  of 
nullification  at  the  Capital,  but  it  also  spread  conster- 
nation in  their  ranks  in  South  Carolina,  where  it  orig- 
inated, and  in  the  other  States  giving  their  adherence 
to  it,  and  was  taken  by  the  especial  friends  and 
mouthpieces  of  General  Jackson  everywhere,  as  his 
word  of  warning  to  the  country.  This  sentiment  was 
the  premeditated  act  of  Jackson,  and  was  the  most 
noteworthy,  admirable,  and  statesman-like  utterance 
of  his  life.  If  he  had  done  nothing  else,  for  this 
alone  he  would  deserve  a  monument  among  the  dis- 
tinguished men  and  patriots  of  the  world.  For  this 
alone  the  people  of  this  now  more  than  ever  estab- 
lished Union  should  honor  his  name.  The  sentiment 
now  lives  in  the  heart  of  every  true  American.  It 
has,  since  the  13th  night  of  January,  1830,  rung 
throughout  the  land;  every  pretext  has  brought  it 
out;  the  faith  and  fortitude  of  men  have  been  in- 
creased by  its  association  with  the  memory  of  a  man 
who  was  successful  beyond  all  other  Americans  in 
the  execution  of  his  own  will;  and  while  this  conti- 
nent exists  this  remarkable  sentiment  will  be  a  power 
in  politics,  and  an  aid  in  keeping  green  the  memory 
of  Andrew  Jackson. 

There  has  been  a  wide-spread  opinion  that  General 
Jackson  began  his  Administration  with  a  strong  feel- 
ing against  the   Bank   of   the    United   States,   and  a 


460  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

determination  to  break  it  down.  This  is  a  mistake, 
although  Mr.  Bancroft  holds  to  the  belief  that  before 
the  General  left  Nashville,  he  had  placed  the  Bank  in 
the  list  of  his  enemies  and  the  enemies  of  the  country, 
which  were  to  fall  beneath  his  battle-ax.  While 
Jackson  had  had  some  dealings  with  the  branch  bank 
at  New  Orleans,  in  1818,  which  was  not  satisfactory 
to  him,  yet  he  had  probably  forgotten  that,  or  was 
good  enough,  for  once,  not  to  consider  this  transaction 
as  meant  to  be  personal.  General  Jackson  laid  no 
vast  schemes  beforehand.  That  was  not  his  way  of 
doing.  His  Administration  had  but  fairly  got  under 
way  when  he  became  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  the 
Bank.  To  this  difficulty  may  certainly  be  traced  the 
origin  of  the  paragraph  in  his  first  message  to  Con- 
gress. Opposition  to  the  will  of  General  Jackson  on 
the  part  of  the  Bank  was  the  foundation  of  his  oppo- 
sition to  it.  But  when  this  opposition  was  once 
started  he  found  plenty  of  reasons  to  justify  his 
course,  most  of  them  good  perhaps,  although  they 
were  not  very  apparent  until  a  much  later  date.  Yet 
the  dangers  from  the  existence  of  the  Bank  were 
prospective  mainly,  if  not  wholly.  They  were  not 
known  to  the  country.  The  notes  issued  by  the 
Bank  in  1830,  were  circulated  from  one  end  of  the 
land  to  the  other  without  discount,  as  the  greenbacks 
are  now,  and  were  as  good  as  gold.  The  credit  of 
the  Bank  was  unlimited,  and  the  confidence  of  the 
business  men  of  the  country  in  it  was  equal  to  that 
placed  in  the  currency  of  the  National  Treasury  at 
this  moment.  A  considerable  part  of  its  stock  was 
held  by  people  of  little  wealth,  widows,  orphans, 
and  charitable  institutions.     The  Bank  seemed  to  be  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  461 

necessity  to  the  country,  and  was  almost  universally 
considered  so.  Until  the  people  were  told,  in  1830, 
that  the  Bank  was  a  source  of  political  corruption,  was 
partial  in  its  favors,  and  used  its  power  to  influence 
legislation,  even  among  Congressmen,  they  did  not 
know  it,  and  these  things  were  then  not  believed  by 
any  great  number.  During  the  first  months  of  Jack- 
son's Administration  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
repeatedly  acknowledged  the  obligation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  Bank  for  its  successful  and  ready 
execution  of  the  wants  of  the  Department. 

The  trouble  about  the  Bank  began  away  up  in 
New  Hampshire.  And  the  Second  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  until  the  Jacksonian  Congress  refused  to 
confirm  him,  Isaac  Hill,  of  that  State,  was  the  direct 
cause  of  it.  The  president  of  the  branch  at  Ports- 
mouth, Jeremiah  Mason,  was  a  Federalist,  and  had 
been  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Adams.  Hill  wanted  him 
out,  and  a  good  Jackson  man  put  into  his  place.  As 
a  first  step  in  this  laudable  work,  some  petitions  from 
various  persons  were  sent  to  the  parent  Bank  at  Phil- 
adelphia, making  sundry  complaints  of  Mr.  Mason. 
Then  followed  several  letters  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  Then  came  letters  between  Nicholas  Bid- 
die,  president  of  the  Bank,  and  Secretary  Ingham, 
and  even  Mr.  Hill  wrote  some  letters  on  the  subject. 
The  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to  Mason  that  he  had 
appointed  a  pension  agent  at  Concord,  and  ordered  the 
pension  records  in  the  bank  at  Portsmouth  to  be  de- 
livered up  to  him,  which  Mr.  Mason  refused  to  do. 
All  this  fuss  led  to  a  thorough  investigation  by  the 
president  and  directors,  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Mason. 
The  charges  against  him   were  found   to   be    utterly 


462  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

without  foundation,  and  he  was  re-elected.     In  a  letter 

to  the  Secretary  of   the    Treasury,   Mr.    Biddle   uses 

this  language  : — 

"  '  Presumiug,'  said  Mr.  Biddle,  'that  we  have  rightly  appre- 
hended your  views,  and  fearful  that  the  silence  of  the  Bank 
might  be  hereafter  misconstrued  into  an  acquiescence  in  them,  I 
deem  it  my  duty  to  state  to  you  in  a  manner  perfectly  respectful 
to  your  official  and  personal  character,  yet  so  clear  as  to  leave 
no  possibility  of  misconception,  that  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  boards  of  directors  of  the 
branches  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  acknowledge  not  the 
slightest  responsibility  of  any  description  whatsoever  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  touching  the  political  opinions  and  conduct 
of  their  officers,  that  being  a  subject  on  which  they  never  consult, 
and  never  desire  to  know,  the  views  of  any  Administration.  It 
is  with  much  reluctance  the  board  of  directors  feel  themselves 
constrained  to  make  this  declaration.  But  charged  as  they  are 
by  Congress  with  duties  of  great  importance  to  the  country, 
which  they  can  hope  to  execute  only  while  they  are  exempted 
from  all  influences  not  authorized  by  the  laws,  they  deem  it 
most  becoming  to  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  Executive,  to 
state  with  perfect  frankness  their  opinion  of  any  interference  in 
the  concerns  of  the  institution  confided  to  their  care.'" 

Mr.  Ingham  thus  talks  back  in  his  reply: — 

"The  Administration  is  empowered  to  act  upon  the  Bank  in 
various  ways :  in  the  appointment  or  removal  of  five  of  the  di- 
rectors ;  in  the  withdrawing  of  the  public  deposits ;  in  the  exac- 
tion of  weekly  statements,  and  the  inspection  of  its  general  ac- 
counts ;  and  in  all  the  modes  incident  to  the  management  of  the 
pecuniary  collections  and  disbursements  of  the  Government. 
That  these  opportunities  of  action  might  be  perverted  and  abused 
is  conceivable,  but,  subjected  to  the  principle  on  which  we  early 
and  cordially  agreed,  they  become  causes  of  security  and  benefit; 
and  before  I  dismiss  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I  take  the  occa- 
sion to  say,  if  it  should  ever  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  the  Bank  used  its  pecuniary  power 
for  purposes  of  injustice  and  oppression,  he  would  be  faithless  to 
his  trust  if  he  hesitated  to  lessen  its  capacity  for  such  injury,  by 
withdrawing  from  its  vaults  the  public  deposits." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  463 

Anybody  could  predict  the  outcome  of  all  this. 
Mr.  Biddle  was  too  honest  to  understand  the  autocrat 
of  the  White  House.  That  kind  of  independence  and 
resistance  could  not  be  passed  over  by  General  Jack- 
son. And  soon,  through  confidential  sources,  it  leaked 
out,  that  the  President  would  assail  the  Bank  in  his 
first  message. 

The  President's  health  was  quite  poor  in  the  sum- 
mer, fall,  and  part  of  the  winter  of  1829,  and.  some  of 
his  friends  despaired  of  his  getting  to  the  end  of  the 
one  term  for  which  he  had  set  out.  Notwithstanding 
this,  and  the  declaration  from  him  to  the  effect  that 
he  was  favorable  to  the  single-term  view,  and  that  he 
really  made  the  race  in  that  understanding  with  his 
friends,  there  was  an  effort  put  forth  early  in  the 
spring  of  1830  to  prepare  the  people  for  a  second  term 
for  him.  Mr.  Calhoun  was  now  not  a  favorite  with 
General  Jackson,  although  there  had  yet  been  no  open 
break  between  them.  But  something  was  to  be  done 
to  put  him  aside,  if  his  prospects  for  the  Presidency 
had  not  already  been  forever  exploded,  by  his  connec- 
tion with  nullification,  and  with  the  South  Carolina  op- 
position to  the  tariff. 

A  singular  party  maneuver  at  this  time  gave  rise 
to  the  following  paper,  signed  by  sixty-eight  members 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  : — 

"  Harrisburg,  March  20,  1830. 
"  To  His  Excellency  Andrew   Jackson,  President  of  the  United 

States: 

"Dear  Sir, — The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Legislature 
of  Pennsylvania,  before  closing  the  duties  assigned  them  by  their 
constituents,  beg  leave  to  tender  to  you  their  best  wishes  for  your 
health  and  happiness,  and  to  express  to  you  the  coufidence  re- 
posed by  them   in   the   sound   republican  principles  which  mark 


464  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  course  of  your  Administration.  The  second  political  revolu- 
tion, effected  in  the  year  1829,  is  progressing  in  a  way  to  attain 
those  great  results  which  were  fondly  anticipated,  and  which,  in 
the  end,  we  ardently  hope,  will  tend  to  cement  in  stronger  bonds 
the  republican  feelings  of  the  country.  In  a  free  government 
like  ours,  parties  must  and  will  exist;  it  should  be  so,  inasmuch 
as  it  serves  to  make  those  who  are  dominant  vigilant  and  active 
in  the  discharge  of  the  important  duties  which  give  life,  health, 
and  activity  to  the  great  principles  by  which,  as  a  free  people, 
we  should  be  governed.  If  the  voice  of  Pennsylvania,  which  has 
recently  been  prominently  and  effectively  exerted  in  the  election 
of  our  present  distinguished  Chief  Magistrate,  can  have  influence, 
it  will,  as  heretofore,  be  exerted  in  inducing  you  to  permit  your 
name  and  distinguished  services  again  to  be  presented  to  the 
American  people.  We  deem  it  of  importance  to  the  maintenance 
of  correct  republican  principles  that  the  country  should  not  thus 
early  be  again  drawn  into  a  warm  and  virulent  contest  as  to  who 
shall  be  your  successor. 

"If  the  people  can  indulge  a  hope  that,  in  acceding  to  their 
wishes  as  heretofore,  the  warmth  of  former  contests  may  be 
spared,  they  will  be  able  to  repose  in  peace  and  quiet,  and  before 
the  end  of  your  second  term,  will  expect  with  confidence  that  the 
great  principle  of  governmental  reform  will  be  so  harmonized 
and  arranged  that  the  affairs  of  the  Nation  for  the  future  Avill 
move  on  certainly,  peacefully,  and  happily.  Expressing  what 
we  feel  and  believe  to  be  the  language  of  our  constituents,  we 
claim  to  indulge  the  expectation  that  your  avowed  principle, 
'  neither  to  seek  nor  to  decline  to  serve  your  country  in  public 
office,'  will  still  be  adhered  to,  that  thereby  the  people  may  ob- 
tain repose,  and  toward  the  termination  of  your  second  term  be 
better  prepared  to  look  around  and  ascertain  into  whose  hands 
can  be  best  confided  the  care  and  guardianship  of  our  dearest 
rights,  our  happiness,  and  independence. 

"This  communication  is  not  made  with  the  intention  of  ob- 
taining from  you  any  declaration  at  this  time  upon  this  subject. 
We  are  aware  that  persons  would  be  found  to  call  such  a  declara- 
tion premature,  before  some  general  expression  of  satisfaction  in 
relation  to  the  course  you  have  pursued  had  been  exhibited,  and 
time  afforded  for  it  to  be  evinced.  Pennsylvania,  heretofore  first 
to  express  her  attachment  upon  this  subject,  seeks  only  to  main- 
tain the  position  she  has  assumed,  and  to  express  through  her 


ANDEEW  JACKSON.  465 

Representatives  her  continued  confidence  in  your  stern  political 
integrity,  and  the  wise,  judicious,  republican  measures  of  your 
Administration,  and  to  cherish  the  hope  that  the  country  may 
again  be  afforded  the  opportunity  of  having  those  services,  the 
benefit  of  which  she  is  now  so  happily  enjoying.  On  this  subject, 
sir,  we  speak  not  only  our  own  sentiments  and  opinions,  but  feel 
that  the  people  will  accord  to  the  suggestion,  and  everywhere 
respond  to  what  we  have  declared.  Wishing  you  long  life, 
health,  and  happiness,  we  remain  your  friends  and  fellow-citizens." 

One   of  the   biographers   of   General   Jackson  was 
fortunate  enough  to  get  the  true  secret  history  of  this 
document,  which   sadly   deprives   it  of  all   its   beauty 
and  romance.     But  it  serves  to  introduce  to  the  inno- 
cent reader   the   way   similar   things   have  been  done 
ever  since  Andrew  Jackson  came  to  control  the  poli- 
tics of  the   country.     The   ever   considerate    Wm.  B. 
Lewis  happening  to  think  that  General  Jackson  might 
die  suddenly  without  satisfactory  arrangements  for  a 
successor,  suggested   to    the   General    that   he    should 
write  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends,  highly  recommend- 
ing  Van   Buren   to   the   country.     The   General   took 
kindly  to   the   suggestion,  believing   that  his  voice   in 
this  way  might  be  sufficiently  potent  after  his  death, 
and   Lewis   wrote   the   letter   to    Thomas   Overton,  of 
Tennessee,  and  the  General  signed  it.     But  this  letter 
was   not    to   be   used  unless   in  case  of  the  General's 
sudden  demise,  as  Judge  Overton  probably  never  knew. 
When  this  much  had  been  done,  Lewis  set  to  work  to 
devise  the  best  plan  for  breaking  over  what  had  been 
said  about  a  single  term,  with  the  view  of  having  the 
General  re- nominated  at  once.     He  thought  that  some 
important  State,  in  a  respectable  way,  should  take  the 
lead  in  the  matter  ;  and,  accordingly,  himself  wrote  the 
foregoing  letter  to   General   Jackson,  and    sent   it  to 

30— G 


466  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

L.  C.  Stanbaugh,  a  politician  of  note  in  Pennsylvania, 
who  readily  jumped  into  the  scheme ;  and  without 
waiting  for  the  grass  to  grow  under  his  feet,  started 
out  to  get  the  signatures  of  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature. The  appeal  to  the  President,  as  given  here, 
was  then  published  in  the  newspapers.  Mr.  Lewis 
did  not  stop  at  this  ;  he  wrote  letters  to  men  in  other 
States  for  furthering  the  plan,  and  soon  Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  laid  aside  for  the  time.  Seven  years  more  he 
must  wait.  Mr.  Calhoun's  chances  were  now  forever 
gone.  As  nullification  grew,  the  Presidency  departed 
from  him.  The  disgusting  and  infernal  scheming  went 
on.  It  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of  purity,  prog- 
ress, and  reform  !  !  To  Mr.  Parton  is  due  the  credit 
of  furnishing  the  facts,  mainly,  in  this  rare  piece  of 
history. 

One  of  the  most  active,  lazy  men  in  Congress  at 
this  time  was  Colonel  Richard  Mentor  Johnson,  of 
Kentucky.  He  was  a  "  busybody."  Throughout  the 
two  preceding  Administrations  he  was  often  met  in 
the  capacity  of  an  intercessor.  Everybody  was 
friendly  with  Colonel  Johnson,  and  liked  him,  but  he 
was  really  a  Congressional  "  go-between."  He  was  not 
always  choice  or  scrupulous  as  to  the  subjects  which 
enlisted  his  attention.  In  Mr.  Monroe's  time  he  had 
interfered  in  behalf  of  Billy  Duane,  of  the  "  Aurora," 
whom  Mr.  Monroe  regarded  as  the  most  slanderous 
and  unreliable  man  in  the  country.  Colonel  Johnson 
was  one  of  the  warm  friends  of  General  Jackson,  and 
in  the  winter  of  1829,  was  very  busy  in  trying  to  pro- 
duce harmony -in  the  Cabinet.  The  President  was 
worn  out  with  the  dissensions,  and  Colonel  Johnson 
undertook  to  make  peace. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  467 

Mr.  Ingham  says  in  his  account  of  the  case  : — 

"On  AVeduesday,  the  27th  of  January,  1830,  Colonel  R.  M. 
Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  waited  on  me  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, and  after  some  preliminary  conversation,  in  which  he  ex- 
pressed his  regret  that  my  family  and  that  of  Mr.  Branch  and 
Mr.  Berrien  did  not  visit  Mrs.  Eaton,  he  said  that  it  had  been  a 
subject  of  great  excitement  with  the  President,  who  had  come  to 
the  determination  of  having  harmony  in  his  Cabinet  by  some  ac- 
commodation of  this  matter.  He,  Colonel  Johnson,  was  the  friend 
of  us  all,  and  had  now  come  at  the  request  of  the  President  to 
see  whether  any  thing  could  be  done ;  who  thought  that  when 
our  ladies  gave  parties,  they  ought  to  invite  Mrs.  Eaton ;  and  as 
they  had  never  returned  her  call,  if  they  would  leave  the  first 
card  and  open  a  formal  intercourse  in  that  way,  the  President 
would  be  satisfied ;  but  unless  something  was  done  of  this  nature, 
he  had  no  doubt,  indeed  he  knew  that  the  President  was  resolved 
to  have  harmony,  and  would  probably  remove  Mr.  Branch,  Mr. 
Berrien,  and  myself.  I  replied  to  Colonel  Johnson,  that  in  all 
matters  of  official  business,  or  having  any  connection  therewith, 
I  considered  myself  bound  to  maintain  an  open,  frank,  and  har- 
monious intercourse  with  the  gentlemen  I  was  associated  with ; 
that  the  President  had  a  right  to  expect  the  exertion  of  my  best 
faculties,  and  the  employment  of  my  time,  in  the  public  service. 
As  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Eaton,  I  felt  an  obligation  on  me  not  to 
say  any  thing  to  aggravate  the  difficulties  which  he  labored  under, 
but  to  observe  a  total  silence  and  neutrality  in  relation  to  the  re- 
ports about  his  wife,  and  to  inculcate  the  same  course  as  to  my 
family,  and  if  any  other  representations  had  been  made  to  the 
President  they  were  false.  Having  prescribed  to  myself  this  rule, 
and  always  acted  upon  it,  I  had  done  all  that  the  President  had 
a  right  to  expect.  That  the  society  of  Washington  was  liberally 
organized ;  there  was  but  one  circle,  into  which  every  person  of 
respectable  character,  disposed"  to  be  social,  was  readily  admitted, 
without  reference  to  the  circumstance  of  birth,  fortune,  or  station, 
which  operated  in  many  other  places  ;  that  we  had  no  right  to 
exert  official  power  to  regulate  its  social  intercourse  ;  that  Mrs. 
Eaton  had  never  been  received  by  the  society  here,  and  it  did  not 
become  us  to  force  her  upon  it;  that  my  family  had,  therefore, 
not  associated  with  her,  and  had  done  so  with  my  approbation ; 
and    that   the   President   ought   not,    for   the    sake   of   his    own 


468  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

character,  to  interfere  in  such  matters.  But  if  he  chose  to  exert  his 
power  to  force  my  family  to  visit  anybody  they  did  not  choose  to 
visit,  he  was  interfering  with  what  belonged  to  me,  and  no  human 
power  should  regulate  the  social  intercourse  of  my  family,  by 
means  of  official  or  any  other  power  which  I  could  resist.  If  I 
could  submit  to  such  control,  I  should  be  unworthy  of  my  station, 
and  would  despise  myself.  That  it  was  eminently  due  to  the 
character  of  the  President  to  have  it  known  that  he  did  not  in- 
terfere in  such  matters ;  and  that  the  course  we  had  pursued  was 
preservative  of  his  honor  and  political  standing.  I  had  taken  my 
ground  on  mature  reflection  as  to  what  was  due  to  my  family, 
my  friends,  and  the  Administration,  without  any  prejudice  to 
Major  Eaton  or  his  wife,  and  had  fully  determined  not  to  change 
it,  whatever  might  be  the  consequence. 

"  Colonel  Johnson  said  that  he  had  been  requested  by  the 
President  to  have  a  conversation  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
and  the  Attorney-General  also ;  but,  from  what  I  had  said,  he 
supposed  it  would  be  of  no  avail.  The  President  expressed  a 
hope  that  our  families  would  have  been  willing  to  invite  Mrs. 
Eaton  to  their  large  parties,  to  give  the  appearance  of  an  osten- 
sible intercourse,  adding  that  he  was  so  much  excited  that  he  was 
like  a  roaring  lion.  He  had  heard  that  the  lady  of  a  foreign 
minister  had  joined  in  the  conspiracy  against  Mrs.  Eaton,  and  he 
had  sworn  that  he  would  send  her  and  her  husband  home  if  he 
could  not  put  an  end  to  such  doings.  I  replied,  that  it  could 
hardly  be  possible  that  the  President  contemplated  such  a  step. 
Colonel  Johnson  replied  that  he  certainly  did ;  and  again  re- 
marked that  it  seemed  to  be  useless  for  him  to  see  Mr.  Branch 
and  Mr.  Berrien.  I  told  him  that  each  of  us  had  taken  our  course 
upon  our  own  views  of  the  propriety  without  concert;  and  that 
he  ought  not  to  consider  me  as  answering  for  any  but  myself. 
He  then  proposed  that  I  should  meet  him  at  Mr.  Branch's,  and 
invite  Mr.  Berrien,  that  evening  at  seven  o'clock,  which  was 
agreed  to.  Colonel  Johnson  came'to  my  house  about  six,  and  we 
went  up  to  Mr.  Berrien's,  having  first  sent  for  Mr.  Branch.  On 
our  way  to  Mr.  Berrien's,  Colonel  Johnson  remarked  that  the 
President  had  informed  him  that  he  would  invite  Mr.  Branch, 
Mr.  Berrien,  and  myself,  to  meet  him  on  the  next  Friday,  when 
he  would  inform  us,  in  the  presence  of  Dr.  Ely,  of  his  determina- 
tion ;  and  if  we  did  not  agree  to  comply  with  his  wishes,  he  would 
expect  us  to  send  in  our  resignations. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  469 

"Upon  our  arrival  at  Mr.  Berrien's,  ColonelJohnson  renewed 
the  subject  in  presence  of  him  and  Governor  Branch,  and  repeated 
substantially,  though  I  thought  rather  more  qualifiedly,  what  he 
had  said  to  me.  He  did  not  go  so  much  into  detail,  nor  do  I 
recollect  whether  ne  mentioned  the  President's  remarks  as  to  the 
lady  above  mentioned  and  Dr.  Ely ;  those  gentlemen  will  better 
recollect.  Mr.  Branch  and  Mr.  Berrien  replied,  as  unequivocally 
as  I  had  done,  that  they  would  never  consent  to  have  the  social 
relations  of  their  families  controlled  by  any  power  whatever  but 
their  own.  Mr.  Branch,  Mr.  Berrien,  and  myself  went  the  same 
evening  to  a  party  at  Colonel  Towson's,  where  a  report  was  cur- 
rent that  we  were  to  be  removed  forthwith,  of  which  I  had  no 
doubt  at  the  time. 

"The  next  morning.  Colonel  Johnson  came  to  my  house  and 
said  that  he  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  been  more  frank  last  even- 
ing, and  told  us  positively  that  the  President  had  finally  deter- 
mined on  our  removal  from  office,  unless  we  agreed  at  once  that 
our  families  should  visit  Mrs.  Eaton,  and  invite  her  to  their  large 
parties  ;  and  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  designate  Mr. 
Dickins  to  take  charge  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  Mr. 
Kendall  to  take  charge  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  would  find 
an  Attorney-General  somewhere.  I  observed  that  my  course  was 
fixed,  and  could  not  be  changed  for  all  the  offices  in  the  President's 
gift;  and  it  made  no  more  difference  to  me  than  to  any  other  per- 
son wh<ini  the  President  designated  to  take  my  place.  In  the 
evening  of  the  same  day.  Colonel  Johnson  called  again,  and  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  just  been  with  the  President,  who  had 
drawn  up  a  paper  explanatory  of  what  he  had  intended  and  ex- 
pected of  us ;  that  some  of  his  Tennessee  friends  had  been  with 
him  for  several  hours ;  that  his  passions  had  subsided,  and  he  had 
entirely  changed  his  ground.  He  would  not  insist  on  our  families 
visiting  Mrs.  Eaton  ;  he  only  wished  us  to  assist  in  putting  down 
the  slanders  against  her ;  that  he  believed  her  innocent,  and  he 
thought  our  families  ought  to  do  what  they  could  to  sustain  her, 
if  they  could  not  visit  her ;  and  that  he  wished  to  see  me  the 
next  day.  Colonel  Johnson  added  that  the  President  had  been 
exceedingly  excited  for  several  days,  but  was  now  perfectly  calm 
and  mild. 

"The  next  day  I  waited  on  the  President,  and  opened  the 
subject  by  stating  that  Colonel  Johnson  had  informed  me  that 
he  "wished  to  see  me,  to  which  he  assented,  and  went  into  a  long 


470  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

argument  to  show  how  innocent  a  woman  Mrs.  Eaton  was,  and 
how  much  she  had  been  persecuted,  and  mentioned  the  names  of 
a  number  of  ladies  who  had  been  active  in  this  persecution,  and 
that  the  lady  of  a  foreign  minister  was  also  one  of  the  conspirators ; 
adding  that  he  would  send  her  and  her  husband  home,  and  teach 
him  and  his  master  that  a  wife  of  a  member  of  his  Cabinet  was 
not  to  be  thus  treated ;  that  Mrs.  Eaton  was  as  pure  and  chaste 
as  Mrs.  Douelson's  iufant  daughter,  but  there  was  a  combination 
here  amoibg  a  number  of  ladies,  not  those  of  the  heads  of  Depart- 
ments, to  drive  her  out  of  society,  and  to  drive  her  husband  out 
of  office ;  but  he  would  be  cut  into  inch  pieces  on  the  rack  before 
he  would  suffer  him  or  his  wife  to  be  injured  by  their  vile  calum- 
nies ;  that  he  was  resolved  to  have  harmony  in  his  Cabinet,  and 
he  wished  us  to  join  in  putting  down  the  slanders  against  Mrs. 
Eaton.  I  observed  to  the  President  that  I  had  never  considered 
it  incumbent  on  me  to  investigate  the  character  of  Mrs.  Eaton ; 
such  a  service  did  not,  in  my  judgment,  come  within  the  scope 
of  my  duties  to  the  Government ;  it  belonged  to  society  alone  to 
determine  such  matters.  The  power  of  the  Administration  could 
not  change  the  opinion  of  the  community,  even  if  it  could  be 
properly  used  to  control  the  relations  of  domestic  life  in  any  case. 
The  society  of  Washington  must  be  the  best  judges  of  whom  it 
ought  to  receive.  I  regretted  the  difficulties  which  Major  Eaton 
labored  under,  and  had  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  not  to  aggravate 
them.  I  had  intended  at  an  early  day  to  have  had  a  conversa- 
tion with  him  on  the  subject,  with  a  view  to  have  our  social  rela- 
tions defined ;  but  no  opportunity  had  offered  without  volunteer- 
ing one,  and  it  had  not  been  done  in  that  way.  The  course  I 
had  taken  was,  however,  adopted  with  great  care,  to  save  his 
feelings  as  much  as  possible,  consistent  with  what  was  due  to  my 
family,  and  the  community  with  which  we  were  associated.  I 
consider  the  charge  of  my  family  to  be  a  sacred  trust,  belonging  ex- 
clusively to  myself  as  a  member  of  society.  The  Administration 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  more  than  with  that  of  any  other  in- 
dividual, and  political  power  could  not  be  properly  exerted  over 
their  social  intercourse,  and  it  was  important  to  his  reputation  to 
have  it  understood  that  he  did  not  interfere  in  such  matters. 
That  I  was  not  aware  of  any  want  of  harmony  in  the  Cabinet ;  I 
had  not  seen  the  slightest  symptom  of  such  a  feeling  in  its  delib- 
erations, and  I  was  perfectly  certain  that  my  oflScial  conduct  had 
never  been  influenced  in  the  slightest  degree  by  a  feeling  of  that 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  471 

nature.     I  saw  no  ground,  therefore,  for  the  least  change  on  my 
part  in  this  respect. 

"To  which  the  President  replied  in  a  changed  tone,  that  he 
had  the  most  entire  confidence  in  my  integrity  and  capacity  in 
executing  the  duties  of  the  Department,  and  expressed  his  perfect 
satisfaction,  in  that  respect,  with  my  whole  conduct ;  he  had  never 
supposed  for  a  moment  that  my  official  acts  had  been  influenced 
in  the  least  degree  by  any  unkind  feeling  toward  Major  Eaton  ;  and 
he  did  not  mean  to  insist  on  our  families  visiting  Mrs.  Eaton." 

The  result  was  a  temporary  truce  ;  but  the  days 
of  this  Cabinet  were  numbered.  Cabinet  meetings 
were  seldom  or  never  held,  and  the  President  relied 
upon  the  unmarried  members,  "  Van  "  and  Barry,  and 
his  "Kitchen  Cabinet"  was  now  in  fair  organization. 
The  Cabinet  quarrel  was  barely  quieted  for  a  day, 
when  the  President  had  another  "  friendship "  matter 
on  his  hands.  This  was  the  rupture  with  Mr.  Calhoun, 
which  had  been  waiting  for  some  time  for  a  pretext. 
From  the  outset  it  had  been  understood  that  Mr.  Cal- 
houn was  to  succeed  the  General  at  the  end  of  four 
years.  But  Jackson  had  never  been  a  party  to  this 
understanding,  and  soon  after  the  Jefferson-Nullifica- 
tion banquet,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1830,  he  began 
to  give  a  very  different  turn  to  affairs,  which  looked 
to  his  own  and  Mr.  Van  Buren's  interests.  The 
"  cunning  fox "  from  Kinderhook  had  become  the 
General's  model;  nor  did  he  ever  lose  his  esteem  for 
Van  Buren. 

Mr.  Crawford,  still  the  rival  of  everybody,  and  of 
Mr.  Calhoun  in  particular,  for  the  Presidency,  in  the 
spring  of  1830,  wrote  a  letter  to  John  Forsyth,  in 
which  he  took  occasion  to  do  what  few  Cabinet  min- 
isters were  ever  recreant  enough  to  do ;  that  is,  reveal 
some  of  the  secrets  of  Mr.  Monroe's  Administration, 


472  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  Mr.  Calhoun 
in  the  opinion  of  General  Jackson,  stated  that  Mr. 
Calhoun,  not  himself,  was  the  member  of  that  Cabinet 
who  wanted  Jackson  punished  for  his  conduct  in  the 
Seminole  War.  Of  course,  this  letter  soon  made  its 
way  into  the  hands  of  General  Jackson,  and  what  did 
he  do  ?  Dismiss  the  whole  matter  in  a  manly  way 
from  his  notice  or  mind?  No,  indeed.  He  was  not 
the  man  to  do  anything  of  that  kind.  He  informed 
Mr.  Calhoun  by  letter  of  the  turn  now  given  to  his 
mind  on  this  old  topic.  Mr.  Calhoun  replied,  acknowl- 
edging the  charge  in  a  manly  way,  and  putting  the 
whole  matter  on  grounds  which  would  have  sfitisfied 
anybody  but  General  Jackson.  The  General  notified 
him  at  once,  however,  that  their  friendship  was  at  an 
end,  and  that  the  correspondence  might  be  stopped. 
This  conduct  drove  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  he  erroneously 
thought,  to  publish  the  whole  case. 

This  "  affair "  with  Mr.  Calhoun  may  justly  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  worst  and  least  defensible 
points  in  the  life  of  General  Jackson,  and  wholly 
separates  from  the  count  any  ground  of  genuine  great- 
ness in  his  character.  The  case  simply  portrays  a 
condition  usually  assigned  to  mean,  unrefined,  selfish, 
and  vindictive  natures.  With  some  really  admirable 
traits,  General  Jackson  was  a  combination  of  strange 
and  irreconcilable  inconsistencies.  For  the  startling 
breaks  in  his  character  his  friends  were  compelled 
ever  to  be  on  the  alert.  Humiliation,  or  alarm,  or 
defense,  or  praise,  or  admiration  was  always  on  the 
faces  of  his  friends  and  managers.  General  Jackson 
seemed  to  be  unable  to  place  his  patriotism,  or  any- 
thing else  that  was  good  attaching  to  him,  above  his 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  473 

personal  friendships.  His  likes  and  dislikes  controlled 
him.  Devotion  to  him  was  above  discharge  of  obli- 
gations to  country,  or  official  rectitude.  The  great 
burthen  of  his  charges  against  men  was  their  want  of 
attachment  to  him,  or  their  opposition  to  his  views  or 
measures.  He  made  no  distinction  between  himself 
and  his  purposes  and  the  country  and  its  best  inter- 
ests. Of  Mr.  Calhoun  he  would  have  reasoned,  or 
more  properly  felt,  for  General  Jackson  hardly  rea- 
soned about  anything,  in  this  way:  Mr.  Calhoun  is  my 
friend,  therefore  he  never  could  do  anything  which 
would  be  detrimental  me ;  I  only  work  for  the  welfare 
of  my  country,  hence  his  duty  to  his  country  could 
not  in  any  way  conflict  with  his  shielding  me ;  my 
ways  are  right,  I  make  no  mistakes,  hence  his  friend- 
ship for  me  should  be  superior  to  his  official  duties ; 
and,  any  way,  I  am  right,  and  "  by  the  Eternal," 
no  man  has  any  right  to,  or  shall  oppose  me  with 
impunity. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  a  friend  to  General  Jackson,  but 
that  fact  neither  caused  him  to  lose  his  independence 
or  manhood,  nor  to  forego  his  conscientious  devotion 
to  the  duties  of  his  position  and  to  his  country.  No 
friendship  but  that  of  scoundrelism  will  ever  shield  a 
man  from  the  consequences  of  his  own  evil  doings,  if 
to  shield  him  would  be  detrimental  to  his,  or  the  public 
good,  or  would  outrage  the  principles  of  moral  recti- 
tude. Mr.  Calhoun  believed  that  General  Jackson  had 
done  a  wrong,  and  that  the  Nation's  honor  and  wel- 
fare, perhaps,  rendered  it  proper  that  the  Administra- 
tion should  take  some  disciplinary  note  of  his  conduct. 
How  nearly  this  course  became  a  necessity  on  the 
part   of    the   Government  is  now    well    known.     The 


474  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

movement  of  Lord  Castlereagh's  little  finger  would 
have  let  loose  the  dogs  of  war,  owing  to  Jackson's 
unparalleled  proceedings  in  Florida. 

Mr.  Calhoun  did  exactly  right  in  the  case,  and  had 
no  thought  of  this  interfering  with  his  friendly  rela- 
tions with  General  Jackson.  That  President  Jackson, 
when  at  the  highest  point  of  elevation  in  his  country, 
could  have  cared  a  moment  for  this  matter  at  such  a 
late  date,  is  almost  beyond  explicability  even  in  his 
case.  The  only  person  who  did,  or,  perhaps,  meant 
any  wrong  in  the  quarrel,  which  became  a  matter  of 
so  much  importance  in  the  politics  of  the  country,  was 
he  who  revealed  the  private  affairs,  the  secret  counsels 
of  Mr.  Monroe's  Cabinet. 

The  "United  States  Telegraph"  newspaper  at 
Washington  had  advocated  the  election  of  General  Jack- 
son, and  was,  for  some  time,  the  "organ"  of  the  Admin- 
istration after  the  quarrel  began  between  the  President 
and  Vice-President.  Duff  Green,  its  editor,  an  able 
writer,  after  doing  all  he  could  to  prevent  the  shameful 
rupture,  and  to  prevent  its  history  reaching  the  public, 
concluded  to  adhere  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  at  the  loss  of  the 
patronage  of  the  Administration.  For  some  time  the 
President's  secret  advisers  had  urged  him  to  take  steps 
to  establish  a  strong  partisan  organ  to  support  the  Exec- 
utive. He  had  had  very  confidential  relations  with 
Green,  and,  besides,  thought  well  of  him,  and  for  a  time 
believed  that  Green  would  turn  out  faithful  to  his  friend- 
ship. But  Green  gave,  what  was  to  him,  the  best 
of  reasons  for  not  doing  so,  and  became  a  losing  oppo- 
nent of  the  Administration  of  General  Jackson.  The 
editor  of  the  "Richmond  Enquirer"  was  first  offered 
the   new  organ  of  the   Administration,   or  of  General 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  475 

Jackson,  but  did  not  desire  the  honor.  Through  Amos 
Kendall,  Mr.  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sen.,  of  Kentucky,  was 
discovered  to  be  the  man  for  the  emergency.  Mr. 
Blair  was  then  a  man  of  broken  fortune,  and  was  only 
too  glad  to  accept  the  summons  from  Washington  to 
be  the  editor  of  the  Court  Journal.  He  was  a  little, 
weak  man  in  every  thing  except  power  as  a  writer,  but 
he  also  possessed  a  good  stock  of  amiable  traits.  He 
had  a  qualification  which  peculiarly  suited  him  to 
President  Jackson.  He  bitterly  opposed  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  and  hated  nullification.  The  Gen- 
eral took  to  him  at  once,  revealed  all  his  secrets  to 
him,  and  put  him  at  his  side  at  state  dinners.  Mr. 
Blair  was  in  luck.  He  was  a  "made  man."  The  result 
was  that  the  "Globe"  was  established  in  1831,  and 
employes  of  the  Government  and  everybody  else 
notified  that  they  must  support  the  President's  organ. 
The  President  soon  ordered  a  part  of  the  Government 
printing  to  be  given  to  the  "Globe,"  and  its  success 
was  assured  from  the  outset.  William  B.  Lewis  was 
mainly  the  manipulator  of  this  new  departure. 


476 


LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  SECOND  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— CON- 
GRESS IN  THE  WINTER  OF  1830— THE  PRESIDENT'S 
LEGAL  ADVISERS— THE  KITCHEN  CABINET. 

ON  the  6th  of  December,  1830,  Congress  again 
assembled.  This  was  what  was  called  the  second 
or  short  session  of  the  Twenty-first  Congress.  Many 
of  its  members  had  come  in  with  the  new  Administra- 
tion, on  the  4th  of  March,  1829.  In  the  Senate,  among 
the  leaders  and  those  afterwards  distinguished,  were 
Daniel  Webster,  of  Massachusetts ;  Levi  Woodbury, 
of  New  Hampshire ;  L.  W.  Tazewell  and  John  Tyler, 
of  Virginia ;  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina ; 
John  Forsyth,  of  Georgia ;  Hugh  L.  White  and  Felix 
Grundy,  of  Tennessee  ;  Edward  Livingston,  of'  Lou- 
isiana ;  William  R.  King,  of  Alabama ;  and  Thomas 
Hart  Benton,  of  Missouri.  And  in  the  House,  among 
others,  were  W.  B.  Crowninshield,  Edward  Everett, 
and  Benjamin  Gorham,  of  Massachusetts ;  C.  C. 
Cambreleng  and  John  Taylor,  of  New  York ;  James 
Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania ;  William  S.  Archer,  Philip 
P.  Barbour,  Charles  Fenton  Mercer,  Andrew  Steven- 
son, and  Alexander  Smyth,  of  Virginia ;  George  Mc- 
Duffie,  of  South  Carolina ;  R.  M.  Johnson  and  Robert 
P.  Letcher,  of  Kentucky ;  and  John  Bell,  James  K. 
Polk,  Cave  Johnson,  and  David  Crockett,  of  Tennessee. 
The  President  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  in 
the   preparation   of  his  message.     From  time  to  time 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  477 

he  made  such  notes  and  memoranda  as  came  to  his 
mind.  These  were  on  slips  of  paper,  leaves  of  books, 
or  other  such  things  as  fell  in  his  way.  When  he  had 
touched  all  the  points  that  appeared  to  him,  these 
slips,  without  any  effort  at  composition  or  arrange- 
ment, were  put  into  the  hands  of  Donelson,  the  pri- 
vate secretary,  who  made  the  best  presentation  of  the 
case  he  could  in  a  written  message.  The  members  of 
the  Cabinet  afterwards  made  additions  of  their  parts 
and  suggestions. 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1830,  the  following  mes- 
sage, the  longest  ever  presented  to  Congress,  by  a 
President,  was  delivered  to  that  body  : — 

SECOND  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: 

The  pleasure  I  have  in  bongratulating  you  upon  your  return 
to  your  Constitutional  duties  is  much  heightened  by  the  satisfac- 
tion which  the  condition  of  our  beloved  country  at  this  period  justly 
inspires.  The  Beneficent  Author  of  all  good  has  granted  to  us, 
during  the  present  year,  health,  peace,  and  plenty,  and  numerous 
causes  for  joy  in  the  wonderful  success  which  attends  the  progress 
of  our  free  institutions. 

With  a  population  unparalleled  in  its  increase,  and  possessing 
a  character  which  combines  the  hardihood  of  enterprise  with  the 
considerateness  of  wisdom,  we  see  in  every  section  of  our  happy 
country  a  steady  improvement  in  the  means  of  social  intercourse, 
and  correspondent  effects  upon  the  genius  and  laws  of  our  ex- 
tended republic. 

The  apparent  exceptions  to  the  harmony  of  the  prospect  are 
to  be  referred  rather  to  the  inevitable  diversities  in  the  various 
interests  which  enter  into  the  composition  of  so  extensive  a  whole, 
than  to  any  want  of  attachment  to  the  Union — interests  whose 
collisions  serve  only,  in  the  end,  to  foster  the  spirit  of  conciliation 
and  patriotism,  so  essential  to  the  preservation  of  that  Union, 
which  I  most  devoutly  hope  is  destined  to  prove  imperishable. 

In  the  midst  of  these  blessings,  we  have  recently  witnessed 
changes  in  the  condition  of  other  nations  which   may,  in   their 


478  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

consequences,  call  for  the  utmost  vigilance,  wisdom,  and  una- 
nimity, in  our  councils,  and  the  exercise  of  all  the  moderation  and 
patriotism  of  our  people. 

The  important  modifications  of  their  government,  eifected 
with  so  much  courage  and  wisdom  by  the  people  of  France,  af- 
ford a  happy  presage  of  their  future  course,  and  have  naturally 
elicited  from  the  kindred  feelings  of  this  Nation  that  spontaneous 
and  universal  burst  of  applause  in  which  you  have  participated. 
In  congratulating  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  upon  an  event  so 
auspicious  to  the  dearest  interests  of  mankind,  I  do  no  more 
than  respond  to  the  voice  of  my  country,  without  transcending 
in  the  slightest  degree  that  salutary  maxim  of  the  illustrious 
Washington,  which  enjoins  an  abstinence  from  all  interference 
with  the  internal  affairs  of  other  nations.  From  a  people  exer- 
cising in  the  most  unlimited  degree  the  right  of  self-government, 
and  enjoying,  as  derived  from  this  proud  characteristic,  under 
the  favor  of  Heaven,  much  of  the  happiness  with  which  they  are 
blessed ;  a  people  who  can  point  in  triumph  to  their  free  insti- 
tutions, and  challenge  comparison  with  the  fruits  they  bear,  as 
well  as  with  the  moderation,  intelligence,  and  energy,  with  which 
they  are  administered  ;  from  such  a  people  the  deepest  sympathy 
was  to  be  expected  in  a  struggle  for  the  sacred  principles  of 
liberty  conducted  in  a  spirit  every  way  worthy  of  the  cause,  and 
crowned  by  a  heroic  moderation  which  has  disarmed  revolution 
of  its  terrors.  Notwithstanding  the  strong  assurances  which  the 
man  whom  we  so  sincerely  love  and  justly  admire  has  given  to 
the  world  of  the  high  character  of  the  present  king  of  the  French, 
and  which,  if  sustained  to  the  end,  will  secure  to  him  the  proud 
appellation  of  Patriot  King,  it  is  not  in  his  success,  but  in  that 
of  the  great  principle  which  has  borne  him  to  the  throne — the 
paramount  authority  of  the  public  will — that  the  American 
people  rejoice. 

I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  anticipations  which  were 
indulged  at  the  date  of  my  last  communication  on  the  subject  of 
our  foreign  affairs,  have  been  fully  realized  in  several  important 
particulars. 

An  arrangement  has  been  effected  with  Great  Britain,  in 
relation  to  the  trade  between  the  United  States  and  her  West 
India  and  North  American  Colonies,  which  has  settled  a  question 
that  has  for  years  afforded  matter  for  contention  and  almost  un- 
interrupted discussion,  and  has  been  the  subject  of  no  less  than 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  479 

six   negotiations,  in   a   manner  which    promises    results    highly 
favorable  to  the  parties. 

The  abstract  right  of  Great  Britain  to  monopolize  the  trade 
with  her  Colonies,  or  to  exclude  us  from  a  participation  therein, 
has  never  been  denied  by  the  United  States.  But  we  have  con'- 
tended,  and  with  reason,  that  if,  at  any  time,  Great  Britain  may 
desire  the  productions  of  this  country  as  necessary  to  her  Col- 
onies, they  must  be  received  upon  principles  of  just  reciprocity ; 
and  further,  that  it  is  making  an  invidious  and  unfriendly  distinc- 
tion to  open  her  Colonial  ports  to  the  vessels  of  other  nations  and 
close  them  against  those  of  the  United  States. 

Antecedently  to  1794,  a  portion  of  our  productions  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Colonial  islands  of  Great  Britain,  by  particular 
concessions,  limited  to  the  term  of  one  year,  but  renewed  from 
year  to  year.  In  the  transportation  of  these  productions,  how- 
ever, our  vessels  were  not  allowed  to  engage;  this  being  a  priv- 
ilege reserved  to  British  shipping,  by  which  alone  our  produce 
could  be  taken  to  the  islands,  and  theirs  brought  to  us  in  return. 
From  Newfoundland  and  her  continental  possessions  all  our  pro- 
ductions, as  well  as  our  vessels,  were  excluded,  with  occasional 
relaxations,  by  which,  in  seasons  of  distress,  the  former  were 
admitted  in  British  bottoms. 

By  the  Treaty  of  1794  she  offered  to  concede  to  us,  for  a  lim- 
ited time,  the  right  of  carrying  to  her  West  India  possessions,  in 
our  vessels  not  exceeding  seventy  tons  burden,  and  upon  the 
same  terms  as  British  vessels,  any  productions  of  the  United 
States  which  British  vessels  might  import  therefrom.  But  this 
privilege  was  coupled  with  conditions  which  are  supposed  to  have 
led  to  its  rejection  by  the  Senate ;  that  is,  that  American  vessels 
should  land  their  return  cargoes  in  the  United  States  only ;  and 
moreover,  that  they  should,  during  the  continuance  of  the  priv- 
ilege, be  precluded  from  carrying  molasses,  sugar,  cocoa,  or  cotton, 
either  from  those  islands  or  from  the  United  States,  to  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  Great  Britain  readily  consented  to  expunge 
this  article  from  the  treaty ;  and  subsequent  attempts  to  arrange 
the  terms  of  trade  either  by  treaty  stipulations  or  concerted  legis- 
lation, having  failed,  it  has  been  successively  suspended  and  al- 
lowed acording  to  the  varying  legislation  of  the  parties. 

The  following  are  the  prominent  points  which  have  in  latter 
years  separated  the  two  governments.  Besides  a  restriction 
whereby  all  importations  into  her  Colonies  in  American  vessels 


480  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

are  confined  to  our  own  products  carried  hence,  a  restriction  to 
which  it  does  not  appear  that  we  have  ever  objected,  a  leading 
object  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  has  been  to  prevent  us  from 
becoming  the  carriers  of  British  West  India  commodities  to  any 
other  country  than  our  own.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
it  has  been  contended:  1st,  that  the  subject  should  be  regulated 
by  treaty  stipulations  in  preference  to  separate  legislation ;  2d, 
that  our  productions,  when  imported  into  the  Colonies  in  ques- 
tion, should  not  be  subject  to  higher  duties  than  the  productions 
•of  the  mother  country,  or  of  her  other  Colonial  possessions  ;  and 
3d,  that  our  vessels  should  be  allowed  to  participate  in  the  cir- 
cuitous trade  between  the  United  States  and  different  parts  of  the 
British  dominions. 

The  first  point,  after  having  been  for  a  long  time  strenuously 
insisted  upon  by  Great  Britain,  was  given  up  by  the  act  of  Par- 
liament of  July,  1825 ;  all  vessels  suffered  to  trade  with  the  Col- 
onies being  permitted  to  clear  from  thence  with  any  articles 
which  British  vessels  might  export,  and  proceed  to  any  part  of 
the  world,  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies  alone  excepted. 
On  our  part,  each  of  the  above  points  had  in  succession  been  ex- 
plicitly abandoned  in  negotiations  preceding  that  of  which  the 
result  is  now  announced. 

This  arrangement  secures  to  the  United  States  every  advan- 
tage asked  by  them,  and  which  the  state  of  the  negotiation  al- 
lowed us  to  insist  upon.  The  trade  will  be  placed  upon  a  footing 
decidedly  more  favorable  to  this  country  than  any  on  which  it 
ever  stood ;  and  our  commerce  and  navigation  will  enjoy  in  the 
Colonial  ports  of  Great  Britain  every  privilege  allowed  to  other 
nations.  That  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  so  far  as  it  depends 
on  this  trade,  will  be  greatly  promoted  by  the  new  arrangement, 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Independently  of  the  more  obvious  ad- 
vantages of  an  open  and  direct  intercourse,  its  establishment  will 
be  attended  with  other  consequences  of  a  higher  value.  That 
which  has  been  carried  on  since  the  mutual  interdict  under  all 
the  expenses  and  inconvenience  unavoidably  incident  to  it,  would 
have  been  insupportably  onerous  had  it  not  been  in  a  great  de- 
gree lightened  by  concerted  evasions  in  the  mode  of  making  the 
transhipments  at  what  are  called  the  neutral  ports.  These  indi- 
rections are  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  nations  that  have  so 
many  motives  not  only  to  cherish  feelings  of  mutual  friendship, 
but  to  maintain   such   relations  as  will  stimulate  their  respective 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  481 

citizens  and  subjects  to  efforts  of  direct,  open,  and  honorable  com- 
petition only,  and  preserve  them  from  the  influence  of  seductive 
and  vitiating  circumstances. 

When  your  preliminary  interposition  was  asked  at  the  close 
of  the   last  session,  a  copy  of  the   instructions  under  which  Mr. 
McLane  has  acted,  together  with  the  communications  which  had 
at  that  time   passed   between   him  and  the  British  Government, 
was  laid  before  you.     Although  there   has  not  been  anything  in 
the  acts  of  the   two  governments  which   requires  secrecy,  it  was 
thought  most  proper,  in  the  then  state  of  the  negotiation,  to  make 
that  communication  a   confidential   one.     So   soon,  however,  as 
the  evidence  of  execution  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  is  received, 
the  whole  matter  shall  be  laid  before  you,  when  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  apprehension  which   appears  to  have  suggested  one  of 
the  provisions  of  the   acts   passed  at   your  last  session,  that  the 
restoration   of  the   trade   in    question   might   be   connected  with 
other  subjects,  and  was  sought  to  be  obtained  at  the  sacrifice  of 
the  public   interest  in   other  particulars,  was  wholly  unfounded ; 
and  that  the  change  which  has  taken  place   in   the  views  of  the 
British  Government  has  been   induced    by  considerations  as  hon- 
orable to  both  parties  as  I  trust  the  result  will   prove  beneficial. 
This  desirable  result  was,  it  will  be  seen,  greatlv  promoted  by 
the  liberal  and  confiding  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  the 
last  session,  by  which  our   ports  were,  upon  the  reception   and 
annunciation  by  the   President  of  the  required  assurance  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain,  forthwith  opened  to  her  vessels,  before  the 
arrangement  could  be  carried  into  effect  on  her  part ;  pursuing 
in  this  act  of  prospective   legislation   a   similar   course   to    that 
adopted  by  Great  Britain  in  abolishing,  by  her  act  of  Parliament 
in  1825,  a  restriction   then   existing,  and   permitting  our  vessels 
to  clear  from  the   Colonies  on   their  return  voyages  for  any  for- 
eign country  whatever,  before  British  vessels  had  been   relieved 
from  the   restriction   imposed    by  our   law,  of  returning  directly 
from  the  United  States  to  the  Colonies — a  restriction  which  she 
required   and   expected   that  we  should  abolish.     Upon  each  oc- 
casion a  limited  and  temporary  advantage  has  been  given  to  the 
opposite  party,  but  an  advantage  of  no  importance  in  comparison 
with  the  restoration  of  a   mutual  confidence  and  good  feeling, 
and  the  ultimate  establishment  of  the  trade  upon  fair  principles. 
It  gives  me  unfeigned  pleasure  to  assure  you  that  this  nego- 
tiation has  been  throughout  characterized  by  the  most  frank  and 

31— G 


482  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

friendly  spirit  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  concluded  in  a 
manner  strongly  indicative  of  a  sincere  desire  to  cultivate  the 
best  relations  with  the  United  States.  To  reciprocate  this  dispo- 
sition to  the  fullest  extent  of  my  ability  is  a  duty  which  I  shall 
deem  it  a  privilege  to  discharge. 

Although  the  result  is  itself  the  best  commentary  on  the  serv- 
ices rendered  to  his  country  by  our  Minister  to  the  Court  of  St. 
James,  it  would  be  doing  violence  to  my  feelings  were  I  to  dis- 
miss the  subject  without  expressing  the  very  high  sense  I  enter- 
tain of  the  talent  and  exertion  which  have  been  displayed  by 
him  on  the  occasion. 

The  injury  to  the  commerce  of  the  United  States, .resulting 
from  the  exclusion  of  our  vessels  from  the  Black  Sea,  and  the 
previous  footing  of  mere  sufferance  upon  which  even  the  limited 
trade  enjoyed  by  us  with  Turkey  has  hitherto  been  placed,  have 
for  a  long  time  been  a  source  of  much  solicitude  to  this  Govern- 
ment, and  several  endeavors  have  been  made  to  obtain  a  better 
state  of  things.  Sensible  of  the  importance  of  the  object,  I  felt 
it  my  duty  to  leave  no  proper  means  unemployed  to  acquire  for 
our  flag  the  same  privileges  that  are  enjoyed  by  the  principal 
powers  of  Europe.  Commissioners  were  consequently  appointed 
to  open  a  negotiation  with  the  Sublime  Porte.  Not  long  after 
the  members  of  the  commission  who  went  directly  from  the 
United  States  had  sailed,  the  account  of  the  Treaty  of  Adrian- 
ople,  by  which  one  of  the  objects  in  view  was  supposed  to  be  se- 
cured, reached  this  country.  The  Black  Sea  was  understood  to 
be  opened  to  us.  Under  the  supposition  that  this  was  the  case, 
the  additional  facilities  to  be  derived  from  the  establishment  of 
commercial  regulations  with  the  Porte  were  deemed  of  sufficient 
importance  to  require  a  prosecution  of  the  negotiation  as  origi- 
nally contemplated.  It  was  therefore  persevered  in,  and  resulted 
in  a  treaty,  which  will  be  forthwith  laid  before  the  Senate. 

By  its  provision  a  free  passage  is  secured,  without  limitation 
of  time,  to  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  to  and  from  the 
Black  Sea,  including  the  navigation  thereof;  and  our  trade  with 
Turkey  is  placed  on  the  footing  of  the  most  favored  nation.  The 
latter  is  an  arrangement  wholly  independent  of  the  Treaty  of 
Adrianople ;  and  the  former  derives  much  value,  not  only  from 
the  increased  security  which,  under  any  circumstances,  it  Avould 
give  to  the  right  in  question,  but  from  the  fact  ascertained  in 
the  course  of  the  negotiation  that,  by  the  construction  put  upon 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  483 

the  treaty  by  Turkey,  the  article  relating  to  the  passage  of  the 
Bosphorus  is  confined  to  nations  having  treaties  with  the  Porte. 
The  most  friendly  feelings  appear  to  be  entertained  by  the  Sultan, 
and  an  enlightened  disposition  is  evinced  by  him  to  foster  the 
intercourse  between  the  two  countries  by  the  most  liberal  arrange- 
ments. This  disposition  it  will  be  our  duty  and  interest  to 
cherish. 

Our  relations  with  Russia  are  of  the  most  stable  character. 
Respect  for  that  empire,  and  confidence  in  its  friendship  toward 
the  United  States,  have  been  so  long  entertained  on  our  part, 
and  so  carefully  cherished  by  the  present  emperor  and  his  illus- 
trious predecessor,  as  to  have  become  incorporated  with  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  United  States.  No  means  will  be  left  unem- 
ployed on  my  part  to  promote  these  salutary  feelings,  and  those 
improvements  of  which  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
two  countries  is  susceptible,  and  which  have  derived  increased 
importance  from  our  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte. 

I  sincerely  regret  to  inform  you  that  our  minister  lately  com- 
missioned to  that  court,  on  whose  distinguished  talents  and  great 
experience  in  public  affairs  I  placed  great  reliance,  has  been 
compelled,  by  extreme  indisposition,  to  exercise  a  privilege 
which,  in  consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  his  constitution 
had  been  impaired  in  the  public  service,  was  committed  to  his 
discretion — of  leaving  temporarily  his  post  for  the  advantage  of 
a  more  genial  climate. 

If,  as  is  to  be  hoped,  the  improvement  of  his  health  should  be 
such  as  to  justify  him  in  doing  so,  he  will  repair  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  resume  the  discharge  of  his  oflScial  duties.  I  have 
received  the  most  satisfactory  assurance  that,  in  the  meantime, 
the  public  interest  in  that  quarter  will  be  preserved  from  preju- 
dice by  the  intercourse  which  he  will  continue,  through  the  sec- 
retary of  legation,  with  the  Russian  cabinet. 

You  are  apprised,  although  the  fact  has  not  been,  officially 
announced  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  a  treaty  was,  in 
the  month  of  March  last,  concluded  between  the  United  States 
and  Denmark,  by  which  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
are  secured  to  our  citizens  as  an  indemnity  for  spoliations  upon 
their  commerce  in  the  years  1808,  1809,  1810,  and  1811.  This 
treaty  was  sanctioned  by  the  Senate  at  the  close  of  its  last  ses- 
sion, and  it  now  becomes  the  duty  of  Congress  to  pass  the  neces- 
sary laws  for   the   organization  of  the  board  of  comraissioijers  to 


484  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

distribute  the  indemnity  among  the  claimants.  It  is  an  agreeable 
circumstance  of  this  adjustment,  that  its  terms  are  in  conformity 
with  the  previously  ascertained  views  of  the  claimants  themselves, 
thus  removing  all  pretense  for  a  future  agitation  of  the  subject 
in  any  form. 

The  negotiations  in  regard  to  such  points  in  our  foreign  rela- 
tions as  remain  to  be  adjusted,  have  been  actively  prosecuted 
during  the  recess.  Material  advances  have  been  made,  which 
are  of  a  character  to  promise  favorable  results.  Our  country,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  is  not  in  a  situation  to  invite  aggression ; 
and  it  wOl  be  our  fault  if  she  ever  becomes  so.  Sincerely  desir- 
ous to  cultivate  the  most  liberal  and  friendly  relations  with  all ; 
ever  ready  to  fulfill  our  engagements  with  scrupulous  fidelity ; 
limiting  our  demands  upon  others  to  mere  justice ;  holding  our- 
selves ever  ready  to  do  unto  them  as  we  would  wish  to  be  done 
by ;  and  avoiding  even  the  appearance  of  undue  partiality  to  any 
nation,  it  appears  to  me  impossible  that  a  simple  and  sincere  ap- 
plication of  our  principles  to  our  foreign  relations,  can  fail  to 
place  them  ultimately  upon  the  footing  on  which  it  is  our  wish 
they  should  rest. 

Of  the  points  referred  to,  the  most  prominent  are  our  claims 
upon  France  for  spoliations  upon  our  commerce ;  similar  claims 
upon  Spain,  together  with  embarrassments  in  the  commercial  in- 
tercourse between  the  two  countries,  which  ought  to  be  removed  ; 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  commerce  and  navigation  with 
Mexico,  which  has  been  so  long  in  suspense,  as  well  as  the  final 
settlement  of  limits  between  ourselves  and  that  republic ;  and 
finally,  the  arbitrament  of  the  question  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  in  regard  to  the  north-eastern  boundary. 

The  negotiation  with  France  has  been  conducted  by  our  min- 
ister with  zeal  and  ability,  and  in  all  respects  to  my  entire  satis- 
faction. Although  the  prospect  of  a  favorable  termination  was 
occasionally  dimmed  by  counter  pretensions,  to  which  the  United 
States  could  not  assent,  he  yet  had  strong  hopes  of  being  able  to 
arrive  at  a  satisfactory  settlement  with  the  late  government. 
The  negotiation  has  been  renewed  with  the  present  authorities ; 
and,  sensible  of  the  general  and  lively  confidence  of  our  citizens 
in  the  justice  and  magnanimity  of  regenerated  France,  I  regret 
the  more,  not  to  have  it  in  my  power  yet  to  announce  the  result 
so  confidently  anticipated.  No  grouud,  however,  inconsistent 
with -this  expectation  has  been  taken,  and  I  do  not  allow  myself 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  485 

to  doubt  that  justice  will  soon  be  done  to  us.  The  amouut  of 
the  claims,  the  length  of  time  they  have  remained  unsatisfied,  and 
their  incontrovertible  justice,  make  an  earnest  prosecution  of 
them  by  this  Government  an  urgent  duty.  The  illegality  of  the 
seizures  and  confiscations  out  of  which  they  have  arisen  is  not 
disputed  ;  and  whatever  distinctions  may  have  heretofore  been 
set  up  in  regard  to  the  liability  of  the  existing  government,  it  is 
quite  clear  that  such  considerations  can  not  now  be  interposed. 

The  commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  is  sus- 
ceptible of  highly  advantageous  improvements;  but  the  sense  of 
this  injury  has  had,  and  must  continue  to  have,  a  very  unfavora- 
ble influence  upon  them.  From  its  satisfactory  adjustment,  not 
only  a  firm  and  cordial  friendship,  but  a  progressive  development 
of  all  their,  relations  may  be  expected.  It  is  therefore  my  earnest 
hope  that  this  old  and  vexatious  subject  of  difference  may  be 
speedily  removed. 

I  feel  that  my  confidence  in  our  appeal  to  the  motives  which 
should  govern  a  just  and  magnanimous  nation,  is  alike  warranted 
by  the  character  of  the  French  people,  and  by  the  high  voucher 
we  possess  for  the  enlarged  views  and  pure  integrity  of  the  mon- 
arch who  now  presides  over  their  councils,  and  nothing  shall  be 
wanting  on  my  part  to  meet  any  manifestation  of  the  spirit  we 
anticipate  in  one  of  corresponding  frankness  and  liberality. 

The  subjects  of  difference  with  Spain  have  been  brought  to 
the  view  of  that  government  by  our  minister  there,  with  much 
force  and  propriety ;  and  the  strongest  assurances  have  been  re- 
ceived of  their  early  and  favorable  consideration. 

The  steps  which  remained  to  place  the  matter  in  controversy 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  fairly  before  the 
arbitrator  have  all  been  taken  in  the  same  liberal  and  friendly 
spirit  which  characterized  those  before  announced.  Recent  events 
have  doubtless  served  to  delay  the  decision,  but  our  minister  at 
the  court  of  the  distinguished  arbitrator  has  been  assured  that 
it  will  be  made  within  the  time  contemplated  by  the  treaty. 

I  am  particularly  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  that  a  de- 
cidedly favorable,  and,  as  I  hope,  lasting  change  has  been  effected 
in  our  relations  with  the  neighboring  Republic  of  Mexico.  The 
unfortunate  and  unfounded  suspicions  in  regard  to  our  disposition, 
which  it  became  my  painful  duty  to  advert  to  on  a  former 
occasion,  have  been,  I  believe,  entirely  removed  ;  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Mexico  has  been  made  to  understand  the  real  char- 


486  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

acter  of  the  wishes  and  views  of  this  in  regard  to  that  country. 
The  consequence  is,  the  establishment  of  friendship  and  mutual 
confidence.  Such  are  the  assurances  which  I  have  received,  and 
I  see  no  cause  to  doubt  their  sincerity. 

I  had  reason  to  expect  the  conclusion  of  a  commercial  treaty 
with  Mexico  in  season  for  communication  on  the  present  occasion. 
Circumstances  which  are  not  explained,  but  which  I  am  per- 
suaded are  not  the  result  of  an  indisposition  on  her  part  to  enter 
into  it,  have  produced  the  delay. 

There  was  reason  to  fear,  in  the  course  of  last  summer,  that 
the  harmony  of  our  relations  might  be  disturbed  by  the  acts  of 
certain  claimants,  under  Mexican  grants,  of  territory  which  has 
hitherto  been  under  our  jurisdiction.  The  co-operation  of  the 
representative  of  Mexico  near  this  Government  was  a§ked  on  the 
occasion,  and  was  readily  aflbrded.  Instructions  and  advice  have 
been  given  to  the  Governor  of  Arkansas  and  the  officers  in  com- 
mand in  the  adjoining  Mexican  State,  by  which  it  is  hoped  the 
quiet  of  that  frontier  will  be  preserved,  until  a  final  settlement 
of  the  dividing  line  shall  have  removed  all  ground  of  controversy. 

The  exchange  of  ratifications  of  the  treaty  concluded  last 
year  Avith  Austria  has  not  yet  taken  place.  The  delay  has  been 
occasioned  by  the  non-arrival  of  the  ratification  of  that  govern- 
ment within  the  time  prescribed  by  the  treaty.  Renewed  au- 
thority has  been  asked  for  by  the  representative  of  Austria ;  and, 
in  the  meantime,  the  rapidly  increasing  trade  and  navigation 
between  the  two  countries  have  been  placed  upon  the  most 
liberal  footing  of  our  navigation  acts. 

Several  alleged  depredations  have  been  recently  committed  on 
our  commerce  by  the  national  vessels  of  Portugal.  They  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  immediate  remonstrance  and  reclama- 
tion. I  am  not  yet  possessed  of  sufficient  information  to  express 
a  definitive  opinion  of  their  character,  but  expect  soon  to  receive 
it.  No  proper  means  shall  be  omitted  to  obtain  for  our  citizens 
all  the  redress  to  which  they  may  appear  to  be  entitled. 

Almost  at  the  moment  of  the  adjournment  of  your  last  ses- 
sion, two  bills,  the  one  entitled,  "  An  act  for  making  appropria- 
tions  for  building  light-houses,  light-boats,  beacons,  and  monu- 
ments, placing  buoys,  and  for  improving  harbors  and  directing 
surveys,"  and  the  other,  "  An  act  to  authorize  a  subscription  for 
stock  in  the  Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  Company,"  were  sub- 
mitted for  my  approval.     It  was  not  possible,    within   the  time 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  487 

allowed  me,  before  the  close  of  the  session,  to  give  these  bills  the 
consideration  which  was  due  to  their  character  and  importance, 
and  I  was  compelled  to  retain  them  for  that  purpose.  I  now 
avail  myself  of  this  early  opportunity  to  return  them  to  the 
Houses  in  which  they  respectively  originated,  with  the  reasons 
W'hich,  after  mature  deliberation,  'compel  me  to  withhold  my 
approval. 

The  practice  of  defraying  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  establishment  and  support  of 
light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  and  public  piers,  within  the  bays, 
inlets,  harbors,  and  ports,  within  the  United  States,  to  render 
the  navigation  thereof  safe  and  easy,  is  coeval  with  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  and  has  been  continued  without  interruption 
or  dispute. 

As  our  foreign  commerce  increased,  and  was  extended  into 
the  interior  of  the  country,  by  the  establishment  of  ports  of 
entry  and  delivery  upon  our  navigable  rivers,  the  sphere  of  those 
expenditures  received  a  corresponding  enlargement.  Light-houses, 
beacons,  buoys,  public  piers,  and  the  removal  of  sand-bars,  saw- 
yers, and  other  partial  or  temporary  impediments  in  the  navi- 
gable rivers  and  harbors,  which  were  embraced  in  the  revenue 
districts  from  time  to  time  established  by  law,  were  authorized 
upon  the  same  principle,  and  the  expense  defrayed  in  the  same 
manner.  That  these  expenses  have  at  times  been  extravagant 
and  disproportionate,  it  is  very  probable.  The  circumstances 
under  which  they  are  incurred  are  well  calculated  to  lead  to  such 
a  result,  unless  their  application  is  subjected  to  the  closest  scru- 
tiny. The  local  advantages  arising  from  the  disbursement  of 
public  money  too  frequently,  it  is  to  be  feared,  invite  appropria- 
tions for  objects  of  this  character,  that  are  neither  necessary 
nor  useful. 

The  number  of  light-house  keepers  is  already  very  large,  and 
the  bill  before  me  proposes  to  add  to  it  fifty-one  more,  of  various 
descriptions.  From  representations  upon  the  subject  which  are 
understood  to  be  entitled  to  respect,  I  am  induced  to  believe  that 
there  has  not  only  been  great  improvidence  in  the  past  expendi- 
tures of  the  Government  upon  these  objects,  but  that  the  secu- 
rity of  navigation  has,  in  some  instances,  been  diminished  by  the 
multiplication  of  light-houses,  and  consequent  change  of  lights, 
upon  the  coast.  It  is  in  this,  as  in  other  respects,  our  duty 
to  avoid  all  unnecessary  expense,   as   well  as  every  increase  of 


488  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

patronage  not  called  for  by  the  public  service.  But,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  that  duty  in  this  particular,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that,  in  relation  to  our  foreign  commerce,  the  burden  and  ben- 
efit of  protecting  and  accommodating  it  necessarily  go  together, 
and  must  do  so  as  long  as  the  public  revenue  is  drawn  from  the 
people  through  the  custorb-house.  It  is  indisputable  that  what- 
ever gives  facility  and  security  to  navigation,  cheapens  imports ; 
and  all  who  consume  them  are  alike  interested  in  whatever  pro- 
duces this  effect.  If  they  consume,  they  ought,  as  they  now  do, 
to  pay ;  otherwise  they  do  not  pay.  The  consumer,  in  the  most 
inland  State,  derives  the  same  advantage  from  every  necessary 
and  prudent  expenditure  for  the  facility  and  security  of  our  for- 
eign commerce  and  navigation,  that  he  does  who  resides  in  a 
maritime  State.  Local  expenditures  have  not  of  themselves  a 
correspondent  operation. 

From  a  bill  making  direct  appropriations  for  such  objects,  I 
should  not  have  withheld  my  assent.  The  one  now  returned 
does  so  in  several  particulars,  but  it  also  contains  appropriations 
for  surveys  of  a  local  character  which  I  can  not  approve.  It 
gives  me  satisfaction  to  find  that  no  serious  inconvenience  has 
arisen  from  withholding  my  approval  from  this  bill ;  nor  will  it, 
I  trust,  be  cause  of  regret  that  an  opportunity  will  be  thereby 
afforded  for  Congress  to  review  its  provisions  under  circumstances 
better  calculated  for  full  investigation  than  those  under  which  it 
was  passed. 

In  speaking  of  direct  appropriations,  I  mean  not  to  include 
a  practice  which  has  obtained,  to  some  extent,  and  to  which  I 
have,  in  one  instance,  in  a  different  capacity,  given  my  assent, 
that  of  subscribing  to  the  stock  of  private  associations.  Positive 
experience,  and  a  more  thorough  consideration,  of  the  subject, 
have  convinced  me  of  the  impropriety  as  well  as  inexpediency 
of  such  investments.  All  improvements  effected  by  the  funds  of 
the  Nation  for  general  use  should  be  open  to  the  enjoyment  of 
all  our  fellow-citizens,  exempt  from  the  payment  of  tolls,  or  any 
imposition  of  that  character.  The  practice  of  thus  mingling  the 
concerns  of  the  Government  with  those  of  the  States  or  of  individ- 
uals, is  inconsistent  with  the  object  of  its  institution,  and  highly 
impolitic.  The  successful  operation  of  the  federal  system  can 
only  be  preserved  by  confining  it  to  the  few  and  simple,  but  yet 
important,  objects  for  which  it  was  designed. 

A  different  practice,  if  allowed  to  progress,  would  ultimately 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  489 

change  the  character  of  this  Government,  by  consolidating  into 
one  the  General  and  State  Governments,  which  were  intended  to 
be  kept  forever  distinct.  I  can  not  perceive  how  bills  author- 
izing such  subscriptions  can  be  otherwise  regarded  than  as  bills 
for  revenue,  and  consequently  subject  to  the  rule  in  that  respect 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  If  the  interest  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  private  companies  is  subordinate  to  that  of  individuals, 
the  management  and  control  of  a  portion  of  the  public  funds  is 
delegated  to  an  authority  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  and 
beyond  the  supervision  of  our  constituents;  if  superior,  its 
officers  and  agents  will  be  constantly  exposed  to  imputations  of 
favoritism  and  oppression.  Direct  prejudice  to  the  public  inter- 
est, or  an  alienation  of  the  affections  and  respect  of  portions  of 
the  people,  may,  therefore,  in  addition  to  the  general  discredit 
resulting  to  the  Government  from  embarking  with  its  constituents 
in  pecuniary  speculations,  be  looked  for  as  the  probable  fruit  of 
such  associations.  It  is  no  answer  to  this  objection  to  say  that 
the  extent  of  consequences  like  these  can  not  be  great  from  a 
limited  and  small  number  of  investments;  because  experience  in 
other  matters  teaches  us,  and  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  disregard 
its  admonitions,  that,  unless  an  entire  stop  be  put  to  them,  it  will 
soon  be  impossible  to  prevent  their  accumulation,  until  they  are 
spread  over  the  whole  country,  and  made  to  embrace  many  of 
the  private  and  appropriate  concerns  of  individuals. 

The  power  which  the  General  Government  would  acquire 
within  the  several  States  by  becoming  the  principal  stockholder 
in  corporations,  controlling  every  canal  and  each  sixty  or  hun- 
dred miles  of  every  important  road,  and  giving  a  proportionate 
vote  in  all  their  elections,  is  almost  inconceivable,  and,  in  my 
view,  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

This  mode  of  aiding  such  works  is,  also,  in  its  nature  decep- 
tive, and  in  many  cases  conductive  to  improvidence  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  National  funds.  Appropriations  will  be  obtained 
with  much  greater  facility,  and  granted  with  less  security  to  the 
public  interest,  when  the  measure  is  thus  disguised,  than  when 
definite  and  direct  expenditures  of  money  are  asked  for.  The 
interests  of  the  Nation  would  doubtless  be  better  served  by  avoid- 
ing all  such  indirect  modes  of  aiding  particular  objects.  In  a 
Government  like  ours,  more  especially,  should  all  public  acts  be, 
as  far  as  practicable,  simple,  undisguised,  and  intelligible,  that 
they  may  become  fit  subjects  for  the  approbation  or  animadversion 


490  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  people.  The  bill  authorizing  a  silbscription  to  the 
Louisville  and  Portland  Canal  affords  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  difficulty  of  withholding  additional  appropriations  for  the 
same  object,  when  the  first  erroneous  step  has  been  taken,  by 
instituting  a  partnership  between  the  Government  and  private 
companies.  It  proposes  a  third  subscription  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  when  each  preceding  one  was  at  the  time  regarded 
as  the  extent  of  the  aid  which  Government  was  to  render  to  that 
work;  and  the  accompanying  bill  for  light-houses,  etc.,  contains 
an  appropriation  for  the  survey  of  the  bed  of  the  river,  with  a 
view  to  its  improvement,  by  removing  the  obstruction  which  the 
canal  is  designed  to  avoid.  This  improvement,  if  successful, 
would  afford  a  free  passage  to  the  river,  and  render  the  canal 
entirely  useless.  To  such  improvidence  is  the  course  of  legisla- 
tion subje6t,  in  relation  to  internal  improvements  on  local  mat- 
ters, even  with  the  best  intentions  on  the  part  of  Congress. 

Although  the  motives  which  have  influenced  me  in  this 
matter  may  be  already  sufficiently  stated,  I  am  nevertheless  in- 
duced by  its  importance  to  add  a  few  observations  of  a  general 
character. 

In  my  objections  to  the  bills  authorizing  subscriptions  to  the 
Maysville  and  Rockville  Road  Companies,  I  expressed  my  views 
fully  in  regard  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  construct  roads  and 
canals  within  the  State,  or  to  appropriate  money  for  improve- 
ments of  a  local  character.  I  at  the  same  time  intimated  my 
belief  that  the  right  to  make  appropriations  for  such  as  were  of 
a  national  character  had  been  so  generally  acted  upon,  and  so 
long  acquiesced  in  by  the  Federal  and  State  Governments,  and 
the  constituents  of  each,  as  to  justify  its  exercise  on  the  ground 
of  continued  and  uninterrupted  usage  ;  but  that  it  was,  neverthe- 
less, highly  expedient  that  appropriations,  even  of  that  character, 
should,  with  the  exception  made  at  the  time,  be  deferred  until 
the  national  debt  is  paid,  and  that,  in  the  meanwhile,  some 
general  rule  for  the  action  of  the  Government  in  that  respect 
ought  to  be  established. 

These  suggestions  were  not  necessary  to  the  decision  of  the 
question  then  before  me  ;  and  were,  I  readily  admit,  intended  to 
awaken  the  attention  and  draw  forth  the  opinions  and  observa- 
tions of  our  constituents,  upon  a  subject  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance to  their  interests,  and  one  destined  to  exert  a  powerful 
influence  upon  the  future  operations  of  our  political  system.     I 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  491 

know  of  no  tribunal  to  which  a  public  man  in  this  country,  in  a 
case  of  doubt  and  difficulty,  can  appeal  with  greater  advantage 
or  more  propriety  than  the  judgment  of  the  people  ;  and  although 
I  must  necessarily,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties,  be  gov- 
erned by  the  dictates  of  my  own  judgment,  I  have  no  desire  to 
conceal  my  anxious  wish  to  conform,  as  far  as  I  can,  to  the 
views  of  those  for  whom  I  act. 

All  irregular  expressions  of  public  opinion  ai'e  of  necessity 
attended  with  some  doubt  as  to  their  accuracy  ;  but  making  full 
allowances  on  that  account,  I  can  not,  I  think,  deceive  myself  in 
believing  that  the  acts  referred  to,  as  well  as  the  suggestions 
which  I  allowed  myself  to  make  in  relation  to  their  bearing  upon 
the  future  operations  of  the  Government,  have  been  approved 
by  the  great  body  of  the  people.  That  those  whose  immediate 
pecuniary  interests  are  to  be  affected  by  proposed  expenditures, 
should  shrink  from  the  application  of  a  rule  which  prefers  their 
more  general  and  remote  interests  to  those  which  are  personal 
and  immediate,  is  to  be  expected.  But  even  such  objections 
must,  from  the  nature  of  our  population,  be  but  temporary  in 
their  duration;  and  if  it  were  otherwise,  our  course  should  be 
the  same  ;  for  the  time  is  yet,  I  hope,  far  distant,  when  those  in- 
trusted with  power  to  be  exercised  for  the  good  of  the  whole, 
will  consider  it  either  honest  or  wise  to  purchase  local  favor  at 
the  sacrifice  of  principle  and  general  good. 

So  understanding  public  sentiment,  and  thoroughly  satisfied 
that  the  best  interests  of  our  common  country  imperiously  require 
that  the  course  which  I  have  recommended  in  this  regard  should 
be  adopted,  I  have,  upon  the  most  mature  consideration,  deter- 
mined to  pursue  it. 

It  is  due  to  candor,  as  well  as  to  my  own  feelings,  that  I 
should  express  the  reluctance  and  anxiety  which  I  must  at  all 
times  experience  in  exercising  the  undoubted  right  of  the  Exec- 
utive to  withhold  his  assent  from  bills  on  other  grounds  than 
their  unconstitutionality.  That  this  right  should  not  be  exercised 
on  slight  occasions,  all  will  admit.  It  is  only  in  matters  of  deep 
interest,  when  the  principle  involved  may  be  justly  regarded  as 
next  in  importance  to  infractions  of  the  Constitution  itself,  that 
such  a  step  can  be  expected  to  meet  with  the  approbation  of  the 
people.  Such  an  occasion  do  I  conscientiously  believe  the  present 
to  be.  In  the  discharge  of  this  delicate  and  highly  responsible  duty, 
I  am  sustained  by  the  reflection  that  the  exercise  of  this  power  has 


492  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

been  deemed  consistent  with  the  obligations  of  official  duty  by 
several  of  my  predecessors;  and  by  the  persuasion,  too,  that 
whatever  liberal  institutions  may  have  to  fear  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  Executive  power,  which  has  been  everywhere  the  cause 
of  so  much  strife  and  bloody  contention,  but  little  danger  is  to 
be  apprehended  from  a  precedent  by  which  the  authority  denies 
to  itself  the  exercise  of  powers  that  bring  in  their  train  iuflu- 
ence  and  patronage  of  great  extent;  and  thus  excludes  the 
operation  of  personal  interests,  everywhere  the  bane  of  official 
trust.  I  derive,  too,  no  small  degree  of  satisfaction  from  the 
reflection  that,  if  I  have  mistaken  the  interests  and  wishes  of  the 
people,  the  Constitution  aflbrds  the  means  of  soon  redressing  the 
error,  by  selecting  for  the  place  their  favor  has  bestowed  upon 
me  a  citizen  whose  opinions  mfey  accord  with  their  own.  I  trust, 
in  the  meantime,  the  interests  of  the  Nation  will  be  saved  from 
prejudice,  by  a  rigid  application  of  that  portion  of  the  public 
funds  which  might  otherwise  be  applied  to  different  objects,  to 
that  highest  of  all  our  obligations,  the  payment  of  the  public 
debt,  and  an  opportunity  be  afforded  for  the  adoption  of  some 
better  rule  for  the  operations  of  the  Government  in  this  matter, 
than  any  which  has  hitherto  been  acted  upon. 

Profoundly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  subject,  not 
merely  as  it  relates  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country,  but 
to  the  safety  of  the  federal  system,  I  can  not  avoid  repeating  my 
earnest  hope  that  all  good  citizens,  who  take  a  proper  interest  in 
the  success  and  harmony  of  our  admirable  political  institutions, 
and  who  are  incapable  of  desiring  to  convert  an  opposite  state 
of  things  into  means  for  the  gratification  of  personal  ambition, 
will,  laying  aside  minor  cousiderations,  and  discarding  local 
prejudices,  unite  their  honest  exertions  to  establish  some  fixed 
general  principle  which  shall  be  calculated  to  effect  the  greatest 
extent  of  public  good  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  internal  im- 
provement, and  afford   the  least  ground  for  sectional  discontent. 

The  general  ground  of  my  objection  to  local  appropriations 
has  been  heretofore  expressed ;  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  avoid  a 
repetition  of  what  has.  been  already  urged,  the  importance  of 
sustaining  the  State  sovereignties  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the 
rightful  action  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  of  preserving 
the  greatest  attainable  harmony  between  them.  I  will  now  only 
add  an  expression  of  my  conviction,  a  conviction  which  every 
day's  experience  serves  to  confirm,  that  the  political  creed  which 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  493 

inculcates  the  pursuit  of  those  great  objects  as  a  paramount  duty, 
is  the  true  faith,  and  one  to  which  we  are  mainly  indebted  for 
the  present  success  of  the  entire  system ;  and  to  which  we  must 
alone  look  for  its  future  stability. 

That  there  are  diversities  in  the  interests  of  the  different  States 
which  compose  this  extensive  confederacy,  must  be  admitted. 
Those  diversities  arising  from  situation,  climate,  population,  and 
pursuits,  are  doubtless,  as  it  is  natural  they  should  be,  greatly 
exaggerated  by  jealousies,  and  that  spirit  of  rivalry  so  insepara- 
ble from  neighboring  coijamunities.  These  circumstances  make 
it  the  duty  of  those  who  are  intrusted  with  the  management  of 
its  affairs,  to  neutralize  their  effects  as  far  as  practicable,  by 
making  the  beneficial  operation  of  the  Federal  Government  as 
equal  and  equitable  among  the  several  States  as  can  be  done  con- 
sistently with  the  great  ends  of  its  institution. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  undoubted  facts,  to  see  how 
far  the  past  acts  of  the  Government  upon  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration have  fallen  short  of  this  object.  The  expenditures 
heretofore  made  for  internal  improvements  amount  to  upward  of 
five  millions  of  dollars,  and  have  been  distributed  in  very  un- 
equal proportions  among  the  States.  The  estimated  expense  of 
works,  of  Avhich  surveys  have  been  made,  together  with  that  of 
others  projected  and  partially  surveyed,  amounts  to  more  than 
ninety-six  millions  of  dollars. 

That  such  improvements,  on  account  of  particular  circum- 
stances, may  be  more  advantageously  and  beneficially  made  in 
some  States  than  in  others,  is  doubtless  true ;  but  that  they 
are  of  a  character  which  should  prevent  an  equitable  distribu- 
tion of  the  funds  among  the  several  States,  is  not  to  be  conceded. 
The  want  of  this  equitable  distribution  can  not  fail  to  prove  a 
prolific  source  of  irritation  among  the  States. 

We  have  it  constantly  before  our  eyes,  that  profession  of 
superior  zeal  in  the  cause  of  internal  improvement,  and  a  dispo- 
sition to  lavish  the  public  funds  upon  objects  of  this  character, 
are  daily  and  earnestly  put  forth  by  aspirants  to  power,  as  con- 
stituting the  highest  claims  to  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
Would  it  be  strange,  under  such  circumstances,  and  in  times  of 
great  excitement,  that  grants  of  this  description  should  find  their 
motives  in  objects  which  may  not  accord  with  the  public  good? 
Those  who  have  not  had  occasion  to  see  and  regret  the  indication 
of  a  sinister  influence  in  these  matters  in  past  times,  have  been 


494  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

more  fortunate  than  myself  in  their  observations  of  the  course 
of  public  affairs.  If  to  these  evils  be  added  the  combinations 
and  angry  contentions  to  which  such  a  course  of  things  gives 
rise,  with  their  baleful  influences  upon  the  legislation  of  Con- 
gress, touching  the  leading  and  appropriate  duties  of  the  Federal 
Government,  it  was  but  doing  justice  to  the  character  of  our 
people  to  expect  the  severe  condemnation  of  the  past,  which  the 
recent  exhibition  of  public  sentiment  has  evinced. 

Nothing  short  of  a  radical  change  in  the  action  of  the  Gov- 
ernment upon  the  subject  can,  in  my  opinion,  remedy  the  evil. 
If,  as  it  would  be  natural  to  expect,  the  States  which  have  been 
least  favored  in  past  appropriations  should  insist  on  being  re- 
dressed in  those  hereafter  to  be  made,  at  the  expense  of  the 
States  which  have  so  largely  and  disproportionately  participated, 
we  have,  as  matters  now  stand,  but  little  security  that  the 
attempt  would  do  more  than  change  the  inequality  from  one 
quai'ter  to  another. 

Thus  viewing  the  subject,  I  have  heretofore  felt  it  my  duty 
to  recommend  the  adoption  of  some  plan  for  the  distribution  of 
the  surplus  funds,  which  may  at  any  time  remain  in  the  Treasury 
after  the  national  debt  shall  have  been  paid,  among  the  States,  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  their  representatives,  to  be  applied 
by  them  to  objects  of  internal  improvement. 

Although  this  plan  has  met  with  favor  in  some  portions  of 
the  Union,  it  has  also  elicited  objections  which  merit  deliberate 
consideration.  A  brief  notice  of  these  objections  here  will  not 
therefore,  I  trust,  be  regarded  as  out  of  place. 

They  rest,  as  far  as  they  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  on  the 
following  grounds :  1st,  an  objection  to  the  ratio  of  distribution  ; 
2d,  an  apprehension  that  the  existence  of  such  a  regulation  would 
produce  an  improvident  and  oppressive  taxation  to  raise  the  funds 
for  distribution  ;  3d,  that  the  mode  proposed  would  lead  to  the 
construction  of  works  of  a  local  nature,  to  the  exclusion  of  such 
as  are  general,  and  as  would  consequently  be  of  a  more  useful 
character ;  and  last,  that  it  would  create  a  discreditable  and  in- 
jurious dependence  on  the  part  of  the  State  governments  upon  the 
Federal  power.  Of  those  who  object  to  the  ratio  of  representa- 
tion as  the  basis  of  distribution,  some  insist  that  the  importations 
of  the  respective  States  would  constitute  one  that  would  be  more 
equitable  ;  and  others  again,  that  the  extent  of  their  respective 
territories  would  furnish  a  standard  which  would  be  more  expe- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  495 

dient  and  sufficiently  equitable.  The  ratio  of  representation  pre- 
sented itself  to  my  mind,  and  it  still  does,  as  one  of  obvious 
equity,  because  of  its  being  the  ratio  of  contribution,  whether  the 
funds  to  be  distributed  be  derived  from  the  customs  or  from  direct 
taxation.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  its  adoption  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  establishment  of  the  system  proposed.  There 
may  be  considerations  appertaining  to  the  subject  which  would 
render  a  departure,  to  some  extent,  from  the  rule  of  contribution 
proper.  Nor  is  it  absolutely  necessary  that  the  basis  of  distribu- 
tion be  confined  to  one  ground.  It  may,  if,  in  the  judgment  of 
those  whose  right  it  is  to  fix  it,  it  be  deemed  politic  and  just  to 
give  it  that  character,  have  regard  to  several. 

In  my  first  message,  I  stated  it  to  be  my  opinion  that  "it  is 
not  probable  that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff'  upon  principles 
satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  Union  will,  until  a  remote  period, 
if  ever,  leave  the  Government  without  a  considerable  surplus  in 
the  treasury  beyond  what  may  be  required  for  its  current  service." 
I  have  had  no  cause  to  change  that  opinion,  but  much  to  confirm 
it.  Should  these  expectations  be  realized,  a  suitable  fund  would 
thus  be  produced  for  the  plan  under  consideration  to  operate 
upon ;  and  if  there  be  no  such  fund,  its  adoption  will,  in  my 
opinion,  work  no  injury  to  any  interest ;  for  I  can  not  assent  to 
the  justness  of  the  apprehension  that^  the  establishment  of  the 
proposed  system  would  tend  to  the  encouragement  of  improvident 
legislation  of  the  character  supposed.  Whatever  the  proper 
authority  in  the  exercise  of  Constitutional  power  shall  at  any 
time  hereafter  decide  to  be  for  the  general  good,  will,  in  that  as 
in  other  respects,  deserve  and  receive  the  acquiescence  and  sup- 
port of  the  whole  country  ;  and  we  have  ample  security  that  every 
abuse  of  power  in  that  regard  by  the  agents  of  the  people  will 
receive  a  speedy  and  efiectual  corrective  at  their  hands.  The 
views  which  I  take  of  the  future,  founded  on  the  obvious  and  in- 
creasing improvement  of  all  classes  of  our  fellow-citizens,  in  intel- 
ligence, and  in  public  and  private  virtue,  leave  me  without  much 
apprehension  on  that  head.  I  do  not  doubt  that  those  who  come 
after  us  will  be  as  much  alive  as  we  are  to  the  obligation  upon 
all  the  trustees  of  political  power  to  exempt  those  for  whom  they 
act  from  all  unnecessary  burdens ;  and  as  sensible  of  the  great 
truth,  that  the  resources  of  the  Nation,  beyond  those  required  for 
the  immediate  and  necessary  purposes  of  Government,  can  no- 
where be  so  well  deposited  as  in  the  pockets  of  the  people. 


496  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

It  may  sometimes  happen  that  the  interests  of  particular  States 
would  not  be  deemed  to  coincide  with  the  general  interests  in  re- 
lation to  improvement  within  such  State.  But,  if  the  danger  to 
be  apprehended  from  this  source  is  sufficient  to  require  it,  a  dis- 
cretion might  be  reserved  to  Congress  to  direct,  to  such  improve- 
ment of  a  general  character  as  the  States  concerned  might  not  be 
disposed  to  unite  in,  the  application  of  the  quotas  of  those  States, 
under  the  restriction  of  confining  to  each  State  the  expenditure 
of  its  appropriate  quota.  It  may,  however,  be  assumed  as  a  safe 
general  rule,  that  such  improvements  as  serve  to  increase  the  pros- 
perity of  the  respective  States  in  which  they  are  made,  by  giving 
new  facilities  to  trade,  and  thereby  augmenting  the  wealth  and 
comfort  of  their  inhabitants,  constitute  the  surest  mode  of  confer- 
ring permanent  and  substantial  advantages  upon  the  whole.  The 
strength,  as  well  as  the  true  glory  of  the  Confederacy,  is  founded 
on  the  prosperity  and  power  of  the  several  independent  sover- 
eignties of  which  it  is  composed,  and  the  certainty  with  which 
they  can  be  brought  into  successful  active  co-operation,  through 
the  agency  of  the  Federal  Government. 

It  is,  moreover,  within  the  knowledge  of  such  as  are  at  all 
conversant  with  public  affairs,  that  schemes  of  internal  improve- 
ment have  from  time  to  time  been  proposed,  which,  from  their 
extent  and  seeming  magnificence,  were  regarded  as  of  national 
concernment ;  but  which,  upon  fuller  consideration  and  further 
experience,  would  now  be  rejected  with  great  unanimity. 

That  the  plan  under  consideration  would  derive  important  ad- 
vantages from  its  certainty ;  and  that  the  moneys  set  apart  for 
these  purposes  would  be  more  judiciously  applied  and  economically 
expended  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Legislatures,  in  which 
every  part  of  each  State  is  immediately  represented,  can  not,  I 
think,  be  doubted.  In  the  new  States  particularly,  where  a  com- 
paratively small  population  is  scattered  over  an  extensive  surface, 
and  the  representation  in  Congress  consequently  very  limited,  it 
is  natural  to  expect  that  the  appropriations  made  by  the  Federal 
Government  would  be  more  likely  to  be  expended  in  the  vicinity 
of  those  members  through  whose  immediate  agency  they  were  ob- 
tained, than  if  the  funds  were  placed  under  the  control  of  the 
Legislature,  in  which  every  county  of  the  State  has  its  own  rep- 
resentative. This  supposition  does  not  necessarily  impugn  the 
motives  of  such  Congressional  Representatives,  nor  is  it  so  in- 
tended.    We  are  all  sensible  of  the  bias  to  which  ike  strone:est 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  497 

minds  and  purest  hearts  are,  under  such  circumstances,  liable. 
In  respect  to  the  last  objection,  its  probable  effect  upon  the  dig- 
nity and  independence  of  the  State  governments,  it  appears  to  me 
only  necessary  to  state  the  case  as  it  is,  and  as  it  would  be  if 
the  measures  proposed  were  adopted,  to  show  that  the  operation 
is  most  likely  to  be  the  very  reverse  of  that  which  the  objection 
supposes. 

In  the  one  case,  the  State  would  receive  its  quota  of  the  na- 
tional revenue  for  domestic  use  upon  a  fixed  principle,  as  a  matter 
of  right,  and  from  a  fund  to  the  creation  of  which  it  had  itself 
contributed  its  fair  proportion.  Surely  there  could  be  nothing 
derogatory  in  that.  As  matters  now  stand,  the  States  themselves, 
in  their  sovereign  character,  are  not  unfrequently  petitioners  at 
the  bar  of  the  Federal  Legislature  for  such  allowances  out  of  the 
national  treasury  as  it  may  comport  with  their  pleasure  or  sense 
of  duty  to  bestow  upon  them.  It  can  not  require  argument  to 
prove  which  of  the  two  courses  is  most  compatible  with  the  effi- 
ciency or  respectability  of  the  State  governments. 

But  all  these  are  matters  for  discussion  and  dispassionate  con- 
sideration. That  the  desired  adjustment  would  be  attended  with 
difficulty,  affords  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  attempted.  The 
effective  operation  of  such  motives  would  have  prevented  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  under  which  we  have  so  long  lived, 
and  under  the  benign  influence  of  which  our  beloved  country  has 
so  signally  prospered.  The  framers  of  that  sacred  instrument  had 
greater  difficulties  to  overcome;  and  they  did  overcome  them. 
The  patriotism  of  the  people,  directed  by  a  deep  conviction  of 
the  importance  of  the  Union,  produced  mutual  concession  and 
reciprocal  forbearance.  Strict  right  was  merged  in  a  spirit  of 
compromise,  and  the  result  has  consecrated  their  disinterested  de- 
votion to  the  general  weal.  Unless  the  American  people  have 
degenerated,  the  same  result  can  be  again  effected,  whenever  ex- 
perience points  out  the  necessity  of  a  resort  to  the  same  means  to 
uphold  the  fabric  which  their  fathers  had  reared.  It  is  beyond 
the  power  of  man  to  make  a  system  of  government  like  ours,  or 
any  other,  operate  with  precise  equality  upon  States  situated  like 
those  which  compose  this  Confederacy ;  nor  is  inequality  always 
injustice.  Every  State  can  not  expect  to  shape  the  measures  of 
the  General  Government  to  suit  its  own  particular  interests.  The 
causes  which  prevent  it  are  seated  in  the  nature  of  things,  and 
can    not   be   entirely   counteracted   by    human    means.     Mutual 

32— G 


498  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

forbearance,  therefore,  becomes  a  duty  obligatory  upon  all ;  and  wc 
may,  I  am  confident,  count  upon  a  cheerful  compliance  with  this 
high  injunction  on  the  part  of  our  constituents.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  they  will  object  to  make  such  comparatively  incon- 
siderable sacrifices  for  the  preservation  of  rights  and  privileges 
which  other  less-favored  portions  of  the  world  have  in  vain  waded 
through  seas  of  blood  to  acquire. 

Our  course  is  a  safe  one,  if  it  be  but  faithfully  adhered  to. 
Acquiescence  in  the  constitutionally  expressed  will  of  the  majority, 
and  the  exercise  of  that  will  in  a  spirit  of  moderation,  justice, 
and  brotherly  kindness,  will  constitute  a  cement  which  would  for- 
ever preserve  our  Union.  Those  who  cherish  and  inculcate  senti- 
ments like  these,  render  a  most  essential  service  to  their  country ; 
while  those  who  seek  to  weaken  their  influence  are,  however 
conscientious  and  praiseworthy  their  intentions,  in  eflTect,  its  worst 
enemies. 

If  the  intelligence  and  influence  of  the  country,  instead  of 
laboring  to  foment  sectional  prejudices,  to  be  made  subservient  to 
party  warfare,  were  in  good  faith  applied  to  the  eradication  of 
causes  of  local  discontent,  by  the  improvement  of  our  institutions, 
and  by  facilitating  their  adaptation  to  the  condition  of  the  times, 
this  task  would  prove  one  of  less  difficulty.  May  we  not  hope 
that  the  obvious  interests  of  our  common  country,  and  the  dic- 
tates of  an  enlightened  patriotism,  will,  in  the  end,  lead  the  pub- 
lic mind  in  that  direction. 

After  all,  the  nature  of  the  subject  does  not  admit  of  a  plan 
wholly  free  from  objection.  That  which  has  for  some  time  been 
in  operation,  is,  perhaps,  the  worst  that  could  exist;  and  every 
advance  that  can  be  made  in  its  improvement  is  a  matter  emi- 
nently worthy  of  your  most  deliberate  attention. 

It  is  very  possible  that  one  better  calculated  to  effect  the  ob- 
jects in  view  may  yet  be  devised.  If  so,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
those  who  disapprove  of  the  past,  and  dissent  from  what  is  pro- 
posed for  the  future,  will  feel  it  their  duty  to  direct  their  atten- 
tion to  it,  as  they  must  be  sensible  that,  unless  some  fixed  rule 
for  the  action  of  the  Federal  Government  in  this  respect  is  estab- 
lished, the  course  now  attempted  to  he  arrested  will  be  again  re- 
sorted to.  Any  mode  which  is  calculated  to  give  the  greatest 
degree  of  eflfect  and  harmony  to  our  legislaticm  upon  the  subject ; 
which  shall  best  serve  to  keep  the  movements  of  the  Federal 
Government  within   the  sphere   intended  by  those  who  modeled 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  499 

and  those  who  adopted  it ;  which  shall  lead  to  the  extinguishment 
of  the  national  debt  in  the  shortest  period,  and  impose  the  light- 
est burdens  upon  our  constituents,  shall  receive  from  me  a  cordial 
and  firm  support. 

Among  the  objects  of  great  national  concern,  I  can  not  omit 
to  press  again  upon  your  attention  that  part  of  the  Constitution 
which  regulates  the  election  of  President  and  Vice-President.  The 
necessity  for  its  amendment  is  made  so  clear  to  my  mind  by  the 
observation  of  its  evils,  and  by  the  many  able  discussions  which 
they  have  elicited  on  the  floor  of  Congress  and  elsewhere,  that  I 
should  be  wanting  in  ray  duty  were  I  to  withhold  another  ex- 
pression of  my  deep  solicitude  upon  the  subject.  Our  system 
fortunately  contemplates  a  recurrence  to  first  principles,  differing 
in  this  respect  from  all  that  have  preceded  it,  and  securing  it,  I 
trust,  equally  against  the  decay  and  the  commotions  which  have 
marked  the  progress  of  other  governments.  Our  fellow-citizens, 
too,  who,  in  proportion  to  their  love  of  liberty,  keep  a  steady  eye 
upon  the  means  of  sustaining  it,  do  not  require  to  be  reminded  of 
the  duty  they  owe  to  themselves,  to  remedy  all  essential  defects 
in  so  vital  a  part  of  their  system.  While  they  are  sensible  that 
every  evil  attendant  upon  its  operation  is  not  necessarily  indicative 
of  a  bad  organization,  but  may  proceed  from  temporary  causes, 
yet  the  habitual  presence,  or  even  a  single  instance  of  evils  which 
can  be  clearly  traced  to  an  organic  defect,  will  not,  I  trust,  be 
overlooked  through  a  too  scrupulous  veneration  for  the  work  of 
their  ancestors.  The  Constitution  was  an  experiment  committed 
to  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  great  mass  of  our  country- 
men, in  whose  ranks  the  framers  of  it  themselves  were  to  perform 
the  part  of  patriotic  observation  and  scrutiny ;  and  if  they  have 
.passed  from  the  stage  of  existence  with  an  increased  confidence 
in  its  general  adaptation  to  our  condition,  we  should  learn  from 
authority  so  high  the  duty  of  fortifying  the  points  in  it  which 
time  proves  to  be  exposed,  rather  than  be  deterred  from  approach- 
ing them  by  the  suggestions  of  fear,  or  the  dictates  of  misplaced 
reverence. 

A  provision  which  does  not  secure  to  the  people  a  direct  choice 
of  their  Chief  Magistrate,  but  has  a  tendency  to  defeat  their  will, 
presented  to  my  mind  such  an  inconsistency  with  the  general 
spirit  of  our  institutions,  that  I  was  induced  to  suggest  for  your 
consideration  the  substitute  which  appeared  to  me,  at  the  same 
time,  the  most  likely   to  correct  the  evil,  and  to  meet  the  views 


500  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  our  constitueuts.  The  most  mature  reflection  since  has  added 
strength  to  the  belief  that  the  best  interests  of  our  country  re- 
quire the  speedy  adoption  of  some  plan  calculated  to  effect  this 
end.  A  contingency  which  sometimes  places  it  iu  the  power  of  a 
single  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  decide  an  elec- 
tion of  so  high  and  solemn  a  character,  is  unjust  to  the  people  ; 
and  becomes,  when  it  occurs,  a  source  of  embarrassment  to  the 
individuals  thus  brought  into  power,  and  a  cause  of  distrust  of 
the  representative  body.  Liable  as  the  Confederacy  is,  from  its 
great  extent,  to  parties  founded  upon  sectional  interests,  and  to 
corresponding  multiplication  of  candidates  for  the  Presidency,  the 
tendency  of  the  Constitutional  reference  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives is  to  devolve  the  election  upon  that  body  in  almost 
every  instance;  and,  whatever  choice  may  then  be  made  among 
the  candidates  thus  presented  to  them,  to  swell  the  influence  of 
particular  interests  to  a  degree  inconsistent  with  the  general  good. 
The  consequences  of  this  feature  of  the  Constitution  appear  far 
more  threatening  to  the  peace  and  integrity  of  the  Union  than 
any  which  I  can  conceive  as  likely  to  result  from  the  simple  legis- 
lative action  of  the  Federal  Government. 

It  was  a  leading  object  wuth  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
to  keep  as  separate  as  possible  the  action  of  the  legislative  and 
executive  branches  of  the  Government.  To  secure  this  object, 
nothing  is  more  essential  than  to  preserve  the  former  from  the 
temptations  of  private  interest,  and  therefore  so  to  direct  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  latter  as  not  to  permit  such  temptations  to  be 
offered.  Experience  abundantly  demonstrates  that  every  precau- 
tion in  this  respect  is  a  valuable  safeguard  of  liberty,  and  one 
which  my  reflections  upon  the  tendencies  of  our  system  incline 
me  to  think  should  be  made  still  stronger.  It  was  for  this  reason- 
that,  in  connection  with  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  re- 
moving all  intermediate  agency  in  the  choice  of  the  President,  I 
recommended  some  restrictions  upon  the  re-eligibility  of  that 
officer  and  upon  the  tenure  of  officers  generally.  The  reason  still 
exists;  and  I  renew  the  recommendation,  with  an  increased  con- 
fidence that  this  adoption  will  strengthen  those  checks  by  which 
the  Constitution  designed  to  secure  the  independence  of  each  de- 
partment of  the  Government,  and  promote  the  healthful  and 
equitable  administration  of  all  the  trusts  which  it  has  created. 
The  agent  most  likely  to  contravene  this  design  of  the  Constitu- 
tion  is  the  Chief  Magistrate.     In   order,  particularly,  that   this 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  501 

appointment  may,  us  far  as  possible,  be  placed  beyond  the  reacli  of 
any  improper  influences ;  in  order  that  he  may  approach  the  sol- 
emu  responsibilities  of  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  a  free 
people,  uncommitted  to  any  other  course  than  the  strict  line  of 
Constitutional  duty  ;  and  that  the  securities  for  this  independence 
may  be  rendered  as  strong  as  the  nature  of  power,  and  the  weak- 
ness of  its  possessor,  will  admit,  I  can  not  too  earnestly  invite 
your  attention  to  the  propriety  of  promoting  such  amendment  of 
the  Constitution  as  will  render  him  ineligible  after  one  term  of 
service. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  announce  to  Congress  that  the  benevo- 
lent policy  of  the  Government,  steadily  pursued  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  in  relation  to  the  removal  of  the  Indians  beyond  the  white 
settlements,  is  approaching  to  a  happy  consummation.  Two  im- 
portant tribes  have  accepted  the  provision  made  for  their  removal 
at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  and  it  is  believed  that  their  ex- 
ample will  induce  the  remaining  tribes,  also,  to  seek  the  same 
obvious  advantages. 

The  consequences  of  a  speedy  removal  will  be  important  to 
the  United  States,  to  individual  States,  and  to  the  Indians  them- 
selves. The  pecuniary  advantages  which  it  promises  to  the  Gov- 
ernment are  the  least  of  its  recommendations.  It  puts  an  end  to 
all  possible  danger  of  collision  between  the  authorities  of  the  Gen- 
eral and  State  Governments,  on  account  of  the  Indians.  It  will 
place  a  dense  and  civilized  population  in  large  tracts  of  country 
now  occupied  by  a  few  savage  hunters.  By  opening  the  whole 
territory  between  Tennessee  on  the  north,  and  Louisiana  on  the 
south,  to  the  settlements  of  the  whites,  it  will  incalculably 
strengthen  the  south-western  frontier,  and  render  the  adjacent 
States  strong  enough  to  repel  future  invasion  without  remote  aid. 
It  will  relieve  the  whole  State  of  Mississippi,  and  the  western  part 
of  Alabama,  of  Indian  occupancy,  and  enable  those  States  to  ad- 
vance rapidly  in  population,  wealth,  and  power.  It  will  separate 
the  Indians  from  immediate  contact  with  the  settlements  of  the 
*  whites ;  free  them  from  the  power  of  the  States ;  enable  them  to 
pursue  happiness  in  their  own  way,  and  under  their  own  rude  in- 
stitutions ;  will  retard  the  progress  of  decay  which  is  lessening 
their  numbers ;  and  perhaps  cause  them  gradually,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Government,  and  through  the  influence  of  good 
counsels,  to  cast  off*  their  savage  habits,  and  become  an  interest- 
ing, civilized,   and  Christian   community.     These   consequences. 


502  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

some  of  them  so  certain,  and  the  rest  so  probable,  make  the  com- 
plete execution  of  the  plan  sanctioned  by  Congress  at  their  last 
session,  an  object  of  much  solicitude. 

Toward  the  aborigines  of  the  country  no  one  can  indulge  a 
more  friendly  feeling  than  myself,  or  would  go  further  in  attempt- 
ing to  reclaim  them  from  their  wandering  habits,  and  make  them 
a  happy  and  prosperous  people.  I  have  endeavored  to  impress 
upon  them  my  own  solemn  convictions  of  the  duties  and  powers 
of  the  General  Government  in  relation  to  the  State  authorities. 
For  the  justice  of  the  laws  passed  by  the  States  within  the  scope 
of  their  reserved  powers,  they  are  not  responsible  to  this  Govern- 
ment. As  individuals,  we  may  entertain  and  express  our  opinions 
of  their  acts ;  but  as  a  Government,  we  have  as  little  right  to 
control  them  as  we  have  to  prescribe  laws  to  foreign  nations. 

With  a  full  understanding  of  the  subject,  the  Choctaw  and 
the  Chickasaw  tribes  have,  with  great  unanimity,  determined  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  liberal  offers  presented  by  the  act  of  Con- 
gress, and  have  agreed  to  remove  beyond  the  Mississippi  River. 
Treaties  have  been  made  with  them,  which,  in  due  season,  will 
be  submitted  for  consideration.  In  negotiating  these  treaties, 
they  were  made  to  understand  their  true  condition  ;  and  they 
have  preferred  maintaining  their  independence  in  the  western  for- 
ests, to  submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  they  now  re- 
side. These  treaties  bemg  probably  the  last  which  will  ever  be 
made  with  them,  are  characterized  by  great  liberality  on  the  part 
of  the  Government.  They  give  the  Indians  a  liberal  sum  in  con- 
sideration of  their  removal,  and  comfortable  subsistence  on  their 
arrival  at  their  new  homes.  If  it  be  their  real  interest  to  main- 
tain a  separate  existence,  they  will  there  be  at  liberty  to  do  so 
without  the  inconveniences  and  vexations  to  which  they  would 
unavoidably  have  been  subject  in  Alabama  and  Mississippi. 

Humanity  has  often  wept  over  the  fate  of  the  aborigines  of 
this  country,  and  philanthropy  has  been  long  busily  employed  in 
devising  means  to  avert  it.  But  its  progress  has  never  for  a  mo-  ^ 
ment  been  arrested  ;  and,  one  by  one,  have  many  powerful  tribes 
disappeared  from  the  earth.  To  follow  to  the  tomb  the  last  of 
his  race,  and  to  tread  on  the  graves  of  extinct  nations,  excite 
melancholy  reflections.  But  true  philanthropy  reconciles  the 
mind  to  these  vicissitudes,  as  it  does  to  tlie  extinction  of  one  gen- 
eration to  make  room  for  another.  In  the  monuments  and  for- 
tresses of  an  unknown  people,  spread  over  the  extensive  regions 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  503 

of  the  West,  we  behold  the  memorials  of  a  once  powerful  race, 
which  was  exterminated,  or  has  disappeared,  to  make  room  for 
the  existing  savage  tribes.  Nor  is  there  anything  in  this,  which, 
upon  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  general  interests  of  the  human 
race,  is  to  be  regretted.  Philanthropy  could  not  wish  to  see  this 
continent  restored  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  found  by  our 
forefathers.  What  good  man  would  prefer  a  country  covered 
with  forests  and  ranged  by  a  few  thousand  savages,  to  our  exten- 
sive republic,  studded  with  cities,  towns,  and  prosperous  farms; 
embellished  with  all  the  improvements  which  art  can  devise,  or 
industry  execute  ;  occupied  by  more  than  twelve  millions  of  happy 
people,  and  filled  with  all  the  blessings  of  liberty,  civilization, 
and  religion  ? 

The  present  policy  of  the  Government  is  but  a  continuation 
of  the  same  progressive  change,  by  a  milder  process.  The  tribes 
which  occupied  the  countries  now  constituting  the  Eastern  States, 
were  annihilated,  or  have  melted  away,  to  make  room  for  the 
whites.  The  waves  of  population  and  civilization  are  rolling  to 
the  westward  ;  and  we  now  propose  to  acquire  the  countries  occu- 
pied by  the  red  men  of  the  South  and  West  by  a  fair  exchange, 
and,  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  to  send  them  to  a  land 
where  their  existence  may  be  prolonged,  and  perhaps  made  per- 
petual. Doubtless  it  will  be  painful  to  leave  the  graves  of  their 
fathers  ;  but  what  do  they  more  than  our  ancestors  did,  or  than 
our  children  are  now  doing?  To  better  their  condition  in  an  un- 
known land,  our  forefathers  left  all  that  was  dear  in  earthly  ob- 
jects. Our  children,  by  thousands  yearly  leave  the  land  of  their 
birth,  to  seek  new  homes  in  distant  regions.  Does  humanity  weep 
at  these  painful  separations  from  everything,  animate  and  inan- 
imate, with  which  the  young  heart  has  become  entwined?  Far 
from  it.  It  is  rather  a  source  of  joy  that  our  country  affords 
scope  where  our  young  population  may  range  unconstrained  in 
body  or  in  mind,  developing  the  power  and  faculties  of  man  in 
their  highest  perfection.  These  remove  hundreds,  and  almost 
thousands  of  miles,  at  their  own  expense,  purchase  the  lauds  they 
occupy,  and  support  themselves  at  their  new  homes,  from  the 
moment  of  their  arrival.  Can  it  be  cruel  in  this  Government, 
when,  by  events  which  it  can  not  control,  the  Indian  is  made  dis- 
contented in  his  ancient  home,  to  purchase  his  lands,  to  give  him 
a  new  and  extensive  territory,  to  pay  the  expense  of  his  removal, 
and  support  him  a  year  in  his  new  abode  ?  How  many  thousands 


504  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  our  own  people  woulci  gladly  embrace  the  opportunity  of  re- 
moving to  the  West  on  such  conditions?  If  the  offers  made  to 
the  Indians  were  extended  to  them,  they  would  be  hailed  with 
gratitude  and  joy. 

And  is  it  supposed  that  the  wandering  savage  has  a  stronger 
attachment  to  his  home  than  the  settled,  civilized  Christian?  Is 
it  more  afflicting  to  him  to  leave  the  graves  of  his  fathers  than  it 
is  to  our  brothers  and  children?  Rightly  considered,  the  policy 
of  the  General  Government  toward  the  red  man  is  not  only  lib- 
eral but  generous.  He  is  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  the 
States  and  mingle  with  their  population.  To  save  him  from  this 
alternative,  or,  perhaps,  utter  annihilation,  the  General  Govern- 
ment kindly  offers  him  a  new  home,  and  proposes  to  pay  the 
whole  expense  of  his  removal  and  settlement. 

In  the  consummation  of  a  policy  originating  at  an  early 
period,  and  steadily  pursued  by  every  Administration  within  the 
present  century,  so  just  to  the  States  and  so  generous  to  the  In- 
dians, the  Executive  feels  it  has  a  right  to  expect  the  co-operation 
of  Congress,  and  of  all  good  and  disinterested  men.  The  States, 
moreover,  have  a  right  to  demand  it.  It  was  substantially  a  part 
of  the  compact  which  made  them  members  of  our  confederacy. 
With  Georgia  there  is  an  express  contract ;  with  the  new  States 
an  implied  one,  of  equal  obligation.  Why,  in  authorizing 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama  to 
form  constitutions  and  become  separate  States,  did  Congress  in- 
clude within  their  limits  extensive  tracts  of  Indian  lands,  and, 
in  some  instances,  powerful  Indian  tribes?  Was  it  not  under- 
stood by  both  parties  that  the  power  of  the  States  was  to  be 
coextensive  with  their  limits,  and  that,  with  all  convenient  dis- 
patch, the  General  Government  should  extinguish  the  Indian  title, 
and  remove  every  obstruction  to  the  complete  jurisdiction  of  the 
State  governments  over  the  soil?  Probably  not  one  of  those 
States  would  have  accepted  a  separate  existence ;  certainly  it 
would  never  have  been  granted  by  Congress,  had  it  been  under- 
stood that  they  were  confined  forever  to  those  small  portions  of 
their  nominal  territory,  the  Indian  title  to  which  had,  at  the 
time,  been  extinguished. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  duty  which  this  Government  owes  to  the 
new  States  to  extinguish,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  Indian  title  to 
all  lands  which  Congress  themselves  have  included  within  their 
limits.     When  this  is  done,  the  duties  of  the  General  Govern- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  505 

ment  in  relation  to  the  States  and  the  Indians  within  their  limits 
are  at  an  end.  The  Indians  may  leave  the  State  or  not,  as  they 
choose.  The  purchase  of  their  lands  does  not  alter,  in  the  least, 
their  personal  relations  with  the  State  government.  No  act  of 
the  General  Government  has  ever  been  deemed  necessary  to  give 
the  States  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  of  the  Indians ;  that  they 
possess  by  virtue  of  their  sovereign  power  within  their  own  limits, 
in  as  full  a  manner  before  as  after  the  purchase  of  the  Indian 
lands,  nor  can  this  Government  add  to  or  diminish  it. 

May  we  not  hope,  therefore,  that  all  good  citizens,  and  none 
more  zealously  than  those  who  think  the  Indians  oppressed  by 
subjection  to  the  laws  of  the  States,  will  unite  in  attempting  to 
open  the  eyes  of  these  children  of  the  forest  to  their  true  condi- 
tion ;  and,  by  a  speedy  removal,  to  relieve  them  from  the  evils, 
real  or  imaginary,  present  or  prospective,  with  which  they  may 
be  supposed  to  be  threatened. 

Among  the  numerous  causes  of  congratulation,  the  con- 
dition of  our  impost  revenue  deserves  special  mention,  inas- 
much as  it  promises  the  means  of  extinguishing  the  public  debt 
sooner  than  was  anticipated,  and  furnishes  a  strong  illustration 
of  the  practical  effects  of  the  present  tariff  upon  our  commercial 
interests. 

The  object  of  the  tariff  is  objected  to  by  some  as  uncon- 
stitutional;  and  it  is  considered  by  almost  all  as  defective  in 
many  of  its  parts. 

The  power  to  impose  duties  on  imports  originally  belonged  to 
the  several  States.  The  right  to  adjust  those  duties  with  a  view 
to  the  encouragement  of  domestic  branches  of  industry,  is  so 
completely  identical  with  that  power,  that  it  is  difficult  to  sup- 
pose the  existence  of  the  one  without  the  other.  The  States  have 
delegated  their  whole  authority  over  imports  to  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, without  limitation  or  restriction,  saving  the  very  incon- 
siderable reservation  relating  to  their  inspection  laws.  This 
authority  having  thus  entirely  passed  from  the  States,  the  right  to 
exercise  it  for  the  purpose  of  protection  does  not  exist  in  them ; 
and,  consequently,  if  it  be  not  possessed  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment, it  must  be  extinct.  Our  political  system  would  thus  pre- 
sent the  anomaly  of  a  people  stripped  of  the  right  to  foster  their 
own  industry,  and  to  counteract  the  most  selfish  and  destructive 
policy  which  might  be  adopted  by  foreign  nations.  This  surely 
can  not  be  the  case ;  this  indispensable  power,  thus  surrendered 


506  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

by  the  States,  must  be  within  the  scope  of  the  authority  on  the 
subject  expressly  delegated  to  Congress. 

In  this  conclusion  I  am  confirmed,  as  well  by  the  opinions  of 
Presidents  AVashington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  who 
have  each  repeatedly  recommended  the  exercise  of  this  right  under 
the  Constitution,  as  by  the  uniform  practice  of  Congress,  the 
continued  acquiescence  of  the  States,  and  the  general  under- 
standing of  the  people. 

The  difficulties  of  a  more  expedient  adjustment  of  the  present 
tariff,  although  great,  are  far  from  being  insurmountable.  Some 
are  unwilling  to  improve  any  of  its  parts,  because  they  would 
destroy  the  whole ;  others  fear  to  touch  the  objectionable  parts, 
lest  those  they  approve  should  be  jeoparded.  I  am  persuaded 
that  the  advocates  of  these  conflicting  views  do  injustice  to  the 
American  people  and  to  their  representatives.  The  general  in- 
terest is  the  interest  of  each  ;  and  my  confidence  is  entire,  that 
to  insure  the  adoption  of  such  modifications  of  the  tariff"  as  the 
general  interest  requires,  it  is  only  necessary  that  that  interest 
should  be  understood. 

It  is  an  infirmity  of  our  nature  to  mingle  our  interests  and 
prejudices  with  the  operation  of  our  reasoning  powers,  and  attrib- 
ute to  the  objects  of  our  likes  and  dislikes  qualities  they  do 
not  possess,  and  eflfects  they  can  not  produce.  The  effects  of  the 
present  tariflf  are  doubtless  overrated,  both  in  its  evils  and  in  its 
advantages.  By  one  class  of  reasoners  the  reduced  price  of  cotton 
and  other  agricultural  products  is  ascribed  wholly  to  its  influence, 
and  by  another,  the  reduced  price  of  manufactured  articles.  The 
probability  is  that  neither  opinion  approaches  the  truth,  and  that 
both  are  induced  by  that  influence  of  interest  and  prejudices  to 
which  I  have  referred.  The  decrease  of  prices  extends  through- 
out the  commercial  world,  embracing  not  only  the  raw  material 
and  the  manufactured  article,  but  provisions  and  lands.  The 
cause  must,  therefore,  be  deeper  and  more  pervading  than  the 
tariff"  of  the  United  States.  It  may,  in  a  measure,  be  attrib- 
utable to  the  increased  value  of  the  precious  metals,  produced  by 
a  diminution  of  the  supply  and  an  increase  in  the  demand; 
while  commerce  has  rapidly  extended  itself,  and  population  has 
augmented.  The  supply  of  gold  and  silver,  the  general  medium 
of  exchange,  has  been  greatly  interrupted  by  civil  convulsions,  in 
the  countries  from  which  they  are  principally  drawn.  A  part  of 
the  eff*ect,  too,  is  doubtless  owing  to  an  increase  of  operatives  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  507 

improvements  in  machinery.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  is  question- 
able whether  the  reduction  in  the  price  of  lands,  produce,  and 
manufactures  has  been  greater  than  the  appreciation  of  the 
standard  of  value. 

While  the  chief  object  of  duties  should  be  revenue,  they  may 
be  so  adjusted  as  to  encourage  manufactures.  In  this  adjustment, 
however,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  be  guided  by  the 
general  good.  Objects  of  national  importance  alone  ought  to  be 
protected;  of  these,  the  productions  of  our  soil,  our  mines,  and 
our  workshops,  essential  to  national  defense,  occupy  the  first  rank. 
Whatever  other  species  of  domestic  industry,  having  the  impor- 
tance to  which  I  have  referred,  may  be  expected,  after  temporary 
protection,  to  compete  with  foreign  labor  on  equal  terms,  merit 
the  same  attention  in  a  subordinate  degree. 

The  present  tariff  taxes  some  of  the  comforts  of  life  unneces- 
sarily high  ;  it  undertakes  to  protect  interests  too  local  and  minute 
to  justify  a  general  exaction ;  and  it  also  attempts  to  force  some 
kinds  of  manufactures  for  which  the  country  is  not  ripe.  Much 
relief  will  be  derived  in  some  of  these  respects  from  the  meas- 
ures of  your  last  session. 

The  best,  as  well  as  fairest,  mode  of  determining  whether, 
from  any  just  considerations,  a  particular  interest  ought  to  receive 
protection,  would  be  to  submit  the  question  singly  for  delibera- 
tion. If,  after  due  examination  of  its  merits,  unconnected  with 
extraneous  considerations,  such  as  a  desire  to  sustain  a  general  sys- 
tem, or  to  purchase  support  for  a  different  interest,  it  should  en- 
list in  its  favor  a  majority  of  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
there  can  be  little  danger  of  wrong  or  injury  in  adjusting  the 
tariff"  with  reference  to  its  protective  effect.  If  this  obviously 
just  principle  were  honestly  adhered  to,  the  branches  of  industry 
which  deserve  protection  would  be  saved  from  the  prejudice  ex- 
cited against  them,  when  that  protection  forms  part  of  a  system 
by  which  portions  of  the  country  feel  or  conceive  themselves  to 
be  oppressed.  What  is  incalculably  more  important,  the  vital 
principle  of  our  system,  that  principle  which  requires  acqui- 
escence in  the  will  of  the  majority,  would  be  secure  from  the 
discredit  and  danger  to  which  it  is  exposed  by  the  acts  of  ma- 
jorities, founded,  not  on  identity  of  conviction,  but  on  combina- 
tions of  small  minorities,  entered  into  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
assistance  in  measures  which,  resting  solely  on  their  own  merits, 
could  never  be  carried. 


508  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  is  a  subject  of  so  much  delicacy,  on 
account  of  the  extended  interests  it  involves,  as  to  require  that 
it  should  be  touched  with  the  utmost  caution  ;  and  that  while  an 
abandonment  of  the  policy  in  which  it  originated,  a  policy  coeval 
with  our  Government,  and  pursued  through  successive  Admin- 
istrations, is  neither  to  be  expected  nor  desired,  the  people  have 
a  right  to  demand,  and  have  demanded,  that  it  be  so  modified  as 
to  correct  abuses  and  obviate  injustice. 

That  our  deliberations  on  this  interesting  subject  should  be 
uninfluenced  by  those  partisan  conflicts  that  are  incident  to  free 
institutions,  is  the  fervent  wish  of  my  heart.  To  make  this  great 
question,  which  unhappily  so  much  divides  and  excites  the  public 
mind,  subservient  to  the  short-sighted  views  of  faction,  must  destroy 
all  hope  of  settling  it  satisfactorily  to  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
and  for  the  general  interest.  I  can  not,  therefore,  on  taking 
leave  of  this  subject,  too  earnestly  for  my  own  feelings  or  the 
common  good,  warn  you  against  the  blighting  consequences  of 
such  a  course. 

According  to  the  estimates  at  the  Treasury  Department,  the 
receipts  in  the  Treasury  during  the  present  year  will  amount  to 
twenty-four  millions  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  and 
eightefen  dollars,  which  will  exceed,  by  about  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  estimate  presented  in  the  last  annual  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  total  expenditure  during 
the  year,  exclusive  of  public  debt,  is  estimated  at  thirteen  mill- 
ions seven  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
eleven  dollars ;  and  the  payment  on  account  of  public  debt,  for 
the  same  period,  will  have  been  eleven  millions  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty  dollars ;  leaving  a 
balance  in  the  Treasury,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1831,  of  four 
millions  eight  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-one  dollars. 

In  connection  with  the  condition  of  our  finances,  it  affords  me 
pleasure  to  remark  that  judicious  and  efficient  arrangements 
have  been  made  by  the  Treasury  Department  for  securing  the 
pecuniary  responsibility  of  the  public  officers,  and  the  more  punc- 
tual payment  of  the  public  dues.  The  revenue-cutter  service  has 
been  organized  and  placed  on  a  good  footing,  and  aided  by  an 
increase  of  inspectors  at  exposed  points;  and  the  regulations 
adopted  under  the  act  of  May,  1830,  for  the  inspection  and  ap- 
praisement of  merchandise,  have  produced  much  improvement  in 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  509 

the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  more  security  against  the  commis- 
sion of  frauds  upon  the  revenue.  Abuses  in  the  allowances  for 
fishing  bounties  have  also  been  corrected,  and  a  material  saving 
in  that  branch  of  the  service  thereby  effected.  In  addition  to 
these  improvements,  the  system  of  expenditure  for  sick  seamen 
belonging  to  the  merchant  service  has  been  revised ;  and  by 
being  rendered  uniform  and  economical,  the  benefits  of  the  fund 
applicable  to  this  object  have  been  usefully  extended. 

The  pi'osperity  of  our  'country  is  also  further  evinced  by  the 
increased  revenue  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  as  will 
appear  from  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office  and  the  documents  accompanying  it,  which  are  herewith 
transmitted.  I  beg  leave  to  draw  your  attention  to  this  report, 
and  to  the  propriety  of  making  early  appropriations  for  the 
objects  which  it  specifies. 

Your  attention  is  again  invited  to  the  subjects  connected  with 
that  portion  of  the  public  interests  intrusted  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment. .Some  of  them  were  referred  to  in  my  former  message, 
and  they  are  presented  in  detail  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  herewith  submitted.  I  refer  you,  also,  to  the  report  of 
that  officer,  for  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  army,  fortifica- 
tions, arsenals,  and  Indian  affairs;  all  of  which  it  will  be  per- 
ceived have  been  guarded  with  zealous  attention  and  care.  It  is 
worthy  of  your  consideration  whether  the  armaments  necessary 
for  the  fortifications  on  our  maritime  frontier,  which  are  now,  or 
shortly  will  be,  completed,  should  not  be  in  readiness  sooner  than 
the  customary  appropriations  will  enable  the  Department  to  pro- 
vide them.  This  precaution  seems  to  be  due  to  the  general  sys- 
tem of  fortification  which  has  been  sanctioned  by  Congress,  and 
is  recommended  by  that  maxim  of  wisdom  which  tells  us  in  peace 
to  prepare  for  war. 

I  refer  you  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  for  a 
highly  satisfactory  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  concerns 
of  that  Department  have  been  conducted  during  the  present  year. 
Our  position  in  relation  to  the  most  powerful  nations  of  the 
earth,  and  the  present  condition  of  Europe,  admonish  us  to  cher- 
ish this  arm  of  our  national  defense  with  peculiar  care.  Sepa- 
rated by  wide  seas  from  all  those  governments  whose  power  we 
might  have  reason  to  dread,  we  have  nothing  to  apprehend  from 
attempts  at  conquest.  It  is  chiefly  attacks  upon  our  commerce, 
and  harassing  inroads  upon  our  coast,  against  which  we  have  to 


510  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

guard.  A  naval  force  adequate  to  the  protection  of  our  com- 
merce, ahvays  afloat,  with  an  accumulation  of  the  means  to  give 
it  a  rapid  extension  in  case  of  need,  furnishes  the  power  by  which 
all  such  aggressions  may  be  prevented  or  repelled.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  Government  has,  therefore,  been  recently  directed 
more  to  preserving  the  public  vessels  already  built,  and  providing 
materials  to  be  placed  in  depot  for  future  use,  than  to  increasing 
their  number.  With  the  aid  of  Congress,  in  a  few  years,  the 
Government  will  be  prepared,  in  case  of  emergency,  to  put  afloat 
a  powerful  army  of  new  ships  almost  as  soon  as  old  ones  could 
be  repaired. 

The  modifications  in  this  part  of  the  service,  suggested  in  my 
last  annual  message,  which  are  noticed  more  in  detail  in  the  re- 
port of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  are  again  recommended  to 
your  serious  attention. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General,  in  like  manner,  exhibits 
a  satisfactory  view  of  the  important  branch  of  the  Government 
under  his  charge.  In  addition  to  the  benefits  already  secured  by 
the  operations  of  the  Post-office  Department,  considerable  im- 
provements within  the  present  year  have  been  made  by  an  in- 
crease in  the  accommodation  aflforded  by  stage-coaches,  and  in 
the  frequency  and  celerity  of  the  mail  between  some  of  the  most 
important  points  of  the  Union. 

Under  the  late  contracts,  improvements  have  been  provided 
for  the  southern  section  of  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  an 
annual  saving  made  of  upward  of  seventy-two  thousand  dollars. 
Notwithstanding  the  excess  of  expenditure  beyond  the  current 
receipts  for  a  few  years  past,  necessarily  incurred  in  the  fulfill- 
ment of  existing  contracts,  and  in  the  additional  expenses,  be- 
tween the  periods  of  contracting,  to  meet  the  demands  created 
by  the  rapid  growth  and  extension  of  our  flourishing  country; 
yet  the  satisfactory  assurance  is  given  that  the  future  revenue  of 
the  Department  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  its  extensive  engage- 
ments. The  system  recently  introduced,  that  subjects  its  receipts 
and  disbursements  to  strict  regulation,  has  entirely  fulfilled  its 
design.  It  gives  full  assurance  of  the  punctual  transmission,  as 
well  as  the  security  of  the  funds  of  the  Department.  The  effi- 
ciency and  industry  of  its  officers,  and  the  ability  and  energy  of 
contractors,  justify  an  increased  confidence  in  its  continued 
prosperity. 

The  attention  of  Congress  was  called,  on  a  former  occasion, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  511 

to  the  necessity  of  such  a  modification  of  the  office  of  Attorney- 
General  of  the  United  States  as  would  render  it  more  adequate 
to  the  waijts  of  the  public  service.  This  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  office  of  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  earliest 
measures  were  taken  to  give  eflTect  to  the  provisions  of  the  law 
which  authorized  the  appointment  of  that  officer,  and  defined  his 
duties.  But  it  is  not  believed  that  this  provision,  however  useful 
in  itself,  is  calculated  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  extending  the 
duties  and  powers  of  the  Attorney-General's  office.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  am  convinced  that  the  public  interest  would  be  greatly 
promoted  by  giving  to  that  officer  the  general  superintendence 
of  the  various  law  agents  of  the  Government,  and  of  all  law  pro- 
ceedings, whether  civil  or  criminal,  in  which  the  United  States 
may  be  interested,  allowing  to  him  at  the  same  time  such  a  com- 
pensation as  would  enable  him  to  devote  his  undivided  attention 
to  the  public  business.  I  think  such  a  provision  is  alike  due  to 
the  public  and  to  the  officer. 

Occasions  of  reference  from  the  different  Executive  Depart- 
ments to  the  Attorney-General  are  of  frequent  occurrence ;  and 
the  prompt  decision  of  the  questions  so  referred  tends  much  to 
facilitate  the  dispatch  of  business  in  those  Departments.  The 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  hereto  a^ipended,  shows 
also  a  branch  of  the  public  service  not  specifically  intrusted  to 
any  officer  which  might  be  advantageously  committed  to  the  At- 
torney-General. 

But,  independently  of  those  considerations,  this  office  is  now 
one  of  daily  duty.  It  was  originally  organized,  and  its  compen- 
sation fixed,  with  a  view  to  occasional  service,  leaving  to  the  in- 
cumbent time  for  the 'exercise  of  his  profession  in  private  prac- 
tice. The  state  of  things  which  warranted  such  an  organization 
no  longer  exists.  The  frequent  claims  upon  the  services  of  this 
officer  would  render  his  absence  from  the  seat  of  Government,  in 
professional  attendance  upon  the  courts,  injurious  to  the  public  . 
service ;  and  the  interests  of  the  Government  could  not  fail  to  be 
promoted  by  charging  him  with  the  general  superintendence  of 
all  its  legal  concerns. 

Under  a  strong  conviction  of  the  justice  of  these  suggestions, 
I  recommend  it  to  Congress  to  make  the  necessary  provisions  for 
giving  effect  to  them,  and  to  place  the  Attorney-General,  in  re- 
gard to  compensation,  on  the  same  footing  with  the  heads  of  the 
several  Executive  Departments.     To  this  officer   might  also   be 


512  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

intrusted  a  cognizance  of  the  cases  of  insolvency  in  public  debtors, 
especially  if  the  views  which  I  submitted  on  this  subject  last 
year  should  meet  the  approbation  of  Congress — to  which  I  again 
solicit  your  attention. 

Your  attention  is  respectfully  invited  to  the  situation  of  the 
District  of  Columbia.  Placed  by  the  Constitution  under  the  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction  and  control  of  Congress,  this  district  is  cer- 
tainly entitled  to  a  much  greater  share  of  its  consideration  than 
it  has  yet  received.  There  is  a  want  of  uniformity  in  its  laws, 
particularly  those  of  a  penal  character,  which  increases  the  ex- 
pense of  their  administration,  and  subjects  the  people  to  all  the 
inconveniences  which  result  from  the  operation  of  different  codes 
in  so  small  a  territory.  On  different  sides  of  the  Potomac,  the 
same  offense  is  punishable  in  unequal  degrees ;  and  the  peculiari- 
ties of  many  of  the  early  laws  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  remain 
in  force,  notwithstanding  their  repugnance,  in  some  cases,  to  the 
improvements  which  have  superseded  them  in  those  States. 

Besides  a  remedy  for  these  evils,  which  is  loudly  called  for,  it 
is  respectfully  submitted  whether  a  provision,  authorizing  the 
election  of  a  delegate  to  represent  the  wants  of  the  citizens  of 
this  district  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  is  not  due  to  them,  and  to 
the  character  of  our  Government.  No  portion  of  our  citizens 
should  be  without  a  practical  enjoyment  of  the  principles  of  free- 
dom ;  and  there  is  none  more  important  than  that  which  culti- 
vates a  proper  relation  between  the  governors  and  the  governed. 
Imperfect  as  this  must  be  in  this  case,  yet  it  is  believed  that  it 
would  be  greatly  improved  by  a  representation  in  Congress,  with 
the  same  privileges  that  are  allowed  to  that  of  the  other  Territo- 
ries of  the  United  States. 

The  penitentiary  is  ready  for  the  reception  of  convicts,  and 
only  awaits  the  necessary  legislation  to  put  it  into  operation ;  as 
one  object  of  which,  I  beg  leave  to  recall  your  attention  to  the 
propriety  of  providing  suitable  compensation  for  the  officers 
charged  with  its  inspection. 

The  importance  of  the  principle  involved  in  the  inquiry 
whether  it  will  be  proper  to  re-charter  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  requires  that  I  should  again  call  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  subject.  Nothing  has  occurred  to  lessen  in  any  degree  the 
dangers  which  many  of  our  citizens  apprehend  from  that  institu- 
tion, as  at  present  organized.  In  the  spirit  of  improvement  and 
compromise  which  distinguishes  our  country  and  its  institutions,  it 


ANDKEW    JACKSON.  513 

« 
becomes  us  to  inquire  whether  it  be  not  possible  to  secure  the 
advantages  afforded  by  the  present  Bank,  through  the  agency  of 
a  Bank  of  the  United   States   so   modified   in   its  principles  and 
structure  as  to  obviate  Constitutional  and  other  objections. 

It  is  thought  practicable  to  organize  such  a  bank  with  the 
necessary  officers,  as  a  branch  of  the  Treasury  Department,  based 
on  the  public  and  individual  deposits,  without  power  to  make 
loans  or  purchase  property,  which  shall  remit  the  funds  of  the 
Government,  and  the  expenses  of  which  may  be  paid,  if  thought 
advisable,  by  allowing  its  officers  to  sell  bills  of  exchange  to  pri- 
vate individuals  at  a  moderate  premium.  Not  being  a  corporate 
body,  having  no  stockholders,  debtors,  or  property,  and  but  few 
officers,  it  would  not  be  obnoxious  to  the  Constitutional  objections 
which  are-  urged  against  the  present  Bank  ;  and  having  no  means 
to  operate  on  the  hopes,  fears,  or  interests  of  large  masses  of  the 
community,  it  would  be  shorn  of  the  influence  which  makes  that 
Bank  formidable.  The  States  Avould  be  strengthened  by  having 
in  their  hands  the  means  of  furnishing  the  local  paper  currency 
through  their  own  banks ;  while  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
though  issuing  no  paper,  would  check  the  issues  of  the  State 
banks,  by  taking  their  notes  in  deposit,  and  for  exchange  only, 
so  long  as  they  continue  to  be  redeemed  with  specie.  In  times 
of  public  emergency,  the  capacities  of  such  an  institution  might 
be  enlarged  by  legislative  provisions. 

These  suggestions  are  made,  not  so  much  as  a  recommendation, 
as  with  a  view  of  calling  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  possible 
modifications  of  a  system  which  can  not  continue  to  exist  in  its 
present  form  without  occasional  collisions  with  the  local  authori- 
ties, and  perpetual  apprehensions  and  discontent  on  the  part  of 
the  States  and  the  people. 

In  conclusion,  fellow-citizens,  allow  me  to  invoke  in  behalf 
of  your  dehberations,  that  spirit  of  reconciliation  and  disinterest- 
edness which  is  the  gift  of  patriotism.  Under  an  overruling  and 
merciful  Providence,  the  agency  of  this  spirit  has  thus  far  been 
signalized  in  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  our  beloved  country. 
May  its  influence  be  eternal ! 

A  great  part  of  this  well-written  message  is  taken 
up  with  a  defense  of  various  points  in  the  conduct  of 
the  Executive.  The  recommendation  as  to  the  single 
term    of   the    Presidency   is    again   brought    forward. 

33— Cx 


514  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

But,  as  in  many  other  things,  General  Jackson  soon 
had  occasion  to  change  his  course  in  this  matter.  At 
this  moment  he  did  not  desire  to  continue  in  the  office 
beyond  the  end  of  the  term  he  was  then  serving.  He 
had,  in  fact,  never  thought  of  nor  desired  that  term 
until  it  was  forced  upon  him  by  his  friends.  Nor  was 
it,  perhaps,  with  his  knowledge  and  consent  that  the 
intriguing  for  his  re-nomination  was  begun. 

This  uneventful  session  of  Congress  ended  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1831.  "There  were  two  or  three  acts 
of  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  internal  improvement, 
passed  at  this  session  by  such  overwhelming  majori- 
ties, as  to  induce  the  President  to  yield  his  scruples 
to  the  force  of  public  opinion  and  sign  the  bills.  The 
principal  acts  of  Congress  of  general  interest,  ap- 
proved by  the  President  during  the  second  session  of  the 
Twenty-first  Congress  were  the  following :  Making  ap- 
propriations for  the  improvement  of  harbors,  and  remov- 
ing obstructions  in  rivers  ;  to  amend  the  copyright  laws 
by  extending  the  term  of  copyright  to  authors  and  oth- 
ers, to  twenty-eight  years,  with  the  privilege  of  renew- 
ing the  same  for  the  additional  period  of  fourteen  years  ; 
for  the  continuation  of  the  Cumberland  Road  in  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois  ;  confirming  certain  grants  of  land 
made  by  the  United  States  in  1819,  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  culture  of  the  vine  and  olive ;  granting  the 
control  of  the  National  Road  in  Ohio  to  that  State  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  gates  and  toll-houses  thereon ; 
and  an  act  allowing  duties  on  imports  to  be  paid  at 
Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  N;ishville,  and  other  ports  on  the 
waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers." 

During  this  session  of  Congress  the  great  event 
was    the   publication    by    Mr.    Calhoun   of  his    corre- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  515 

spondence  and  quarrel  with  the  President.  This  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Vice-President  was  soon 
followed  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  Cabinet.  This  was 
the  first  occurrence  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the 
Government.  John  Adams  had  had  a  very  important 
rupture  in  his  Cabinet  towards  the  close  of  his  Ad- 
ministration, but  this  was  the  first  instance  of  a  disso- 
lution. Mr.  Van  Buren  was  to  be  the  successor  to 
the  Presidency.  General  Jackson  had  announced  as 
against  the  old  Secretary  system  that  no  member  of 
his  Cabinet  could  succeed  him.  Mr.  Van  Buren  was, 
therefore,  to  be  otherwise  provided  for  in  the  mean- 
time. Branch,  Berrien,  and  Ingham  were  friends  of 
Calhoun,  and  in  favor  of  his  succession  to  the  Presi- 
dency. With  these  statements  and  the  preceding  nar- 
rative the  reader  can  readily  see  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  dissolution  of  the  first  Cabinet. 

The  break  was  made  by  Mr.  Eaton,  who  sent  his 
resignation  to  the  President  in  a  letter  dated  April  7, 
1831,  giving  no  definite  reason  for  his  course.  On  the 
next  day  the  President  accepted  the  resignation  in  a 
gushing  letter;  and  this  was  followed  by  still  more 
gushing  epistles,  with  the  same  result,  between  Mr. 
Van  Buren  and  the  President,  dated  on  the  11th  and 
12th  of  April,  the  Secretary  basing  his  action  appar- 
ently on  the  desire  to  serve  the  President  mainly  in 
the  way  of  producing  harmony  in  the  Cabinet,  and 
making  smooth  the  path  of  the  Executive.  There 
now  came  a  halt  in  the  work  of  remodeling  the  Ad- 
ministration. With  Major  Eaton  and  Mr.  Van  Buren 
the  understanding  stopped.  The  President  next  hinted 
to  Mr.  Ingham  that  there  was  a  subject  on  which  he 
desired  him  to  reflect  in  connection  with  the  recent 


516  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

action  of  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  State.  But  Mr. 
Ingham  wrote  to  him  on  the  18th  of  April  that  there 
was  some  mystery  about  the  subject  of  this  medita- 
tion, and,  on  the  following  day,  he  was  enlightened  by 
an  interview  with  the  President,  and  his  formal  resig- 
nation was  entered  on  the  same  date.  On  the  19th 
Mr.  Branch  also  offered  his  resignation  after  having  an 
interview  with  the  President.  Not  until  the  15th  of 
June  did  Mr.  Berrien  take  this  desired  step,  this  delay 
having  been  caused,  in  part,  by  his  absence  from  the 
Capital,  and  partly  by  his  misunderstanding  of  the 
whole  case,  as  well  as  the  unfinished  condition  of  the 
affairs  devolving  upon  him  as  Attorney-General. 

Several  of  these  men  published  statements  con- 
cerning the  scandalous  and  disgraceful  organization 
of  which  they  had  been  members,  and  the  country  was 
greatly  excited  over  the  disreputable  affair,  which  Mr. 
Eaton  tried  his  best  to. have  terminate  in  a  duel  be- 
tween himself  and  Mr.  Ingham.  But  Ingham,  like  the 
Reverend  Campbell,  was  above  that  mode  of  settling 
disputes,  and  hastened  his  departure  from  the  Capital, 
to  avoid  other  forms  of  insult.  Ingham  was  a  man 
of  ability,  Branch  was  an  honorable,  correct  man,  and 
all  of  these  proscribed  men  were  superior  to  the  scenes 
through  which  they  had  been  forced  to  pass.  Mr. 
Berrien  was,  perhaps,  the  most  able  man  in  the  dis- 
banded Cabinet, "  and  deservedly  ranked  among  the 
first  lawyers  of  the  country.  Van  Buren  returned  to 
New  York,  and  was  soon  afterwards  sent  as  Minister 
to  England  to  take  the  place  of  Mr.  McLane,  who  had 
been  recalled  to  enter  the  new  Cabinet.  This  had 
been  a  part  of  the  original  design,  as  the  best  way  of 
keeping  Mr.  Van  Buren  in  training  for  the  Presidency. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  517 

The  following  men  composed  the  new  Cabinet : 
Edward  R.  Livingston,  of  Louisiana,  Secretary  of 
State ;  Louis  McLane,  of  Delaware,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury ;  Lewis  Cass,  nineteen  years  Governor  of 
Michigan,  Secretary  of  War ;  Levi  Woodbury,  of  New 
Hampshire,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Roger  B.  Taney, 
of  Maryland,  Attorney-General ;  and  Mr,  Barry  was 
retained  as  Postmaster-General. 

Singularly  enough  Jackson's  Cabinet,  as  first  or- 
ganized, was  called  the  "  Unit  Cabinet."  But  it  was 
entirely  destitute  of  any  qualities  entitling  it  to  this 
distinction.  General  Jackson  did  not  call  these  "  Con- 
stitutional advisers "  into  council  as  his  predecessors 
had  done,  and  the  difficulty  on  account  of  Eaton  and 
his  wife  had  never  been  settled  satisfactorily  to  any- 
body. The  breaking  up  of  the  "  Unit  Cabinet,"  which, 
like  everything  else  pertaining  to  General  Jackson,  had 
only  one  unit  in  it,  and  that  was  the  General  himself, 
greatly  augmented  the  White  House  scandal,  and  was 
marked  by  some  very  ridiculous  and  disgusting  things. 
Mr.  Ingham  left  Washington  in  great  haste,  after  hav- 
ing sent  word  to  the  President  that  he  had  been  way- 
laid by  men  mainly  connected  with  the  Departments 
of  the  Government  intending  to  assassinate  him.  He 
was  also  followed  by  Major  Eaton  who  had  challenged 
him,  as  he  did  the  Reverend  Campbell  some  time  be- 
fore, to  fight  a  duel.  Disgracefully,  indeed,  ended  the 
"  Unit  Cabinet,"  and  few  people  regretted  that  its  end 
had  come.  The  whole  affair  was  severely  and  justly 
criticised  and  caricatured  in  the  newspapers. 

President  Jackson  wanted  Hugh  L.  White  to  be- 
come a  member  of  his  second  Cabinet,  and  personally 
and   through  friends,  pressed  him  to  that   end.     But 


518  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

White  declined.  He  knew  the  General's  determination 
to  favor  no  member  of  his  Cabinet  as  his  successor,  and 
had  some  hope  that  the  autocrat  would  name  him. 
White  wanted  to  be  President.  He  was  unaware  of 
what  had  already  been  done  for  Martin  Van  Buren. 
He  did  know  well,  however,  much  of  the  troubles  of 
the  first  Cabinet,  and  all  of  the  temper  of  the  man  he 
would  have  to  serve.  These  latter  facts  had  more 
weight  with  him,  no  doubt,  than  the  loss  of  his  chances 
of  being  set  forward  as  the  General's  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  President  Jackson  had  been  extremely 
unfortunate  in  selecting  his  first  Cabinet.  But  unfor- 
tunate circumstances  made  its  members  appear  at  an 
undeserved  disadvantage. 

This  Cabinet  did  not  lack  in  capacity  or  ability, 
but  it  possessed,  from  the  outset,  two  elements  of  self- 
destruction.  Berrien,  Branch,  and  Ingham  were  ad- 
mirers and  supporters  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  a  fact  which  in 
itself  would  have  rendered  them  unsatisfactory  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson.  However,  the  more  important  source  of 
dissension  was,  perhaps,  the  forced  disreputable  stand- 
ing of  the  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  ^ar.  This  was, 
indeed,  the  ostensible  cause  of  the  final  dissolution  of 
the  "  Unit  Cabinet."  Mr.  Berrien  went  into  the  Whig 
party ;  Mr.  Ingham  never  again  appeared  in  public 
position  ;  Mr.  Eaton  was  made  Governor  of  Florida ; 
Mr.  Van  Buren  went  to  England ;  and  in  time,  Mr. 
Barry  was  also  sent  on  a  foreign  mission. 

The  new  Cabinet  was  a  good  one,  although  a  sin- 
gular thing  connected  with  its  history  seemed  to  argue 
that  President  Jackson  was  not  in  complete  harmony 
with  its  members.  Years  before,  Levi  Woodbury, 
Louis  McLane,  Edward   Livingston,  Lewis  Cass,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  519 

R.  B.  Taney  had  been  Federalists.  They  were,  how- 
ever, all  men  of  ability  ;  and  Amos  Kendall  was  shrewd, 
industrious,  and  skillful.  It  is  a  characteristic  fact, 
that  while  Mr.  Kendall  was,  perhaps,  the  least  able 
and  reliable  member,  he  was  the  General's  favorite. 
He  had  one  quality  or  more  which  won  his  place  with 
Jackson ;  his  absolute  devotion  to  the  will  of  his  pa- 
tron, and  his  wisdom  and  cunning  as  a  partisan  schemer. 
Notwithstanding  the  high  character  of  the  Cabinet,  as 
a  whole,  it  was  generally  believed  at  Washington  that 
most  political  and  party  schemes  were  decided  on  by 
the  President  with  other  counsel  before  he  introduced 
them  to  his  regularly  constituted  advisers.  This  led 
to  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  what  was  popularly 
known  as  the  "  Back-stair  Way "  or  "  Kitchen  Cab- 
inet." This  peculiar  and  ridiculous  privy  council  was 
founded  upon  the  character  of  General  Jackson  and 
the  unfortunate  circumstances  surrounding  the  "  Unit 
Cabinet."  Jackson  could  never  be  sure  that  it  should 
be  reasonably  supposed  that  men  to  be  put  forward  as 
the  apparently  responsible  public  servants  could  be  so 
wholly  serviceable  to  his  personal  inclinations  and  in- 
terests as  more  private,  daring,  and  facile  instruments. 
Thus  arose  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet."  At  the  outset  this 
back-door  council  was  thought  to  be  composed  of  Major 
Eaton  (a  fighter  and  man  after  the  General's  heart), 
Wm.  B.  Lewis,  Duff  Green,  and  Isaac  Hill,  of  New 
Hampshire,  an  extremely  shrewd  Jacksonian,  who 
would  stop  at  nothing  to  win  success.  Subsequently 
Amos  Kendall  took  the  head  of  this  inner  cabinet,  and 
Francis  P.  Blair  took  the  place  of  Duff  Green,  who 
determined  to  adhere  to  the  sinking  fortunes  of  Mr. 
Calhoun.     Other  men  may  have  entered  the  "  Kitchen 


520     •  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Cabinet"  at  times,  but  they  were  all  cringing  syco- 
phants to  him  who  was.  really  the  unit  of  all  the  Jack- 
son Cabinets.  This  unique  privy  council  did  not  en- 
dure to  the  end  of  the  General's  reign. 

The  new  Cabinet  did  not  get  fairly  under  way 
until  well  on  in  the  winter  of  1831,  the  appointments 
ranging  along  from  May,  1831,  to  January  of  the  next 
year,  the  Departments  being  under  the  supervision  of 
acting  secretaries  or  head  clerks. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  521 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THIRD    ANNUAL    MESSAGE— MR.  VAN  BUREN  AND  THE  SEN- 
ATE—THE GIANT  AND  THE  BANK— DISGRACEFUL 
SCENES  AT  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITAL. 

ON  the  5th  of  December,  1831,  Congress  again  as- 
sembled in  one  of  the  most  important  sessions  in 
its  history.  At  the  recent  Congressional  elections 
some  changes  had  occurred,  and  some  new  and  valuable 
members  were  added,  men  who  had  a  national  reputa- 
tion. Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey,  had 
for  some  time  been  a  member  of  the  Senate,  a  body 
in  which  now  appeared  George  M.  Dallas,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania;  Wm.  L.  Marcy,  of  New  York;  W.  P.  Mangum, 
of  North  Carolina  ;  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky  ;  and 
Thomas  Ewing,  of  Ohio.  Besides  these,  Editor  Isaac 
Hill,  of  New  Hampshire,  took  his  seat,  for  the  first 
time,  in  the  Senate,  and  also,  the  opposition  said,  in 
the  "Kitchen  Cabinet"  of  the  President.  Mr.  Hill 
had  appeared  in  Washington  at  the  outset  to  be  re- 
warded for  his  services  to  General  Jackson,  but  he 
did  not  .wear  longer  than  the  Senate  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  decline  to  confirm  his  appointment.  But  it 
was  not  in  Andrew  Jackson  to  be  outdone  in  such  a 
way.  He  caused  letters  to  be  sent  to  members  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Legislature  recommending  them  to 
elect  Hill  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  this  was 
done,  greatly  to   the   delight  of  Hill,  who   had   really 


522  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

been  the  instrument  for  setting  in  motion  the  weari- 
some conflict  between  the  President  and  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States. 

The  most  distinguished  addition  to  the  House  was 
in  the  person  of  ex-President  John  Quincy  Adams. 
From  Massachusetts  also  came  Rufus  Choate ;  John 
Y.  Mason,  from  Virginia;  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  from 
Kentucky  ;  and  Thomas  Corwin,  from  Ohio.  Andrew 
Stevenson,  a  Jacksonian,  was  again  elected  Speaker  of 
the  House,  and  in  general  terms,  both  Houses  were 
strongly  Administration.  The  President's  message 
was  now  unusually  short  for  him,  and  shorn  of  his  for- 
mer method  of  arguing  in  defense  of  his  past  and  pro- 
spective acts. 

THIRD  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

December  6,  1831. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : — 

The  representation  of  the  people  has  been  renewed  for  the 
twenty-second  time  since  the  Constitution  they  formed  has  been 
in  force.  For  near  half  a  century,  the  Chief  Magistrates,  who 
have  been  successively  chosen,  have  made  their  annual  communi- 
cations of  the  state  of  the  Nation  to  its  representatives.  Gen- 
erally, these  communications  have  been  of  the  most  gratifying 
nature,  testifying  an  advance  in  all  the  improvements  of  social, 
and  all  the  securities  of  political,  life.  But,  frequently  and 
justly  as  you  have  been  called  on  to  be  grateful  for  the  bounties 
of  Providence,  at  few  periods  have  they  been  more  abundantly 
or  extensively  bestowed,  than  at  the  present;  rarely,  if  ever, 
have  we  had  greater  reason  to  congratulate  each  other  (one 
another)  on  the  continued  and  increasing  prosperity  of  our  be- 
loved country. 

Agriculture,  the  first  and  most  important  occupation  of  man, 
has  compensated  the  labors  of  the  husbandmen  with  plenti- 
ful crops  of  all  the  varied  products  of  our  extensive  country. 
Manufactures  have  been  established  in  which  the  funds  of  the 
capitalist  find  a  profitable   investment,  and  which  give  employ- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  523 

ment  and  subsistence  to  a  numerous  and  increasing  body  of  indus- 
trious and  dexterous  mechanics. 

The  laborer  is  rewarded  by  high  wages  in  the  construction  of 
works  of  internal  improvements,  which  are  extending  with  un- 
precedented rapidity.  Science  is  steadily  penetrating  the  recesses 
of  nature,  and  disclosing  her  secrets,  while  the  ingenuity  of  free 
minds  is  subjecting  the  elements  to  the  power  of  man,  and  mak- 
ing each  new  conquest  auxiliary  to  his  comforts.  By  our  mails, 
whose  spread  is  regularly  increased,  and  whose  routes  are  every 
year  extended,  the  communication  of  public  intelligence  and 
private  business  is  rendered  frequent  and  safe ;  the  intercourse 
between  distant  cities,  which  it  formerly  required  weeks  to  accom- 
plish, is  now  effected  in  a  few  days ;  and  in  the  construction  of 
railroads,  and  in  the  application  of  steam  power,  we  have  a  rea- 
sonable prospect  that  the  extreme  parts  of  our  country  will  be  so 
much  approximated,  and  those  most  isolated  by  the  obstacles  of 
nature  rendered  so  accessible,  as  to  remove  an  apprehension  some- 
times entertained,  that  the  great  extent  of  the  Union  would 
endanger  its  permanent  existence. 

If,  from  the  satisfactory  view  of  our  agriculture,  manufactures, 
and  internal  improvements,  we  turn  to  the  state  of  our  navi- 
gation and  trade  with  foreign  nations  and  between  the  States,  we 
shall  scarcely  find  less  cause  for  gratulation.  A  beneficent  Prov- 
idence has  provided  for  their  exercise  and  encouragement  an 
extensive  coast,  indented  by  capacious  bays,  noble  rivers,  inland 
seas;  with  a  country  productive  of  every  material  for  ship-build- 
ing, and  every  commodity  for  gainful  commerce,  and  filled  with 
a  population,  active,  intelligent,  well-informed,  and  fearless  of 
danger.  These  advantages  are  not  neglected;  and  an  impulse 
has  lately  been  given  to  commercial  enterprise,  which  fills  our 
ship-yards  with  new  constructions,  encourages  all  the  arts  and 
branches  of  industry  connected  with  them,  crowds  the  wharves 
of  our  cities  with  vessels,  and  covers  the  most  distant  seas  with 
our  canvas. 

Let  us  be  grateful  for  these  blessings  to  the  beneficent  Being 
who  has  conferred  them,  and  who  suffers  us  to  indulge  a  reason- 
able hope  of  their  continuance  and  extension,  while  we  neglect 
not  the  means  by  which  they  may  be  preserved.  If  we  may 
dare  to  judge  of  his  future  designs  by  the  manner  in  which  his 
past  favors  have  been  bestowed,  he  has  made  our  national  pros- 
perity to  depend  on  the  preservation  of  our  liberties,  our  national 


524  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

force  on  our  Federal  Union,  and  our  individual  happiness  on  the 
maintenance  of  our  State  rights  and  wise  institutions.  If  we  are 
prosperous  at  home,  and  respected  abroad,  it  is  because  we  are 
free,  united,  industrious,  and  obedient  to  the  laws.  While  we 
continue  so,  we  shall,  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  go  on  in  the 
happy  career  we  have  begun,  and  which  has  brought  us,  in  the 
short  period  of  our  political  existence,  from  a  population  of  three 
to  thirteen  millions,  from  thirteen  separate  Colonies  to  twenty- 
four  United  States,  from  weakness  to  strength,  from  a  rank 
scarcely  marked  in  the  scale  of  nations  to  a  high  place  in  their 
respect. 

This  last  advantage  is  one  that  has  resulted,  in  a  great 
degree,  from  the  principles  which  have  guided  our  intercourse 
with  foreign  powers,  since  we  have  assumed  an  equal  station 
among  them ;  and  hence  the  annual  account  which  the  Executive 
renders  to  the  country  of  the  manner  in  which  that  branch  of 
his  duties  has  been  fulfilled,  proves  instructive  and  salutary. 

Th^  pacific  and  Avise  policy  of  our  Government  kept  us  in  a 
state  of  neutrality  during  the  wars  that  have,  at  different  periods 
since  our  political  existence,  been  carried  on  by  other  powers ;  but 
this  policy,  while  it  gave  activity  and  extent  to  our  commerce, 
exposed  it  in  the  same  proportion  to  injuries  from  the  belligerent 
nations.  Hence  have  arisen  claims  of  indemnity  for  those  in- 
juries. England,  France,  Spain,  Holland,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
Naples,  and  lately  Portugal,  had  all,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
infringed  our  neutral  rights.  Demands  for  reparation  were  made 
upon  all.  They  have  had  in  all,  and  continued  to  have,  in  some 
cases,  a  leading  influence  on  the  nature  of  our  relations  with  the 
powers  on  whom  they  were  made. 

Of  our  claims  upon  England,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak,  fur- 
ther than  to  say,  that  the  state  of  things  to  which  their  prosecu- 
tion and  denial  gave  rise  has  been  succeeded  by  arrangements 
productive  of  mutual  good-feeling  and  amicable  relati(5ns  between 
the  two  countries,  which  it  is  hoped  will  not  be  interrupted. 
One  of  these  arrangements  is  that  relating  to  the  Colonial  trade, 
which  was  communicated  to  Congress  at  the  last  session;  and 
although  the  short  period  during  which  it  has  been  in  force  will 
not  enable  me  to  form  an  accurate  judgment  of  its  operation,  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  prove  highly  beneficial. 
The  trade  thereby  authorized  has  employed,  to  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember last,  upward  of  thirty  thousand  tons  of  American,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  525 

fifteen  thousand  tons  of  foreign  shipping  in  the  outward  voyages ; 
and  in  the  inward,  nearly  an  equal  amount  of  American,  and 
twenty  thousand  only  of  foreign  tonnage.  Advantages,  too, 
have  resulted  to  our  agricultural  interests  from  the  state  of  the 
trade  between  Canada  and  our  Territories  and  States  borderiug 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lakes,  which  may  prove  more  than 
equivalent  to  the  loss  sustained  by  the  discrimination  made  to 
favor  the  trade  of  the  northern  Colonies  with  the  West  Indies. 
After  our  transition  from  the  state  of  Colonies  to  that  of  an 
independent  Nation,  many  points  were  found  necessary  to  be 
settled  between  us  and  Great  Britain.  Among  them  was  the 
demarkation  of  boundaries,  not  described  with  sufficient  pre- 
cision in  the  treaty  of  peace.  Some  of  the  lines  that  divide 
the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States  from  the  British 
Provinces  have  been  definitively  fixed.  That,  however,  which 
separates  us  from  the  Provinces  of  Canada  and  New  Brunswick 
to  the  north  and  the  east,  was  still  in  dispute  when  I  came  into 
office.  But  I  found  arrangements  made  for  its  settlement  over 
which  I  had  no  control.  The  commissioners  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed under  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  having  been 
unable  to  agree,  a  convention  was  made  with  Great  Britain  by 
my  immediate  predecessor  in  office,  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  by  which  it  was  agreed  "  that  the  points  of  dif- 
ference which  have  arisen  in  the  settlement  of  the  boundary-line 
between  the  American  and  British  dominions,  as  described  in 
the  fifth  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  shall  be  referred,  as 
therein  provided,  to  some  friendly  sovereign  or  State,  who  shall 
be  invited  to  investigate  and  make  a  decision  upon  such  points 
of  difference,"  and  the  King  of  the  Netherlands  having,  by  the 
late  President  and  his  Britannic  Majesty,  been  designated  as  such 
friendly  sovereign,  it  became  my  duty  to  carry,  with  good  faith, 
the  agreement  so  made  into  full  effect.  To  this  end,  I  caused 
all  the  measures  to  be  taken  which  were  necessary  to  a  full  ex- 
position of  our  case  to  the  sovereign  arbiter;  and 'nominated  as 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  his  Court,  a  distinguished  citizen  of 
the  State  most  interested  in  the  question,  and  who  had  been 
one  of  the  agents  previously  employed  for  settling  the  contro- 
versy. On  the  tenth  day  of  January  last,  his  majesty,  the  King 
of  the  Netherlands,  delivered  to  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Great  Britain,  his  written  opinion  on  the 
case  referred  to  him.     The  papers  in  relation  to  the  subject  will 


526  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

be  communicated,  by  a  special  message,  to  the  proper  branch  of 
the  Government,  with  the  perfect  confidence  that  its  wisdom 
■will  adopt  such  measures  as  will  secure  an  amicable  settlement 
of  the  controversy,  without  infringing  any  Constitutional  righ  t  of 
the  States  immediately  interested. 

It  affords  me  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  suggestions  made 
by  my  direction  to  the  charge  d'affaires  of  his  Britannic  Majesty 
to  this  Government,  have  had  their  desired  effect  in  producing 
the  release  of  certain  American  citizens,  who  were  imprisoned  for 
setting  up  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Maine  at  a  place  in  the 
disputed  territory  under  the  actual  jurisdiction  of  his  Britannic 
Majesty.  From  this,  and  the  assurances  I  have  received  of  the 
desire  of  the  local  authorities  to  avoid  any  cause  of  collision,  I 
have  the  best  hopes  that  a  good  understanding  Avill  be  kept  up 
until  it  is  confirmed  by  the  final  disposition  of  the  subject. 

The  amicable  relations  which  now  subsist  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  the  increasing  intercourse  between 
their  citizens,  and  the  rapid  obliteration  of  unfriendly  prejudices 
to  which  former  events  very  naturally  gave  rise,  concurred  to 
present  this  as  a  fit  period  for  renewing  our  endeavors  to  provide 
against  the  recurrence  of  causes  of  irritation  which,  in  the  event 
of  war  between  Great  Britian  and  any  other  power,  would  inev- 
itably endanger  our  peace.  Animated  by  the  sincerest  desire  to 
avoid  such  a  state  of  things,  and  peacefully  to  secure,  under  all 
possible  circumstances,  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  country,  I 
have  given  such  instructions  to  the  minister  lately  sent  to  the 
Court  of  London,  as  will  evince  that  desire ;  and  if  met  by  a 
correspondent  disposition,  which  we  can  not  doubt,  will  put  an 
end  to  the  causes  of  collision  which,  without  advantage  to  either, 
tend  to  estrange  from  each  other  two  nations  who  have  every 
motive  to  preserve,  not  only  peace,  but  an  intercourse  of  the 
most  amicable  nature. 

In  my  message  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
I  expressed  a, confident  hope  that  the  justice  of  our  claims  upon 
France,  urged  as  they  were  with  perseverance  and  signal  ability 
by  our  minister  there,  would  finally  be  acknowledged.  This 
hope  has  been  realized.  A  treaty  has  been  signed  which  will 
immediately  be  laid  before  the  Senate  for  its  approbation;  and 
which,  containing  stipulations  that  require  legislative  acts,  must 
have  the  concurrence  of  both  Houses  before  it  can  be  carried 
into  efl^ect.     By  it,  the  French  Government  engaged  to  pay   a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  527 

sum,  which,  if  not  quite  equal  to  that  which  may  be  found  due 
to  our  citizens,  will  yet,  it  is  believed,  under  all  circumstances, 
be  deemed  satisfactory  by  those  interested.  The  offer  of  a  gross 
sum  instead  of  the  satisfaction  of  each  individual  claim,  was  ac- 
cepted, because  the  only  alternatives  were  a  rigorous  exaction  of 
the  whole  amount  stated  to  be  due  on  each  claim,  which  might 
in  some  instances,  be  exaggerated  by  design,  in  others  overrated 
through  error,  and  which,  therefore,  it  would  have  been  both 
ungracious  and  unjust  to  have  insisted  on;  or  a  settlement  by  a 
mixed  commission,  to  which  the  French  negotiators  were  very 
averse,  and  which  experience  in  other  cases  had  shown  to  be 
dilatory  and  often  wholly  inadequate  to  the  end.  A  compara- 
tively small  sum  is  stipulated  on  our  part,  to  go  to  the  extinction 
of  all  claims  by  French  citizens  on  our  Government;  and  a 
reduction  of  duties  on  our  cotton,  and  their  wines,  has  been 
agreed  on,  as  a  consideration  for  the  renunciation  of  an  important 
claim  for  commercial  privileges,  under  the  construction  they  gave 
to  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana. 

Should  this  treaty  receive  the  proper  sanction,  a  source  of 
irritation  will  be  stopped,  that  has,  for  so  many  years,  in  some 
degree,  alienated  from  each  other  two  nations  who,  from  interest 
as  well  as  the  remembrance  of  early  associations,  ought  to  cherish 
the  most  friendly  relations;  an  encouragement  will  be  given  for 
perseverance  in  the  demands  of  justice,  by  this  new  proof,  that  if 
steadily  pursued,  they  will  be  listened  to;  and  admonition  will  be 
offered  to  those  powers,  if  any,  which  may  be  inclined  to  evade 
them,  that  they  will  never  be  abandoned.  Above  all,  a  just 
confidence  will  be  inspired  in  our  fellow-citizens,  that  their  Gov- 
ernment will  exert  all  the  powers  with  which  they  have  invested 
it,  in  support  of  their  just  claims  upon  foreign  nations;  at  the 
same  time  that  the  frank  acknowledgment  and  provision  for  the 
payment  of  those  which  are  addressed  to  our  equity,  although 
unsupported  by  legal  proof,  affords  a  pi'actical  illustration  of  our 
submission  to  the  divine  rule  of  doing  to  others  what  we  desire 
they  should  do  unto  us. 

Sweden  and  Denmark,  having  made  compensation  for  the 
irregularities  committed  by  their  vessels,  or  in  their  ports,  to  the 
perfect  satisfaction  of  the  parties  concerned,  and  having  renewed 
the  treaties  of  commerce  entered  into  with  them,  our  political  and 
commercial  relations  with  those  powers  continue  to  be  on  the 
most  friendly  footing. 


528  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

With  Spain  our  differences,  up  to  the  22d  February,  1819, 
were  settled  by  the  Treaty  of  Washington  of  that  date ;  but  at  a 
subsequent  period  our  commerce  with  the  States,  formerly  Colo- 
nies of  Spain  on  the  continent  of  America,  was  annoyed  and  fre- 
quently interrupted  by  her  public  and  private  armed  ships ;  they 
captured  many  of  our  vessels  prosecuting  a  lawful  commerce,  and 
sold  them  and  their  cargoes;  and  at  one  time,  to  our  demands 
for  restoration  and  indemnity,  opposed  the  allegation,  that  they 
were  taken  in  the  violation  of  a  blockade  of  all  the  ports  of  those 
States.  This  blockade  was  declaratory  only,  and  the  inadequacy 
of  the  force  to  maintain  it  was  so  manifest  that  this  allegation 
was  varied  to  a  charge  of  trade  in  contraband  of  war.  This,  in 
its  turn,  was  also  found  untenable,  and  the  minister  whom  I  sent 
with  instructions  to  press  for  the  reparation  that  was  due  to  our 
injured  fellow-citizens,  has  transmitted  an  answer  to  his  demand, 
by  which  the  captures  are  declared  to  have  been  legal,  and  are 
justified,  because  the  independence  of  the  States  of  America 
never  having  been  acknowledged  by  Spain,  she  had  a  right  to 
prohibit  trade  with  them  under  her  old  Colonial  laws.  This 
ground  of  defense  was  contradictory,  not  only  to  those  which  had 
been  formerly  alleged,  but  to  the  uniform  practice  and  estab- 
lished laws  of  nations,  and  had  been  abandoned  by  Spain  her- 
self in  the  convention  which  granted  indemnity  to  British 
subjects,  for  captures  made  at  the  same  time,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  and  for  the  same  allegations  with  those  of  which 
we  complain. 

I,  however,  indulge  the  hx>pe  that  further  reflection  will  lead 
to  other  views,  and  feel  confident  that  when  his  Catholic  Majesty 
shall  be  convinced  of  the  justice  of  the  claim,  his  desire  to  pre- 
serve friendly  relations  between  the  two  countries,  which  it  is  my 
earnest  endeavor  to  maintain,  will  induce  him  to  accede  to  our 
demand.  I  have,  therefore,  dispatched  a  special  messenger  with 
instructions  to  our  minister  to  bring  the  case  once  more  to  his 
consideration ;  to  the  end  that  if,  which  I  can  not  bring  myself 
to  believe,  the  same  decision,  that  can  not  but  be  deemed  an 
unfriendly  denial  of  justice,  should  be  persisted  in,  the  matter 
may,  before  your  adjournment,  be  laid  before  you,  the  Constitu- 
tional judges  of  what  is  proper  to  be  done  when  negotiation  for 
redress  of  injury  fails. 

The  conclusion  of  a  treaty  for  indemnity  with  France,  seemed 
to  present  a  favorable  opportunity  to  renew  our  claims  of  a  similar 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  529 

nature  on  other  powers;  and  particularly  in  the  case  of  those 
upon  Naples,  more  especially  as  in  the  course  of  former  negotia- 
tious  with  that  power,  our  failure  to  induce  France  to  render  us 
justice  was  used  as  an  argument  against  us.  The  desires  of  the 
merchants,  who  were  the  principal  sufferers,  have  therefore  been 
acceded  to,  and  a  mission  has  been  instituted  for  the  special  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  for  them  a  reparation  already  too  long  delayed. 
This  measure  having  been  resolved  on,  it  was  put  in  execution 
without  waiting  for  the  meeting  of  Congress,  because  the  state 
of  Europe  created  an  apprehension  of  events  that  might  have 
rendered  our  application  ineffectual. 

Our  demands  upon  the  Government  of  the  two  Sicilies  are  of 
a  peculiar  nature.  The  injuries  on  which  they  are  founded  are 
not  denied,  nor  are  the  atrocity  and  perfidy  under  which  those 
injuries  were  perpetrated,  attempted  to  be  extenuated.  The  sole 
ground  on  which  indemnity  has  been  refused  is  the  alleged  ille- 
gality of  the  tenure  by  which  the  monarch  who  made  the  seizures 
held  his  crown.  This  defense,  always  unfounded  in  any  principle 
of  the  law  of  nations — now  universally  abandoned  even  by  those 
powers  upon  whom  the  responsibility  for  acts  of  past  rulers  bore 
the  most  heavily — will  unquestionably  be  given  up  by  his  Sicilian 
Majesty,  whose  councils  will  receive  an  impulse  from  that  high 
sense  of  honor  and  regard  to  justice,  which  are  said  to  characterize 
him ;  and  I  feel  the  fullest  confidence  that  the  talents  of  the  citi- 
zens commissioned  for  that  purpose  will  place  before  him  the  just 
claims  of  our  injured  citizens  in  such  a  light  as  will  enable  me, 
before  your  adjournment,  to  announce  that  they  have  been  ad- 
justed and  secured.  Precise  instructions  to  the  eflfect  of  bringing 
the  negotiation  to  a  speedy  issue,  have  been  given  and  will  be 
obeyed. 

In  the  late  blockade  of  Terceira,  some  of  the  Portuguese  fleet 
captured  several  of  our  vessels  and  committed  other  excesses, 
for  which  reparation  was  demanded,  and  I  was  on  the  point  of 
dispatching  an  armed  force  to  prevent  any  recurrence  of  a  similar 
violence,  and  protect  our  citizens  in  the  prosecution  of  their  law- 
ful commerce,  when  official  assurances,  on  which  I  relied,  made 
the  sailing  of  the  ships  unnecessary.  Since  that  period  frequent 
promises  have  been  made,  that  full  indemnity  shall  be  given  for 
the  injuries  inflicted  and  the  losses  sustained.  In  the  performance 
there  has  been  some,  perhaps  unavoidable,  delay  ;  but  I  have  the 
fullest  confidence  that  my  earnest  desire   that  this  business  may 

34— G 


530  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

at  once  be  closed,  which  our  minister  has  been  instructed  strongly 
to  express,  will  very  soon  be  gratified.  I  have  the  better  ground 
for  this  hope,  from  the  evidence  of  a  friendly  disposition  which 
that  government  has  shown  by  an  actual  reduction  in  the  duty 
on  rice,  the  produce  of  our  Southern  States,  authorizing  the  an- 
ticipation that  this  important  article  of  our  export  will  soon  be 
admitted  on  the  same  footing  with  that  produced  by  the  most 
favored  nation. 

With  the  other  powers  of  Europe  we  have  fortunately  had 
no  cause  of  discussions  for  the  redress  of  injuries.  With  the  em- 
pire of  the  Russias,  our  political  connection  is  of  the  most  friendly, 
and  our  commercial  of  the  most  liberal  kind.  We  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  navigation  and  trade,  given  to  the  most  favored 
nation  ;  but  it  has  not  yet  suited  their  policy,  or  perhaps  has  not 
been  found  convenient  from  other  considerations,  to  give  stability 
and  reciprocity  to  those  privileges  by  a  commercial  treaty.  The 
ill-health  of  the  minister  last  year,  charged  with  making  a  propo- 
sition for  that  arrangement,  did  not  permit  him  to  remain  at  St. 
Petersburg ;  and  the  attention  of  that  government  during  the 
whole  of  the  period  since  his  departure  having  been  occupied  by 
the  war  in  which  it  was  engaged,  we  have  been  assured  that 
nothing  could  have  been  effected  by  his  .  presence.  A  minister 
will  soon  be  nominated,  as  well  to  effect  this  important  object,  as 
to  keep  up  the  relations  of  amity  and  good  understanding,  of 
which  we  have  received  so  many  assurances  and  proofs  from  his 
imperial  majesty,  and  the  emperor  his  predecessor. 

The  treaty  with  Austria  is  opening  to  us  an  important  trade 
with  the  hereditary  dominions  of  the  emperor,  the  value  of  which 
has  been  hitherto  little  known,  and  of  course  not  sufficiently  ap- 
preciated. While  our  commerce  finds  an  entrance  into  the  south 
of  Germany  by  means  of  this  treaty,  those  we  have  formed  with 
the  Hanseatic  towns  and  Prussia,  and  others  now  in  negotiation, 
will  open  that  vast  country  to  the  enterprising  spirit  of  our  mer- 
chants on  the  north;  a  country  abounding  in  all  the  materials 
for  a  mutually  beneficial  commerce,  filled  with  enlightened  and 
industrious  inhabitants,  holding  an  important  place  in  the  politics 
of  Europe,  and  to  which  we  owe  so  many  valuable  citizens.  The 
ratification  of  the  treaty  with  the  Porte  was  sent  to  be  exchanged, 
by  the  gentleman  appointed  our  charge  d'affaires  to  that  court. 
Some  difficulties  occurred  on  his  arrival  ;  but  at  the  date  of  his 
last  official  dispatch   he   supposed   they  had   been  obviated,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  531 

that   there   was  every  prospect  of  the  exchange  being  speedily 
effected. 

This  finishes  the  connected  view  I  have  thought  proper  to 
give  of  our  political  and  commercial  relations  in  Europe.  Every 
effort  in  my  power  will  be  continued  to  strengthen  and  extend 
them  by  treaties  founded  on  principles  of  the  most  perfect  reci- 
procity of  interest,  neither  asking  nor  conceding  any  exclusive  ad- 
vantage, but  liberating,  as  far  as  it  lies  in  my  power,  the  activity 
and  industry  of  our  fellow-citizens  from  the  shackles  which  foreign 
restrictions  may  impose. 

To  China  and  the  East  Indies,  our  commerce  continues  in  its 
usual  extent,  and  with  increased  facilities,  which  the  credit  and 
capital  of  our  merchants  afford,  by  substituting  bills  for  payments 
in  specie.  A  daring  outrage  having  been  committed  in  those 
seas  by  the  plunder  of  one  of  our  merchantmen  engaged  in  the 
pepper  trade,  at  a  port  in  Sumatra,  and  the  piratical  perpetrators 
belonging  to  tribes  in  such  a  state  of  society  that  the  usual  course 
of  proceedings  between  civilized  nations  could  not  be  pursued,  I 
forthwish  dispatched  a  frigate  with  orders  to  require  immediate 
satisfaction  for  the  injury,  and  indemnity  to  the  sufferers. 

Few  changes  have  taken  place  in  our  connections  with  the 
independent  States  of  America,  since  my  last  communication  to 
Congress.  The  ratification  of  a  commercial  treaty  with  the  United 
Republics  of  Mexico  has  been  for  some  time  under  deliberation 
in  their  Congress,  but  was  still  undecided  at  the  date  of  our  last 
dispatches.  The  unhappy  civil  commotions  that  have  prevailed 
there  were  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  the  delay ;  but  as  the  gov- 
ernment is  now  said  to  be  tranquillized,  we  may  hope  soon  to  re- 
ceive the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  an  arrangement  for  the 
demarkation  of  the  boundaries  between  us.  In  the  meantime  an 
important  trade  has  been  opened,  with  mutual  benefit,  from  St. 
Louis,  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  by  caravans,  to  the  interior  prov- 
inces of  Mexico.  This  commerce  is  protected  in  its  progress 
through  the  Indian  countries  by  the  troops  of  the  United  States, 
which  have  been  permitted  to  escort  the  caravans  beyond  our 
boundaries  to  the  settled  part  of  the  Mexican  territory. 

From  Central  America  I  have  received  assurances  of  the  most 
friendly  kind,  and  a  gratifying  application  for  our  good  oflices  to  re- 
move a  supposed  indisposition  toward  that  government  in  a  neigh- 
boring State ;  this  application  was  immediately  and  successfully 
complied  with.     They  gave  us  also  the  pleasing  intelligence  that 


532  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

differences  which  had  prevaUed  in  their  internal  affairs  had  been 
peaceably  adjusted.  Our  treaty  with  this  republic  continues  to 
be  faithfully  observed,  and  promises  a  great  and  beneficial  com- 
merce between  the  two  countries ;  a  commerce  of  the  greatest 
importance,  if  the  magnificent  project  of  a  ship-canal  through  the 
dominions  of  that  State,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
now  in  serious  contemplation,  shall  be  executed. 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  communicating  the  success  which 
has  attended  the  exertions  of  our  minister  in  Colombia,  to  procure 
a  very  considerable  reduction  in  the  duties  on  our  flour  in  that 
republic.  Indemnity,  also,  has  been  stipulated  for  injuries  re- 
ceived by  our  merchants  from  Ulegal  seizures  ;  and  renewed  assur- 
ances are  given  that  the  treaty  between  the  two  countries  shall 
be  faithfully  observed. 

Chili  and  Peru  seem  to  be  still  threatened  with  civil  commo- 
tions ;  and  until  they  shall  be  settled,  disorders  may  naturally  be 
apprehended,  requiring  the  constant  presence  of  a  naval  force 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to  protect  our  fisheries  and  guard  our 
commerce. 

The  disturbances  that  took  place  in  the  empire  of  Brazil,  pre- 
viously to  and  immediately  consequent  upon  the  abdication  of 
the  late  emperor,  necessarily  suspended  any  effectual  application 
for  the  redress  of  some  past  injuries  suffered  by  our  citizens  from 
that  government,  while  they  have  been  the  cause  of  others,  in 
which  all  foreigners  seem  to  have  participated.  Instructions  have 
been  given  to  our  minister  there,  to  press  for  indemnity  due  for 
losses  occasioned  by  these  irregularities ;  and  to  take  care  that  our 
fellow-citizens  shall  enjoy  all  the  privileges  stipulated  in  their 
favor  by  the  treaty  lately  made  between  the  two  powers,  all  of 
which  the  good  intelligence  that  prevails  between  our  minister  at 
Rio  Janeiro  and  the  Regency,  gives  us  the  best  reason  to  expect. 

I  should  have  placed  Buenos  Ayres  in  the  list  of  South  Amer- 
ican powers,  in  respect  to  which  nothing  of  importance  affecting 
us  was  to  be  communicated,  but  for  occurrences  which  have  lately 
taken  place  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  in  which  the  name  of  that 
republic  has  been  used  to  cover,  with  a  show  of  authority,  acts 
injurious  to  our  commerce  and  to  the  property  and  liberty  of  our 
fellow-citizens.  In  the  course  of  the  present  year,  one  of  our  ves- 
sels engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  a  trade  which  we  have  always  en- 
joyed without  molestation,  has  been  captured  by  a  band  acting, 
as  they  pretend,  under  the  authority  of  the  government  of  Buenos 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  533 

Ayres.  I  have,  therefore,  given  orders  for  the  dispatch  of  an 
armed  vessel  to  join  our  squadron  in  those  seas,  and  aid  in  afford- 
ing all  lawful  protection  to  our  trade  which  shall  be  necessary ; 
and  shall  without  delay  send  a  minister  to  inquire  into  the  nature 
of  the  circumstances,  and  also  of  the  claim,  if  any,  that  is  set  up 
by  that  government  to  those  islands.  In  the  meantime  I  submit 
the  case  to  the  consideration  of  Congress,  to  the  end  that  they  may 
clothe  the  Executive  with  such  authority  and  means  as  they  may 
deem  necessary,  for  providing  a  force  adequate  to  the  complete 
protection  of  our  fellow-citizens  fishing  and  trading  in  those  seas. 

This  rapid  sketch  of  our  foreign  relations,  it  is  hoped,  fellow- 
citizens,  may  be  of  some  use  in  so  much  of  your  legislation  as 
may  bear  on  that  important  subject ;  while  it  affords  to  the  coun- 
try at  large  a  source  of  high  gratification  in  the  contemplation  of 
our  political  and  commercial  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 
At  peace  with  all — having  subjects  of  future  difference  with  few, 
and  those  susceptible  of  easy  adjustment — extending  our  commerce 
gradually  on  all  sides,  and  on  none  by  any  but  the  most  liberal 
and  mutually  beneficial  means — we  may,  by  the  blessing  of  Provi- 
dence, hope  for  all  that  national  prosperity  which  can  be  derived 
from  an  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  guided  by  those  eternal 
principles  of  justice  and  reciprocal  good-will,  which  are  binding 
as  well  upon  States  as  the  individuals  of  whom  they  are  composed. 

I  have  great  satisfaction  in  making  this  statement  of  our  affairs, 
because  the  course  of  our  national  policy  enables  me  to  do  it  with- 
out any  indiscreet  exposure  of  what  iu  other  governments  is 
usually  concealed  from  the  people.  Having  none  but  a  straight- 
forward, open  course  to  pursue,  guided  by  a  single  principle  that 
will  bear  the  strongest  light,  we  have  happily  no  political  combi- 
nations to  form,  no  alliances  to  entangle  us,  no  complicated  in- 
terests to  consult ;  and  in  subjecting  all  we  have  done  to  the  con- 
sideration of  our  citizens,  and  to  the  inspection  of  the  world,  we 
give  no  advantage  to  other  nations,  and  lay  ourselves  open  to  no 
injury. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  add,  that  to  preserve  this  state  of 
things  and  give  confidence  to  the  world  in  the  integrity  of  our 
designs,  all  our  consular  and  diplomatic  agents  are  strictly  en- 
joined to  examine  well  every  cause  of  complaint  preferred  by 
our  citizens ;  and  while  they  urge  with  proper  earnestness  those  that 
are  well  founded,  to  countenance  none  that  are  unreasonable  or 
unjust,  and  to  enjoin  on  our  merchants  and  navigators  the  strictest 


534  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  countries  to  which  they  resort, 
and  a  course  of  conduct  in  their  dealings  that  may  support  the 
character  of  our  Nation,  and  render  us  respected  abroad. 

Connected  with  this  subject,  I  must  recommend  a  revisal  of 
our  consular  laws.  Defects  and  omissions  have  been  discovered 
in  their  operation  that  ought  to  be  remedied  and  supplied.  For 
your  further  information  on  this  subject  I  have  directed  a  report 
to  be  made  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  which  I  shall  hereafter 
submit  to  your  consideration. 

The  internal  peace  and  security  of  our  confederated  States  is 
the  next  principal  object  of  the  General  Government.  Time  and 
experience  have  proved  that  the  abode  of  the  native  Indian 
within  their  limits  is  dangerous  to  their  peace  and  injurious  to 
himself.  In  accordance  with  my  recommendation  at  a  former 
session  of  Congress,  an  appropriation  of  half  a 'million  of  dollars 
was  made  to  aid  the  voluntary  removal  of  the  various  tribes  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  States.  At  the  last  session  I  had  the  hap- 
piness to  announce  that  the  Chickasaws  and  Choctawshad  accepted 
the  generous  offer  of  the  Government,  and  agreed  to  remove  be- 
yond the  Mississippi  River,  by  which  the  whole  o/  the  State  of 
Mississippi  and  the  western  part  of  Alabama  will  be  freed  from 
Indian  occupancy,  and  opened  to  a  civilized  population.  The 
treaties  with  these  tribes  are  in  course  of  execution,  and  their  re- 
moval, it  is  hoped,  will  be  completed  in  the  course  of  1832. 

At  the  request  of  the  authorities  of  Georgia,  the  registration 
of  Cherokee  Indians  for  emigration  has  been  resumed,  and  it  is 
confidently  expected  that  one-half,  if  not  two-thirds  of  that  tribe, 
will  follow  the  wise  example  of  their  more  westerly  brethren. 
Those  who  prefer  remaining  at  their  present  homes  will  hereafter 
be  governed  by  the  laws  of  Georgia,  as  all  her  citizens  are,  and 
cease  to  be  the  objects  of  peculiar  care  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Government.   • 

During  the  present  year  the  attention  of  the  Government  has 
been  particularly  directed  to  those  tribes  in  the  powerful  and 
growing  State  of  Ohio,  where  considerable  tracts  of  the  finest 
lands  were  still  occupied  by  the  aboriginal  proprietors.  Treaties, 
either  absolute  or  conditional,  have  been  made,  extinguishinti  the 
whole  Indian  title  to  the  reservations  in  that  State ;  and  the  time 
is  not  distant,  it  is  hoped,  when  Ohio  will  be  no  longer  embar- 
rassed by  the  Indian  jjopulation.  The  same  measure  will  be  ex- 
tended to  Indiana,  as  soon  as  there  is  reason  to  anticipate  success. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  535 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  perseverance  for  a  few  years  in  the 
present  policy  of  the  Government  will  extinguish  the  Indian  title 
to  all  lands  lying  within  the  States  composing  our  Federal  Union, 
and  remove  beyond  their  limits  every  Indian  who  is  not  willing  to 
submit  to  their  laws.  Thus  will  all  conflicting  claims  to  jurisdic- 
tion between  the  States  and  the  Indian  tribes  be  put  to  rest.  It 
is  pleasing  to  reflect  that  results  so  beneficial,  not  only  to  the 
States  immediately  concerned,  but  to  the  harmony  of  the  Union, 
will  have  been  accomplished  by  measures  equally  advantageous 
to  the  Indians.  What  the  native  savages  become  when  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  population  and  by  mixing  with  the  whites, 
may  be  seen  in  the  miserable  remnants  of  a  few  eastern  tribes, 
deprived  of  political  and  civil  rights,  forbidden  to  make  contracts, 
and  subjected  to  guardians,  dragging  out  a  wretched  existence, 
without  excitement,  without  hope,  and  almost   without  thought. 

But  the  removal  of  the  Indians  beyond  the  limits  and  juris- 
diction of  the  States  does  not  place  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
philanthropic  aid  and  Christian  instruction.  On  the  contrary, 
those  whom  philanthropy  or  religion  may  induce  to  live  among 
them  in  their  new  abode,  will  be  more  free  in  the  exercise  of  their 
benevolent  functions  than  if  they  had  remained  within  the  limits 
of  the  States,  embarrassed  by  their  internal  regulations.  Now 
subject  to  no  control  but  the  superintending  agency  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  exercised  with  the  sole  view  of  preserving 
peace,  they  may  proceeed  unmolested  in  the  interesting  experi- 
ment of  gradually  advancing  a  community  of  American  Indians 
from  barbarism  to  the  habits  and  enjoyments  of  civilized  life. 

Among  the  happiest  eflfects  of  the  improved  relations  of  our 
Republic  has  been  an  increase  of  trade,  producing  a  correspond- 
ing increase  of  revenue  beyond  the  most  sanguine  anticipations 
of  the  Treasury  Department. 

The  state  of  the  public  finances  wiU  be  fully  shown  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  the  report  which  he  will  presently 
lay  before  you.  I  will  here,  however,  congratulate  you  upon 
their  prosperous  condition.  The  revenue  received  in  the  present 
year  will  not  fall  short  of  twenty-seven  millions  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  expenditures  for  all  objects  other  than 
the  public  debt  will  not  exceed  fourteen  millions  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  The  payment  on  account  of  the  principal  and 
interest  of  the  debt  during  the  year  will  exceed  sixteen  millions 
five    hundred   thousand  dollars ;    a  greater  sum   than  has   been 


536  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

applied  to  that  object  out  of  the  revenue  in  any  year  since  the 
enlargement  of  the  sinking  fund,  except  the  two  years  following 
immediately  thereafter.  The  amount  which  will  have  been  ap- 
plied to  the  public  debt  from  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  to  the  1st 
of  January  next,  which  is  less  than  three  years  since  the  Admin- 
istration has  been  placed  in  my  hands,  will  exceed  forty  millions 
of  dollars. 

From  the  large  importations  of  the  present  year,  it  may  be- 
safely  estimated  that  the  revenue  which  will  be  received  into  the 
Treasury  from  that  source  during  the  next  year,  with  the  aid  of 
that  received  from  the  public  lands,  will  considerably  exceed  the 
amount  of  the  receipts  of  the  present  year;  and  it  is  believed 
that,  with  the  means  which  the  Government  will  have  at  its  dis- 
posal from  various  sources,  which  will  be  fully  stated  by  the 
proper  department,  the  whole  of  the  public  debt  may  be  extin- 
guished, either  by  redemption  or  purchase  within  the  four  years 
of  my  Administration.  We  shall  then  exhibit  the  rare  example 
of  a  great  Nation,  abounding  in  all  the  means  of  happiness  and 
security,  altogether  free  from  debt. 

The  confidence  with  which  the  extinguishment  of  the  public 
debt  may  be  anticipated,  presents  an  opportunity  for  carrying 
into  effect  more  fully  the  policy  in  relation  to  import  duties, 
which  has  been  recommended  in  my  former  messages.  A  modifi- 
cation of  the  tariflT,  which  shall  produce  a  reduction  of  our  reve- 
nue to  the  wants  of  the  Government,  and  an  adjustment  of  the 
duties  on  imports  with  a  view  to  equal  justice  in  relation  to  all 
our  national  interests,  and  to  the  counteraction  of  foreign  policy, 
so  far  as  it  may  be  injurious  to  those  interests,  is  deemed  to  be 
one  of  the  principal  objects  which  demand  the  consideration  of 
the  present  Congress.  Justice  to  the  interests  of  the  merchant  as 
well  as  the  manufacturer,  requires  that  material  reductions  in  the 
import  duties  be  prospective;  and  unless  the  present  Congress 
shall  dispose  of  the  subject,  the  proposed  reductions  can  not 
properly  be  made  to  take  effect  at  the  period  when  the  necessity 
for  the  revenue  arising  from  present  rates  shall  cease.  It  is, 
therefore,  desirable  that  arrangements  be  adopted  at  your  present 
session  to  relieve  the  people  from  unnecessary  taxation  after  the 
extinguishment  of  the  public  debt.  In  the  exercise  of  that  spirit 
of  concession  and  conciliation  which  has  distinguished  the  friends 
of  our  Union  in  all  great  emergencies,  it  is  believed  that  this 
object  may  be  effected  without  injury  to  any  national  interest. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  537 

In  my  annual  message  of  December,  1829,  I  had  the  honor 
to  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  more  liberal  policy  than  that 
which  then  prevailed  toward  unfortunate  debtors  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  I  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  invite  your  attention  to 
this  subject. 

Actuated  by  similar  views  Congress,  at  their  last  session, 
passed  an  act  for  the  relief  of  certain  insolvent  debtors  of  the 
United  States ;  but  the  provisions  of  that  law  have  not  been 
deemed  such  as  were  adequate  to  that  relief  to  this  unfortunate  class 
of  our  fellow-citizens  which  may  be  safely  extended  to  them.  The 
points  in  which  the  law  appears  to  be  defective  will  be  particularly 
communicated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  and  I  take  pleas- 
ure in  recommending  such  an  extension  of  its  provisions  as  will 
unfetter  the  enterprise  of  a  valuable  portion  of  our  citizens,  and 
restore  to  them  the  means  of  usefulness  to  themselves  and  the 
community.  While  deliberating  upon  this  subject,  I  would  also 
recommend  to  your  consideration  the  propriety  of  so  modifying 
the  laws  for  enforcing  the  payment  of  debts  due  either  to  the 
public  or  to  individuals  suing  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States 
as  to  restrict  the  imprisonment  of  the  person  to  cases  of  fraudu- 
lent concealment  of  property.  The  personal  liberty  of  the  citi- 
zen seems  too  sacred  to  be  held,  as  in  many  cases  it  now  is,  at 
the  will  of  a  creditor  to  whom  he  is  willing  to  surrender  all  the 
means  he  has  of  discharging  his  debt. 

The  reports  from  the  Secretaries  of  the  War  and  Navy  De- 
partments, and  from  the  Postmaster-General,  which  accompany 
this  message,  present  satisfactory  views  of  the  operations  of  the 
departments  respectively  under  their  charge,  and  suggest  im- 
provements which  are  worthy  of,  and  to  which  I  invite,  the  se- 
rious attention  of  Congress.  Certain  defects  and  omissions  having 
been  discovered  in  the  operation  of  the  laws  respecting  patents, 
they  are  pointed  out  in  the  accompanying  report  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  State. 

I  have  heretofore  recommended  amendments  of  the  Federal 
Constitution  giving  the  election  of  President  and  Vice-President 
to  the  people,  and  limiting  the  service  of  the  former  to  a  single 
term.  So  important  do  I  consider  these  changes  in  our  funda- 
mental law,  that  I  can  not,  in  accordance  with  my  sense  of  duty, 
omit  to  press  them  upon  the  consideration  of  a  new  Congress. 
For  my  views  more  at  large,  as  well  in  relation  to  these  points 
as  to  the  disqualification  of  members  of  Congress  to  receive  an 


538  LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF 

office  from  a  President  in  whose  election  they  have  had  an  official 
agency,  which  I  proposed  as  a  substitute,  I  refer  you  to  my 
former  messages. 

Our  system  of  public  accounts  is  extremely  complicated,  and, 
it  is  believed,  may  be  much  improved.  Much  of  the  present 
machinery,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  expenditure  of 
public  money  may  be  dispensed  with,  while  greater  facilities  can 
be  afforded  to  the  liquidation  of  claims  upon  the  Government, 
and  an  examination  into  their  justice  and  legality,  quite  as 
efficient  as  the  present,  secured.  With  a  view  to  a  general 
reform  in  the  system  I  recommend  the  subject  to  the  attention 
of    Congress. 

I  deem  it  my  duty  again  to  call  your  attention  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  was,  doubtless,  wise  in  the 
framers  of  our  Constitution  to  place  the  people  of  this  district 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  General  Government;  but,  to  ac- 
complish the  objects  they  had  in  view,  it  is  not  necessary  that  this 
people  should  be  deprived  of  all  the  privileges  of  self-govern- 
ment. Independently  of  the  difficulty  of  inducing  the  repre- 
sentatives of  distant  States  to  turn  their  attention  to  projects 
of  laws  which  are  not  of  the  highest  interest  to  their  constit- 
uents, they  are  not  individually  nor,  in  Congress,  collectively 
well  qualified  to  legislate  over  the  local  concerns  of  this  District. 
Consequently,  its  interests  are  much  neglected,  and  the  people 
are  almost  afraid  to  present  their  grievances  lest  a  body,  in  which 
they  are  not  represented,  and  which  feels  little  sympathy  in 
their  local  relations,  should,  in  its  attempt  to  make  laws  for 
them,  do  more  harm  than  good.  Governed  by  the  laws  of  the 
States  whence  they  were  severed,  the  two  shores  of  the  Potomac, 
within  the  ten  miles  square,  have  different  penal  codes;  not  the 
present  codes  of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  but  such  as  existed  in 
those  States  at  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the  United  States.  As 
Congress  will  not  form  a  new  code,  and  as  the  people  of  the  dis- 
trict can  not  make  one  for  themselves,  they  are  virtually  under 
two  governments.  Is  it  not  just  to  allow  them  at  least  a  dele- 
gate in  Congress,  if  not  a  local  Legislature  to  make  laws  for  the 
District,  subject  to  the  approval  or  rejection  of  Congress?  I  ear- 
nestly recommend  the  extension  to  them  of  every  political  right 
which  their  interests  require,  and  which  may  be  compatible  with 
the  Constitution. 

The  extension  of  the  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States  is 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  539 

deemed  to  be  one  of  the  duties  of  Government.  One-fourth  of 
the  States  in  the  Union  do  not  participate  in  the  benefits  of  a 
circuit  court.  To  the  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  admitted  into  the  Union 
since  the  present  judicial  system  was  organized,  only  a  district 
court  has  been  allowed.  If  this  be  sufficient,  then  the  circuit 
courts,  already  existing  in  eighteen  States,  ought  to  be  abolished  ; 
»  if  it  be  not  sufficient,  the  defect  ought  to  be  remedied,  and 
these  States  placed  on  the  same  footing  with  the  other  members 
of  the  Union.  It  was  on  this  condition,  and  on  this  footing, 
that  they  entered  the  Union ;  and  they  may  demand  circuit 
courts  as  a  matter,  not  of  concession,  but  of  right.  I  trust  that 
Congress  will  not  adjourn  leaving  this  anomaly  in  our  system. 

Entertaining  the  opinions  heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  at  present  organized,  I  felt  it 
my  duty,  in  my  former  messages,  frankly  to  disclose  them,  in 
order  that  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people  should 
be  seasonably  directed  to  that  important  subject,  and  that  it 
might  be  considered  and  finally  disposed  of  in  a  manner  best  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  ends  of  the  Constitution  and  subserve  the 
public  interests.  Having  thus  conscientiously  discharged  a  Con- 
stitutional duty,  I  deem  it  proper,  on  this  occasion,  without  a 
more  particular  reference  to  the  views  of  the  subject  then  ex- 
pressed, to  leave  it  for  the  present  to  the  investigation  of  an 
enlightened  people  and  their  representatives. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  invoke  that  power  which  superin- 
tends all  governments  to  infuse  into  your  deliberations,  at  this  im- 
portant crisis  of  our  history,  a  spirit  of  mutual  forbearance  and 
conciliation.  In  that  spirit  was  our  Union  formed,  and  in  that 
spirit  must  it  be  preserved. 

In  this,  as  in  his  former  annual  messages,  the  Pres- 
ident renewed  his  recommendation  for  amending  the 
Constitution  to  take  the  election  of  President  and 
Vice-President  directly  to  the  people,  and  doing  away 
with  the  Electoral  College.  The  message  extols  the 
Indian  policy,  and  shows  its  progress.  The  Bank  of 
the  United  States  is  again  brought  to  the  notice  of 
Congress,  and  it  is  clearly  stated  that  the  Executive 


540  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

is  only  resting  in  his  opposition  to  the  Bank.  The 
Senate  now  confirmed  the  members  of  the  new  Cabinet 
without  opposition,  and  most  of  the  other  appointments. 
But  after  spending  a  great  part  of  two  months  in  dis- 
cussing the  appointment  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  Minis- 
ter to  England,  the  Senate  rejected  him.  He  had 
only  recently  arrived  in  London  and  presented  his 
credentials.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  friends  opposed  the 
confirmation  of  Van  Buren  on  both  personal  and  polit- 
ical grounds ;  and  while  little  else  was  to  be  expected 
of  them,  the  course  of  the  Senate  in  the  case  was  cen- 
surable in  a  high  degree,  as  needlessly  placing  the 
country  in  an  unfavorable  and  ridiculous  light  in  Eng- 
land. The  conduct  of  the  Senate  was  mean  and  in- 
defensible in  the  whole  matter.  On  the  part  of  the 
opponents  of  the  Administration  and  the  adherents  of 
Mr.  Calhoun,  this  affair  was  designed  to  spite  and  en- 
rage the  President,  and  insult  and  put  down  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  but  in  the  latter  purpose  especially,  they  sig- 
nally failed.  The  rejection  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  led  di- 
rectly to  his  nomination  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  and 
his  easy  approach  to  the  higher  place  in  which  the 
Man,  the  political  Autocrat  of  the  Nation,  had  deter- 
mined to  put  him. 

Although  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  would  not  expire  until  1836,  having  been 
granted  in  1816,  for  twenty  years,  it  was  decided  by 
the  leaders  among  its  managers  and  friends  to  bring 
the  subject  of  a  renewal  of  the  charter  before  Congress 
at  this  time.  It  was  confidently  believed  that  a  re- 
issue of  the  charter  was  certain,  and  that  Jackson's 
veto  would  only  do  what  the  friends  of  the  Bank 
mainly    desired,  defeat   him   in   the   approaching   race 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  541 

for  the  Presidency.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1832, 
George  M.  Dallas  presented  to  the  Senate  the  memo- 
rial asking  the  renewal  of  the  charter,  and  although 
believing  himself  that  it  was  the  wrong  time  to  spring 
this  great  question,  he  was  an  advocate  of  the  Bank. 
A  committee,  consisting  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  George 
McDuffie,  John  G.  Watmough,  C.  C.  Cambreleng,  Fran- 
cis Thomas,  R.  M.  Johnson,  and  A.  S.  Clayton,  was 
sent  to  Philadelphia  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the 
Bank.  This  committee  spent  some  time  in  making  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  condition  and  manage- 
ment, and  made  three  reports,  two  of  them  favorable 
to  the  Bank,  having  found  no  charge  of  consequence 
sustained  against  it;  and  Mr.  Adams,  who  himself 
made  one  of  the  reports,  declared  that  it  was  the  most 
satisfactorily  and  perfectly  conducted  institution  in  the 
world.  Nearly  all  of  this  long  session  was  taken  up 
in  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  the  debates  being  at 
times  very  bitter  and  personal.  Thomas  H.  Benton 
led  the  Administration  opposition  against  the  Bank 
giants,  and  did  it  with  great  skill,,  if  not  always  with 
fairness.  At  last,  on  the  11th  of  June,  a  bill  was 
passed  in  the  Senate,  and  on  the  3d  of  July,  in  the 
House,  providing  for  re-chartering  the  Bank,  by  a  vote 
of  twenty-eight  to  twenty  in  the  former,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  nine  to  seventy-six  in  the  latter,  body.  On 
the  10th  of  July,  six  days  after  it  was  presented  to 
the  President  for  his  signature,  he  returned  it  with 
his  veto. 

There  was  a  great  variety  of  opinion  as  to  the  ef- 
fect of  this  act  on  the  final  result  touching  the  Bank, 
and  on  the  Presidential  election.  The  Jackson  or 
Democratic  party  considered  it  as  settling  the  matter 


542  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

virtually,  forever,  and  the  friends  of  the  Bank  pre- 
tended to  believe  that  it  would  do  the  Bank  no  great 
harm,  but  forever  kill  Jackson.  Men  who  counted  on 
the  success  of  any  cause  espoused  by  General  Jackson 
were  safe.  Altjiough  the  opponents  of  the '  Bank 
meanly  and  without  a  shadow  of  foundation  attacked 
the  management  of  that  institution,  and  brought  con- 
temptible charges,  which  were  unnecessary  and  dis- 
graceful, yet  it  was  now  as  they  believed  but  a  ques- 
tion of  time.  Nor  were  they  mistaken  as  to  their 
estimates  of  the  good  influence  of  the  veto  on  the 
Presidential  election.  Although  men  are  still  divided 
as  to  the  virtue  of  this  Herculean  feat,  of  killing  the 
Bank,  on  the  part  of  General  Jackson,  it  long  ago 
ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  much  moment.  Jackson's 
strong  point,  demagogue-like,  appealing  to  the  passions 
of  the  masses,  was  that  the  Bank  was  a  tyrannical 
monopoly,  a  fortunate  partisan  term  which  ncA^er  could 
be  tolerated  by  the  people,  who  shouted  for  him.  Al- 
though the  fall  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
brought  temporary  ruin  to  the  country,  its  overthrow 
was,  perhaps,  for  the  best  in  the  end,  and  this  is  the 
general  verdict  of  America  to-day. 

Whoever  wrote  the  veto  message,  Mr.  Livingston 
certainly  had  no  part  in  it,  as  he  was  not  a  warm 
supporter  of  the  President's  opposition  to  the  Bank. 
In  the  fall  of  1832,  Mr.  Livingston  wrote  to  a  friend  : — 

"The  veto,  I  find,  is  well  received.  The  measure  could  not 
have  been  avoided  ;  the  managers  of  the  Bank  drew  it  on  them- 
selves, and  they  were  forwarded  by  those  who  thought  the  insti- 
tution necessary,  and  who  feared,  what  has  come  to  pass,  that  the 
pressure  of  the  question  would  endanger  it  in  any  shape.  As  to 
the  message,  I  will  say  no  more  of  it  than  that  no  part  of  it  is 
mine.      This    is    a    great    piece  of   self-denial,   considering    the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  543 

extravagant  applause  with  which  it  has  been  received  ;  but  I  prefer 
my  own  plain  feathers  to  those  of  any  peacock,  and  I,  therefure, 
to  you  disavow  any  participation  in  framing  this  splendid  pro- 
duction, which  has  received  the  title  of  the  Secoud  Declaration  of 
Independence;  but,  wonderful  as  the  production  i,s,  I  am  aston- 
ished (since  the  best  composition,  and  the  best  arguments  are 
frequently  assailed),  I  am  astonished,  I  say,  that  this  has  escaped 
so  well.  There  are  arguments  in  it  that  an  ingenious  critic  might 
plausibly  expose,  and  I  am  glad  that  it  has  only  been  nibbled  at 
by  the  editors.  Is  this  concert?  Or  what  can  be  the  rea.son  of 
this  forbearance?  I  dreaded  an  immediate  attack.  Our  friends 
have  lost  no  time  in  taking  off  its  force,  by  anticipating  the 
public  opinion." 

Of  the  Bank  legislation  and  other  features  of  this 
session  of  Congress,  Edwin  Williams,  one  of  the  fairest 
and  most  accurate  of  political  writers,  says  : — 

"  This  veto  message  having  been  read,  Mr.  Webster  moved 
that  the  Senate  should  proceed  to  reconsider  the  bill  the  next 
day.  At  tjie  appointed  hour,  the  bill  being  again  brought  under 
the  consideration  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Webster  reviewed  the  rea- 
sons and  arguments  of  the  Executive  at  length,  to  which  Mr. 
White,  of  Tennessee,  replied ;  and  the  discussion  was  continued 
until  the  13th  of  July,  when  'the  question  being  taken  on  the 
passage  of  the  bill,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  President, 
the  Senate  divided — yeas  twenty-two,  nays  nineteen  ;  and  the 
bill,  not  having  received  two-thirds  of  the  votes,  was  of  course 
rejected. 

"The  President's  Bank-veto  message  was  circulated  exten- 
sively throughout  the  Union,  and  proved  a  popular  document  in 
his  favor  in  its  effects  on  the  public  mind,  wherever  the  Bank 
was  but  little  known,  or  in  ill-favor.  Many  of  the  political 
friends  of  the  President,  however,  as  well  among  the  people,  as 
in  Congress,  differed  in  opinion  from  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
Bank.  In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  where  the  Bank  was  lo- 
cated, and  where  the  institution  was  popular,  the  President's 
course  was  severely  censured,  and  the  strength  of  the  Adminis- 
tration so  much  diminished,  as  at  one  period  to  make  its  success 
doubtful.  At  a  very  large  meeting  of  citizens  of  Philadelphia, 
composed  of  his  former  political  friends,  in  July,  1832,  soon  after 


644  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  veto  of  the  President,  resolutions  were  adopted  disapproving 
of  his  course  with  regard  to  the  Bank  and  other  public  measures, 
and  deprecating  his  re-election  to  the  Presidency  as  a  national 
calamity,  which  they  pledge  themselves  '  to  use  all  lawful  and 
honorable  means  to  avert,  by  opposing  the  re-election  of  Andrew 
Jackson.' 

"The  subject  of  the  public  lands  was  another  matter  of  im- 
portance which  was  agitated.  The  investigations  which  were  or- 
dered preliminary  to  modifying  the  tariff,  afforded  an  occasion  to 
urge  an  inquiry  into  the  expediency  of  reducing  the  price  of  the 
public  lands,  as  connected  with  the  revenue.  On  the  22d  of 
March,  1832,  Mr.  Bibb,  of  Kentucky,  an  Administration  Senator, 
moved  a  resolution  to  that  effect,  and  the  Committee  on  Manu- 
factures in  the  Senate  was  directed  to  make  the  inquiry. 

"  The  subject  of  internal  improvement  was  discussed  at  length 
during  this  session.  The  members  from  the  South,  and  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Administration  from  the  Eastern  States,  and  from 
New  York,  were  decidedly  opposed  to  appropriations  of  this 
character;  and  a  systematic  effort  was  generally  made  by  them 
to  defeat  the  bill  introduced  making  appropriations  for  that  ob- 
ject, including  the  improvement  of  certain  rivers  and  harbors, 
the  Cumberland  and  other  roads,  surveys,  etc.  The  bill  finally 
passed  both  Houses,  and  having  received  the  sanction  of  the 
President,  became  a  law.  By  the  act,  as  amended  in  its  passage, 
various  appropriations  were  made  for  works  not  enumerated  ;  it 
having  been  extended  by  these  amendments  to  an  amount  ex- 
ceeding one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  altogether 
beyond  its  original  scope,  adding  thus  an  additional  sanction  to 
the  policy  of  internal  improvement. 

"The  other  appropriations  for  internal  improvement  were 
contained  in  a  bill  for  the  improvement  of  certain  harbors  and 
rivers,  which  was  not  taken  up  in  the  House  until  the  25th  of 
May.  Certain  amendments  were  then  made;  and  on  the  1st  of 
June,  a  motion  by  Mr.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  to  strike  out  the  en- 
acting clause,  was  lost — yeas  seventy-two,  nays  one  hundred  and 
one — and  the  bill  finally  passed,  ninety-five  to  sixty-seven.  In 
the  Senate,  it  was  taken  up  on  the  3d  of  July,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  discussion  which  ensued,  Mr.  Clay  '  expressed  his  extreme 
surprise  that  the  President,  after  putting  his  veto  on  the  appro- 
priations for  works  of  such  public  utility  as  the  Maysville  and 
Rockville  Roads,  should   have  sanctioned  the  Internal  Improve- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  545 

ment  Bill,  in  which  appropriations  were  made  to  a  very  large 
amount,  and  which  differed  in  principle  not  one  particle  from 
the  one  he  had  rejected.  What  had  been  the  course  of  the 
present  Administration?  They  first  held  appropriations  for  cer- 
tain objects  of  internal  improvement  to  be  unconstitutional,  and 
then  sanctioned  appropriations  for  other  objects  depending  en- 
tirely on  the  same  principles  with  those  held  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional ;  and  the  result  has  been  to  open  an  entire  new  field  of 
internal  improvement.  Favorite  objects  had  been  considered 
Constitutional,  while  objects  in  States  not  so  much  cherished  had 
been  held  to  be  local.'  Mr.  Miller,  of  South  Carolina,  said:  '  We 
have  just  heard  that  the  President  has  signed  the  Internal  Im- 
provement Bill,  containing  appropriations  for  the  most  limited 
and  local  purposes.  I  hope  we  shall  never  again  be  referred  to 
the  veto  of  the  Maysville  and  Rockville  Roads,  as  a  security 
against  this  system.  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
and  the  President,  all  concur  in  this  power.' 

"The  Harbor  Bill,  as  it  was  called,  passed  the  Senate,  and 
was  sent  to  the  President  for  his  approbation,  on  the  13th  of 
July,  three  days  before  the  close  of  the  session.  This  bill,  which 
did  not  differ  in  principle  from  the  Internal  Improvement  Bill 
which  he  had  signed,  the  President  resolved  not  to  sanction,  but 
retained  the  bill  until  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  and 
thus  prevented  it  from  becoming  a  law. 

"The  same  course  was  adopted  by  the  President  in  relation 
to  a  bill  providing  for  the  repayment  to  the  respective  States  of 
all  interest  actually  paid,  for  moneys  borrowed  by  them  on  ac- 
count of  the  Federal  Government,  and  expended  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States.  This  bill  was  passed  by  both  Houses  at  this 
session,  but  when  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  President,  it  was 
doomed  to  the  fate  of  the  Harbor  BiU,  and  was  negatived  in  this 
novel  and  indirect  manner,  to  which  the  opposition  gave  the 
name  of  '  a  pocket  veto.' 

"  The  President  having,  in  his  annual  message,  recommended 
a  modification  of  the  tariff"  of  duties  on  imports,  the  subject  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Manufactures,  which,  as  well  as 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  had  been  selected  by  the 
Speaker  (who  was  hostile  to  the  protective  system)  with  a  view 
to  a  reduction  of  the  tariff*.  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures,  which,  on  the  23d 
of  May,  reported  a  new  tariff"  bill.     Mr.  McDuffie,  chairman  of 

.S5— G 


546  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  had,  at  an  earlier  period  of 
the  session,  namely,  on  the  8th  of  February,  reported  a  bill  in- 
tended to  meet  the  ultra  opponents  of  the  protective  system,  and 
the  report  which  accompanied  it  denounced  the  tarifl'  system  as 
imposing  a  tax  upon  the  South  for  the  benefit  of  the  North, 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  McLane,  on  the  27th  of 
April,  also  transmitted  to  Congress,  in  compliance  with  a  resolu- 
tion of  the  House,  a  bill  for  a  reduction  of  the  tariff,  with  a  report 
giving  his  views  on  this  topic. 

"  Before  the  report  of  the  Secretary  was  printed  Mr.  McDufRe 
brought  on  the  discussion  of  the  bill  reported  by  him.  On  the 
1st  of  June  a  motion  was  made  to  strike  out  the  first  section, 
■which  was  carried — eighty-one  yeas  to  forty-one  nays. 

"Mr.  Adams's  bill  was  then  taken  up,  and  after  a  long  and 
animated  discussion,  it  passed  the  House,  with  few  amendments, 
by  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  yeas  to  sixty-five  nays,  many  of 
the  opponents  of  protection  voting  in  the  afiirmative.  The  bill 
finally  passed  the  Senate  on  the  9th  of  July,  yeas  thirty-two, 
nays  sixteen,  and,  receiving  the  sanction  of  the  President,  became 
a  law. 

"  This  act  provided  for  a  grtat  reduction  of  the  revenue,  and 
for  no  small  diminution  of  the  duties  on  the  protected  articles  of 
domestic  manufacture,  but  it  was  a  direct  admission  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  protection,  and  it  was  so  regarded  by  all  parties.  It  was, 
however,  a  great  concession  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  pro- 
tective system  to  the  advocates  of  '  free  trade,'  and  as  such,  a 
general  expectation  prevailed  that  it  w^ould  be  received  by  the 
dominant  party  in  South  Carolina,  and  that  a  temporary  calm 
at  least  would  succeed  the  agitafton  upon  this  exciting  topic. 

"  Difi'erent  views,  it  appeared,  were  entertained  by  the  leaders 
of  that  party,  and  the  very  day  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the 
Kepresentatives  of  South  Carolina,  who  thought  nullification  the 
rightful  remedy,  met  at  Washington,  and  published  an  address 
to  the  people  of  South  Carolina  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff.  In 
that  address  they  assert,  that  in  the  act  just  passed  the  duties 
upon'  the  protected  articles  Avere  augmented,  while  the  diminu- 
tion was  made  only  in  the  duties  upon  the  unprotected  articles  ; 
that  in  this  manner  the  burden  of  supporting  the  Government 
was  thrown  exclusively  on  the  Southern  States,  and  the  other 
States  gained  more  than  they  lost  by  the  operations  of  the  revenue 
system. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  547 

"The  address  concludes  thus:  'They  will  not  pretend  to  sug- 
gest  the  appropriate  remedy,  but  after  expressing  their  solemn 
and  deliberate  conviction  that  the  protective  system  must  uow  be 
regarded  as  the  settled  policy  of  the  country,  and  that  all  hope 
of  relief  from  Congress  is  irrecoverably  gone,  they  leave  it  with 
you,  the  sovereign  power  of  the  State,  to  determine  whether  the 
rights  and  liberties  which  you  received  as  a  precious  inheritance 
from  an  illustrious  ancestry,  shall  be  tamely  surrendered  without 
a  struggle,  or  transmitted  undiminished  to  your  posterity." 

Out  of  the  heated  debates  of  this  session  some 
shameful  difficulties  arose,  in  which,  as  usual,  the 
President  was,  to  some  extent,  concerned.  To  Thomas 
H.  Benton  has  been  attributed  these  words,  uttered 
when  the  rencounter  of  1813  was  fresh  in  his  mind  :— 

"If  General  Jackson  shall  be  elected,  he  wiU  surround  him- 
self with  a  pack  of  political  bull-dogs,  to  bark  at  all  who  oppose 
his  measures.  For  myself,  as  I  can  not  think  of  legislating  with 
a  brace  of  pistols  in  my  belt,  I  shall,  in  the  event  of  the  election 
01  Oreneral  Jackson,  resign  my  seat  in  the  Senate,  as  every  inde- 
pendent man  will  have  to  do,  or  risk  his  life  or  honor." 

Whether  Mr.  Benton  gave  utterance  to  this  hope- 
ful sentiment  or  not,  during  this  session   of   Congress 
things  were  squally  enough.     Sam   Houston,   one   of 
the  finest  specimens  of  a  Western  fighter,  wanted  the 
contract  for  furnishing  the  supplies   for   the   Indians, 
then  preparing  to  move   to   their    new    home    on   the 
other  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  put  in   his   bid  at 
about  twice  what  it  was  believed  the   amount   should 
be.     General    Jackson    at    once    espoused    Houston's 
cause,  and  was  extremely  anxious   that  the   contract 
should  be  awarded  to  him  at  his  own  figures.     Hous- 
ton was  not  successful,  but  the  case  brought  out  warm 
words  in  the  House,  Mr.  William  Stanberry,  of  Ohio, 
having  referred  to  the  attempt  to   give   Houston   the 
contract,  as  fraudulent.     For  this  Houston   fell   upon 


548  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Stanberry  in  the  street,  and  beat  him  shamefully. 
Houston  was  brought  before  the  House,  of  which  lie 
was  a  member,  and  gently  reprimanded  by  sympa- 
thetic Andrew  Stevenson.  He  was,  however,  subse- 
quently tried  and  fined  in  a  Washington  Court. 
Thomas  D.  Arnold,  another  member,  for  speaking  of 
the  outrage  on  Stanberry,  was  attacked  and  shot  at 
in  the  Capitol,  by  a  friend  of  Houston. 

The  President  not  only  very  decidedly  approved 
the  shameful  and  brutal  conduct  of  Houston  and  his 
friend,  and  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  that  method 
of  keeping  quiet  the  officious  and  unruly  tongues  of 
Congressmen,  but  also  a  year  or  two  afterwards  re- 
mitted the  fine,  by  proclamation,  which  had  been 
imposed  on  Houston  by  the  District  Court.  Although 
General  Jackson  still  adhered  to  this  unchristian  and 
brutal  way  of  settling  differences,  and  never  did  be- 
come able  to  look  with  moderation  or  reason  upon 
opposition  to  his  will  or  acts,  the  "  bull-dog  "  traits  of 
his  times  at  Washington  were,  perhaps,  little  more 
apparent  than  formerly.  Dueling  had  always  dis- 
graced the  Capital  of  the  'Nation,  and  in  the  very 
Halls  of  Congress  equally  disreputable  scenes  had 
been  witnessed.  And  during  the  Administration  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  that  model  Executive  and  man 
would  take  no  direct  part  in  the  many  attempts 
to  put  down  the  unmanly  and  infernal  practice  of 
dueling  in  the  District,  believing,  he  said,  that  noth- 
ing could  then  be  done,  and  objecting  himself  to  the 
methods  proposed.  Congress  adjourned  on  the  16th 
of  July,  1832,  and  from  this  time  until  November 
little  was  thought  of  or  talked  about  throughout  the 
country  but  the  Presidential  election. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  549 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1832— CHOLERA  RAVAGES- 
FOURTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— BLACK  HAWK- 
NULLIFICATION. 

AH !  yes.  There  was  one  other  thing  which  more 
deeply  concerned  the  people  of  the  United  States 
during  the  sad  summer  of  1832,  than  the  strife  for  the 
Presidency.  In  June,  the  "  cholera,"  which  had  raged 
in  Europe  the  year  before,  reached  this  continent,  and 
soon  spread  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans,  strangely 
skipping  some  localities  where  its  ravages  were  nat- 
urally most  to  be  expected,  and  "  attacking "  other 
places  endowed  with  peculiarly  favorable  health-con- 
ditions, as  it  was  supposed.  Thousands  fell  before  the 
unmanageable  scourge,  whose  track  was  marked  by 
desolation  and  sorrow.  In  spite  of  all  this,  however, 
the  Presidential  contest  went  on  with  great  spirit  and 
bitterness.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  last  ses- 
sion of  Congress  numerous  petitions  were  presented 
by  Mr.  Adams  in  the  House  asking  the  abolition  of 
the  slave-trade,  and  of  slavery  itself  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.  A  somewhat  extended  account  of  the 
slavery  issue  has  been  attempted  in  other  volumes  of 
this  work.  Although  this  evil  question  had  little 
prominence  at  this  time,  yet  it  was  not  without  its 
influence  in  the  election  of  1832.  Nothing  was  more 
apparent  than  the  disposition  of    the    South    to   give 


550  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

preference  to  Southern  men  over  Northern  men  of 
Southern  policy.  New  issues  were  arising.  Jackson's 
Administration  had  already  furnished  plentiful  ma- 
terial for  conflict ;  the  United  States  Bank,  the  tariff, 
the  revenues,  nullification,  and  other  subjects  which 
were  of  great  importance  to  the  country.  The  ex- 
traordinary course  of  the  new  Administration,  of  the 
Jacksonian  "reign,"  had  led  to  a  reformation  of  the 
old  dominant  Democratic  or  Republican  party,  and  also 
given  rise  to  the  new  party,  the  Whig  or  National 
Republican.  Nullification  had  yet  not  been  quieted. 
Irreconcilable  difficulties  appeared  in  the  way  of  the 
Government ;  and  there  were  men  in  and  out  of  Con- 
gress at  that  very  time  who  believed,  or  pretended  to 
believe,  that  the  way  to  solve  the  troubles  of  the 
country  was  to  divide  it  into  two  governments.  Even 
General  Samuel  Smith,  of  Baltimore,  whose  own  for- 
tunes were  bankrupt,  in  perfect  calmness  and  good 
humor,  advocated  the  separation  of  the  Union,  with 
the  Potomac  as  the  boundary  between  the  two  parts. 
On  the  9th  of  August,  1831,  at  the  Broadway 
House  in  New  York,  John  C.  Calhoun  was  nominated 
for  the  Presidency  by  a  very  respectable  company  of 
men.  In  September  of  the  same  year,  the  Anti-Masons 
met  in  convention  at  Baltimore,  where  it  was  previously 
designed  to  nominate  Judge  John  McLean  as  their  can- 
didate for  that  office.  But  Mr.  McLean  declined  the 
honor,  and  William  Wirt  was  unfortunately  induced  to 
accept  the  nomination  for  the  Presidency,  while  Amos 
EUmaker,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  selected  as  the  candi- 
date for  the  Vice-Presidency.  The  Whigs  greatly  re- 
gretted this  event,  as  Mr.  Wirt  was  a  Whig,  and  few 
men  in  the  new  party  stood  higher  than  did  he.    Then, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  551 

too,  a  large  majority  of  the  Anti-Masons  were  Whigs 
or  National  Republicans.  It  was  fully  understood  that 
Mr.  Clay  was  to  be  the  Whig  candidate,  and  as  he 
was  a  Mason,  nominally,  at  least,  the  Anti-Masons 
could  not  support  him,  although  they  were  mainly  op- 
ponents of  the  Administration.  The  Anti-Masons  had 
met  in  the  previous  September,  at  Philadelphia,  but 
about  all  they  had  accomplished  at  that  time  was  pro- 
viding for  this  convention,  in  1831.  At  the  former 
meeting  ninety-six  delegates  were  present,  and  although 
little  was  done  .by  them,  they  constituted  really  the 
first  National  Convention  of  a  strictly  partisan  char- 
acter which  had  ever  assembled  in  the  country.  On  the 
12th  of  December,  1831,  the  Whigs,  or  National  Re- 
publicans, as  they  were  sometimes  called,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  Jacksonian  Republicans  or  Democrats, 
met  in  convention  at  Baltimore.  One  hundred  and 
fifty-soA^en  delegates  were  present,  representing  seven- 
teen States  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  Mr.  Clay 
was  unanimously  nominated  for  the  Presidency  by  this 
convention,  and  John  Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
chosen  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 

General  Jackson  had  indicated  his  willingness  to 
serve  for  another  term,  and  early  in  the  summer  of 
1831,  it  was  well  understood  that  he  was  to  be  the 
candidate  of  his  own  party.  The  "  Kitchen  Cabinet " 
had  the  entire  management  of  the  case,  and  the  leaders 
throughout  the  country  moved  as  directed  by  this 
privy  council.  Four  Such  men  as  Wm.  B.  Lewis, 
Isaac  Hill,  Amos  Kendall,  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  as 
cunning  and  skillful  political  managers,  can  nowhere  else 
be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  country.  And  when 
General  Jackson  is  placed  behind  this  rare  quartet  of 


552  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

artful  manipulators,  the  picture  becomes  complete. 
The  "  Kitchen  Cabinet"  decided  that  the  convention 
should  not  be  held  until  in  May,  1832,  and  the  only 
thing  for  it  to  do  was  the  formal  nomination.  They 
had  so  managed  the  matter  that  even  as  to  the  Vice- 
Presidency  there  could  be  no  mistake.  Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  to  be  nominated,  and  then,  it  was  the  will  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson  that  "  Matty  "  was  to  succeed  him  in  the 
White  House.  Accordingly  the  convention  assembled 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1832,  in  Baltimore.  Judge  Thomas 
Overton  was  to  be  the  presiding  officer,  but  illness 
kept  him  away,  and  the  next  best  man,  William  Car- 
roll, of  Tennessee,  was  put  in  the  chair.  With  all  the 
authoritative  management  beforehand,  it  was  found 
that  entire  unanimity  did  not  prevail  as  to  the  Vice- 
Presidency.  Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson  and  Philip 
P.  Barbour  were  brought  out,  and  a  small  vote  divided 
between  them,  but  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  more  than  the 
requisite  number  provided  for  in  this  convention,  and 
was  nominated. 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  dropped  from  the  race,  and  the 
nullifiers  of  South  Carolina  gave  the  vote  of  that 
State  to  John  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  and  Henry  Lee,  of 
Massachusetts.  The  "  Kitchen  Cabinet "  took  the  lead 
in  the  management  on  the  Jacksonian  side,  and  a  hot 
campaign  it  was.  In  these  Jackson  campaigns  the 
name  of  "  Old  Hickory  "  was  turned  to  every  possible 
advantage.  As  the  General  had  sailed  up  the  Ohio 
on  his  way  to  the  Capital  in  1829,  the  steamboat  was 
strangely  decorated  with  new  split  hickory  brooms. 
This  idea  extended  to  hickory  poles  which  long  ago 
became  the  exclusive  property  of  the  Democratic 
party.     These  hickory  poles  were  finally  mounted  by 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  553 

roosters,  appropriate  and  plucky  emblems  for  General 
Jackson  and  his  party,  the  selection  of  which  came 
naturally  enough  perhaps,  from  the  General's  early 
practice  of  cock-fighting.  While  this  campaign  was  in 
full  blast  President  Jackson  took  occasion  to  visit  Ten- 
nessee, and  remained  at  the  Hermitage  several  weeks. 
On  this  trip  the  General  turned  his  popularity  to  good 
account  in  every  way  possible.  He  talked  of  Nicholas 
Biddle,  "  Old  Nick,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called  in  the 
newspapers,  and  on  the  banners  in  the  Jackson  pro- 
cessions, and  of  the  monster  monopoly  that  he  was 
determined  to  crush.  He  also  displayed  his  golden 
coin,  the  hard  hickory  money  which  he  was  fighting 
to  put  into  the  hands  and  pockets  of  the  people,  whose 
servant  he  was.  The  style  of  General  Jackson  was 
always  more  or  less  that  of  the  demagogue ;  but  his 
fondest  sentiment  was  involved  in  the  belief  that  he 
was  the  embodiment  of  the  "  will  of  the  people." 
After  his  extraordinary  success  at  this  election,  this 
theory  became  still  more  absolute  with  him. 

The  supporters  of  General  Jackson  had  now  many 
arguments  in  his  favor  which  they  lacked  in  the  former 
races.  They  claimed,  without  proper  respect  for  truth 
in  all  cases,  that  Jackson  had  restored  the  management 
of  governmental  affairs  to  the  simplicity  and  principles 
of  Thomas  Jefferson ;  that  he  had  stopped  corruption 
in  the  public  expenditures  and  given  a  general  direc- 
tion to  affairs  in  favor  of  the  people ;  that  he  was  op- 
posed to  great  monopolies  in  general,  and  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  in  particular;  that  he  had  greatly 
increased  the  foreign  trade  of  the  country,  and  man- 
aged the  foreign  relations  with  unusual  success  ;  that 
he    was   safe    on   tariffs,   internal   improvements,    and 


554  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

distribution  of  revenue  ;  and,  above  all,  that  he  was  one 
of  the  people,  sprang  from  the  people,  represented  the 
people,  was  the  great  defender  of  the  people,  the  Hero 
of  New  Orleans ;  and  it  was  the  business  of  the  people 
to  shout  for  him,  and  elect  him,  because  he  was  a  part 
of  themselves,  a  man  of  passions  and  qualities  not 
unlike  the  lowest  of  them,  or  the  highest  of  them ; 
and  in  his  triumph  they  would  be  individually  and 
collectively  triumphant. 

Some  efforts  were  made  to  unite  the  interests  of 
the  small  faction  of  nullifiers  with  the  Whigs,  with 
the  hope  of  serving  Mr.  Calhoun,  but  nothing  came  of 
this,  and  out  of  South  Carolina,  these  mainly  became 
identified  with  the  opposition  to  Jackson.  The  Whigs 
had  now  not  only  the  bank,  tariff,  internal  improve- 
ment, and  several  other  important  issues  which  they 
set  forward  in  great  strength  with  the  very  consider- 
able personal  account  against  General  Jackson,  utilized 
in  1824  and  1828  ;  but  also  no  little  additional  matter 
gathered  from  his  career  at  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  Whig  press  was  wonderfully  active.  The 
opportunity  for  caricature  was  supposed  to  be  extraor- 
dinarily good,  and  advantage  was  taken  of  it  in  every 
conceivable  way.  The  main  figure  in  these  caricatures, 
of  course,  was  General  Jackson ;  but  he  was  often 
very  ludicrously  associated  with  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
the  Devil,  the  "  Pocket  Veto,"  etc.  One  of  the  most 
harmless  but  ludicrous  of  these  caricatures  represented 
Van  Buren  as  a  baby  in  the  arms  of  the  General,  who 
was  fondly  engaged  in  giving  him  pap  from  a  spoon. 
The  old  ground  was  gone  over,  back  to  the  Creek 
war,  and  even  to  Jackson's  youth  in  Carolina. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  555 

But  some  of  the  old  scores  were  not  repeated  at 
this  time.  For  instance,  the  celebrated  "  coffin  hand- 
bills "  of  John  Binns,  in  1824,  were  not  now  brought 
forward.  Poor  Binns  was  a  Democrat  of  the  straitest 
sect,  but  he  believed  General  Jackson  was  entirely 
unfit  to  be  President,  and  hence  he  gave  the  earnest 
efforts  of  the  "  Democratic  Press  "  to  the  support  of 
Mr.  Crawford  in  1824,  and  Mr.  Adams  in  1828.  In 
this  course  he  was  greatly  the  loser.  Who  ever  op- 
posed General  Jackson  without  being  a  loser?  Binns 
says  on  this  point :  "  My  opposition  to  General  Jackson 
had  great  influence,  not  only  upon  my  editorial  and  po- 
litical position  in  the  United  States,  but  it  and  my  op- 
position to  Governor  Findlay,  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1819 
and  1820,  sadly  affected  my  pecuniary  affairs." 

But  he  manfully  adds  :  "  I  have,  however,  never 
regretted  that  I  adhered  to  what  I  believed  to  be  the 
truth,  even  though  my  determination  not  only  shut 
me  out  from  all  approach  to  the  public  crib,  but  was 
the  cause  of  my  never  recovering  thousands  which  I 
had  honestly  earned." 

Of  General  Jackson's  efforts  to  enlist  him  and  his 
paper  in  his  cause,  at  his  second  race,  Mr.  Binns 
says  : — 

"Soon  after  General  Jackson's  nomination  by  the  party, 
General  Eaton,  then  the  special  confidant  and  political  friend  of 
General  Jackson,  and  one  with  whom  I  had  had  some  previous 
personal  intercourse,  called  on  me,  with  the  declaration  that  he 
was  authorized  by  General  Jackson  to  assure  me  that,  '  if  I  would 
advocate  the  election  of.the  General,  when  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent, I  should,  if  I  thought  well  of  it,  remove  to  Washington 
City,  become  the  editor  aud  proprietor  of  the  Government  news- 
paper, and  do  as  much  as  I  chose  of  the  public  printing ;  or,  if 
I  did  not  wish  to  leave  Philadelphia,  as  much  of  the  ptiblic  print- 
ing as  I  desired  should  be  forwarded  to  Philadelphia  for  me  to 


556  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

do,  at  the  Government  prices.'  I  assured  General  Eaton  that  '  I 
was  as  grateful  as  any  man  could  be  for  the  distinguished  services 
which  General  Jackson  had  rendered  the  United  States,  but  that, 
after  what  I  had  Avritten  and  published  in  relation  to  the  Gen- 
eral, I  could  not,  from  self-respect,  give  myself  the  lie  direct,  as  I 
must  do,  if  I  were  now  to  advocate  his  election.'  Two  or  three 
weeks  after  this  interview  with  General  Eaton,  I  was  called  upon 
by  three  gentlemen,  of  high  standing  in  the  Democratic  party : 
Thomas  Leiper,  James  Ronaldson,  and  Samuel  Carswell.  To  all 
these  gentlemen  I  had,  for  many  years,  had  the  honor  to  be  per- 
sonally known,  and  had  frequently  served  on  Democratic  com- 
mittees with  them  ;  I  was  sensible  of  their  zeal  and  influence,  of 
their  liberality  and  their  services,  as  members  of  the  party,  and 
of  their  personal  good-will  toward  myself.  Their  business  was 
in  substance,  and  opened  in  language  very  much  the  same  as 
that  which  had  been  used  by  General  Eaton.  I  listened  with  at- 
tention and  respect,  expressed  my  thanks  for  their  visit,  was  sure 
it  was  consequent  upon  their  desire  to  serve  me,  and  regretted 
that  I  was  unable  to  see  any  honorable  way  in  which  I  could 
follow  their  advice,  and  advocate  the  election  of  General  Jackson. 
I  represented  how  impossible  it  was,  with  a  proper  sense  of  self- 
respect,  to  act  as  they  were  desirous  I  should  act.  I  believed 
that  the  objections  I  had  alleged  against  General  Jackson  were 
founded  on  fact,  and  for  me  to  turn  such  a  somerset  as  they  pro- 
posed, must  inevitably  disgrace  myself,  without  reflecting  honor 
upon  or  doing  service  to  the  General.  I  have  never  doubted 
but  (that)  General  Jackson  would  have  fulfilled  all  the  promises 
made  by  his  friends.  He  was  so  much  a  man  of  impulse,  so 
anxious  to  succeed,  and  so  grateful  to  his  partisans,  that  he  would 
have  labored  hard  to  serve  them,  even  beyond  his  promises.  All 
the  world  are  aware  how  much  the  General  labored  to  overpay 
his  friends  and  partisans  at  the  public  expense." 

In  this  campaign  the  Whigs  ("  Democratic  Whigs," 
or  National  Republicans)  made  great  use  of  the  fact 
that  the  Jacksonian  party  had  not  sent  out  a  state- 
ment of  principles,  had  not  deigned  to  do  more  than 
merely  recommend  the  public  defenders  to  make  such 
explanations  to  the  people  as  they  should  deem  neces- 
sary from  the  circumstances.     This  was  a  wide  field, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  557 

indeed.  But  platforms  were  not  suited  to  the  case. 
General  Jackson  was  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  all 
arguments.  He  was  not  a  man  of  "  platforms,"  and  it 
was  enough  for  his  supporters  to  say  Jackson,  and 
"  Hurrah  for  Jackson  "  rang  from  one  end  of  the  coun- 
try to  the  other.  But  the  fine  Whig  "  platform,"  the 
great  ''  Commoner "  at  the  head  of  the  Whig  ticket, 
and  all  the  efforts  of  the  Whig  party,  were  trifles  in 
the  way  of  General  Jackson,  whose  success  was  even 
beyond  his  own  expectations.  Prophets  had  announced 
that  the  Bank  A^eto  would  kill  Jackson  and  prevent 
his  election,  if  nothing  else  could.  It  was  a  mistake. 
Every  adverse  precjiction  as  to  General  Jackson  was 
a  mistake.  Nothing  could  kill  him.  Everything  he 
did,  right  or  wrong,  advanced  him  in  the  public  favor. 
During  the  summer  of  1832  occurred  the  war  with 
Black  Hawk,  the  courageous  chief  who  resisted  the 
purposes  of  the  United  States  in  removing  him  and  his 
people  from  their  old  homes  on  the  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. A  full  account  of  this  war  may  be  found  in  a 
succeeding  volume  of  this  work.  The  following  state- 
ment will  place  the  matter  in  sufficient  prominence  in 
connection  with  this  Administration  : — 

"Some  difficulties  occurred  with  the  Indian  tribes  on  the 
north-western  frontier  of  the  United  States  during  the  year  1832. 
A  treaty  had  been  made  in  1830  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  by 
which  they  agreed  to  cede  their  lands  to  the  United  States,  and 
to  remove  beyond  the  Mississippi.  As  they  did  not  promptly 
comply  with  the  treaty,  and  one  band,  under  a  noted  chief  named 
Black  Hawk,  evinced  a  determination  to  maintain  possession  of 
their  old  village,  John  Reynolds,  Governor  of  Illinois,  chose  to 
construe  their  continued  residence  in  the  ceded  territory  as  an 
invasion  of  the  State ;  and,  under  his  authority  to  protect  the 
State  from  invasion,  he  ordered  out  seven  hundred  militia  to  re- 
move the  Indians  beyond  the  Mississippi,  according  to  the  treaty. 


558  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

"This  interference  with  the  peculiar  duties  of  the  Federal 
Government  compelled  the  officer  commanding  the  United  States 
troops  in  that  quarter  to  co-operate  with  him,  in  order  to  prevent 
a  collision  between  the  State  militia  and  the  Indians.  Overawed 
by  the  imposing  force  brought  against  them,  they  yielded  to  ne- 
cessity, and  crossed  the  Mississippi,  but  gathering  strength  on 
the  western  bank  of  the  river,  and  exasperated  at  the  harsh 
treatment  they  had  received,  Black  Hawk  and  his  party  resolved 
on  commencing  a  predatory  war  on  the  frontier  settlements.  In 
the  month  of  March,  1832,  Black  Hawk  assembled  a  band  of  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  which,  united  with  the  Winnebagoes,  under  the  con- 
trol of  their  prophet,  were  about  one  thousand  in  number,  and 
crossed  the  Mississippi  in  a  hostile  manner.  They  afterward  an- 
noyed the  people  in  the  mining  district  of  Wisconsin,  and  mur- 
dered a  number  of  defenseless  families.  The  alarm  became  gen- 
eral on  the  frontier,  and  many  settlers  fled  from  their  farms. 
The  militia  were  called  out,  and,  joined  with  about  four  hundred 
United  States  regular  troops,  under  the  command  of  General  At- 
kinson, pursued  the  Indians ;  and  after  a  campaign  of  about  two 
months,  during  which  two  engagements  were  fought,  and  the  In- 
dians lost  over  two  hundred  men  killed,  the  war  was  brought  to 
an  end.  Black  Hawk  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  party  of  friendly 
Indians,  and  he,  with  the  prophet  and  other  leaders,  was  taken, 
by  order  of  the  Government,  through  the  principal  cities  and 
towns  on  the  seaboard,  to  show  them  the  power  of  the  United 
States,  after  which  they  gave  no  further  trouble.  Treaties  were 
made  with  the  offending  tribes,  by  which  they  agreed  to  com- 
pensate for  the  expense  of  the  war  by  a  cession  of  a  valuable 
part  of  their  territory,  and  to  immediately  remove  to  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  United  States  stipulated  to  pay 
thirty  thousand  dollars  annually  to  the  three  tribes  for  twenty- 
seven  years,  and  other  provisions  were  made  for  their  improve- 
ment and  civilization." 

On  the  3d  of  December,  1832,  Congress  convened 
for  the  short  session  ending  March  3d,  1833.  Hugh 
L.  White,  of  Tennessee,  was  elected  president  of  the 
Senate,  jcro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent. Mr.  Calhoun  had  been  elected  to  the  Senate  in 
the  place  of  R.  Y.  Hayne,  who  had  become  Governor 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  559 

of  South  Carolina,  and  soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
session,  took  his  seat  in  that  body  under  the  most 
unfortunate,  suspicious,  and  unfavorable  conditions  in 
the  course  of  his  history. 

President  Jackson  now  sent  to  Congress  his 

FOURTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

December  4,  1S32. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepeesentatives  : — 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  upou  your  return  to 
the  seat  of  government,  for  the  purpose  of  discharging  your 
duties  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Although  the  pesti- 
lence which  had  traversed  the  Old  World  has  entered  our  limits, 
and  extended  its  ravages  over  much  of  our  land,  it  has  pleased 
Almighty  God  to  mitigate  its  severity,  and  lessen  the  number  of 
victims,  compared  with  those  who  have  fallen  in  most  other  coun- 
tries over  which  it  has  spread  its  terrors.  Notwithstanding  this 
visitation,  our  country  presents  on  every  side  marks  of  pros- 
perity and  happiness,  unequaled,  perhaps,  in  any  other  portion 
of  the  world.  If  we  fully  appreciate  our  comparative  condition, 
existing  causes  of  discontent  will  appear  unworthy  of  attention, 
and  with  hearts  of  thankfulness  to  that  Divine  Being  who  has 
filled  our  cup  of  prosperity  we  shall  feel  our  resolution  strength- 
ened to  preserve  and  hand  down  to  posterity  that  liberty  and  that 
Union  which  we  have  received  from  our  fathers,  and  which  con- 
stitute the  sources  and  the  shield  of  our  blessings. 

The  relations  of  ovir  country  continue  to  present  the  same 
picture  of  amicable  intercourse  that  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  hold 
up  to  your  view  at  the  opening  of  your  last  session.  The  same 
friendly  professions,  the  same  desire  to  participate  in  our  flourish- 
ing commerce,  the  same  disposition  to  refrain  from  injuries  unin- 
tentionally offered,  are,  with  few  exceptions,  evinced  by  all 
nations  with  Whom  we  have  any  intercourse.  This  desirable  state 
of  things  may  be  mainly  ascribed  to  our  undeviating  practice  of 
the  rule  which  has  long  guided  our  national  policy,  to  require  no 
exclusive  privileges  in  commerce,  and  to  grant  none.  It  is  daily 
producing  its  beneficial  efl'ect  in  the  respect  shown  to  our  flag, 
the  protection  of  our  citizens  and  their  property  abroad,  and  in 
the  increase  of  our  navigation,  and  the  extension  of  our  mercantile 
operations.     The  returns  which  have  been  made  out  since  we  last 


560  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

met,  will  show  an  increase,  during  the  last  preceding  year,  of 
more  that  80,000  tons  in  our  shipping,  and  of  near  forty  millions 
of  dollars  in  the  aggregate  of  our  imports  and  exports. 

Nor  have  we  less  reason  to  felicitate  ourselves  on  the  position 
of  our  jDolitical  than  of  our  commercial  concerns.  They  remain 
in  the  state  in  which  they  were  when  I  last  addressed  you,  a 
state  of  prosperity  and  peace,  the  effect  of  a  wise  attention  to  the 
parting  advice  of  the  revered  Father  of  his  Country  on  this  sub- 
ject, condensed  into  a  maxim  for  the  use  of  posterity,  by  one  of 
his  most  distinguished  successors,  to  cultivate  free  commerce  and 
honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  but  to  make  entangling  alli- 
ances with  none.  A  strict  adherence  to  this  policy  has  kept  us 
aloof  from  the  perplexing  questions  that  now  agitate  the  Eu- 
ropean world,  and  have  more  than  once  deluged  those  countries 
with  blood.  Should  those  scenes  unfortunately  recur,  the  par- 
ties to  the  contest  may  count  on  a  faithful  performance  of  the 
duties  incumbent  on  us  as  a  neutral  nation,  and  our  own  citizens 
may  equally  rely  on  the  firm  assertion  of  their  neutral  rights. 

With  the  nation  that  was  our  earliest  friend  and  ally  in  the 
infancy  of  our  political  existence,  the  most  friendly  relations 
have  subsisted  through  the  late  revolutions  of  its  government; 
and  from  the  events  of  the  last,  promise  a  permanent  duration. 
It  has  made  an  approximation  in  some  of  its  political  institutions 
to  our  own,  and  raised  a  monarch  to  the  throne  who  preserves, 
it  is  said,  a  friendly  recollection  of  the  period  during  which  he 
acquired  among  our  citizens  the  high  consideration  that  could 
then  have  been  produced  by  his  personal  qualifications  alone. 

Our  commerce  with  that  nation  is  gradually  assuming  a  mutu- 
ally beneficial  character,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  claims  of 
our  citizens  has  removed  the  only  obstacle  there  was  to  an  inter- 
course not  only  lucrative,  but  productive  of  literary  and  scientific 
improvement. 

From  Great  Britain,  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you 
that  I  continue  to  receive  assurances  of  the  most  amicable  dispo- 
sition, which  have,  on  my  part  on  all  proper  occasions  been 
promptly  and  sincerely  reciprocated.  The  attention  of  that  gov- 
ernment has  latterly  been  so  much  engrossed  by  matters  of  a 
deeply  interesting  domestic  character,  that  we  could  not  press 
upon  it  the  renewal  of  negotiations  which  had  been  unfortu- 
nately broken  off  by  the  unexpected  recall  of  our  minister,  who 
had  commenced  them  with  some   hopes   of  success.     My   great 


ANDKEW  JACKSON.  561 

object  was  the  settlement  of  questions  which,  though  now  dor- 
mant, might  hereafter  be  revived  under  circumstances  that  would 
endanger  the  good  understanding  which  it  is  the  interest  of  both 
parties  to  preserve  inviolate,  cemented  as  it  is  by  a  community 
of  language,  manners,  and  social  habits,  and  by  the  high  obliga- 
tions we  owe  to  our  British  ancestors  for  many  of  our  most  val- 
uable institutions,  and  for  that  system  of  representative  govern- 
ment which  has  enabled  us  to  preserve  and  improve  them. 

The  question  of  our  north-eastern  boundary  still  remains  unset- 
tled. In  my  last  annual  message,  I  explained  to  you  the  situa- 
tion in  which  I  found  that  business  on  my  coming  into  office,  and 
the  measures  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  pursue  for  asserting  the 
rights  of  the  United  States,  before  the  sovereign  who  had  been 
chosen  by  my  predecessor  to  determine  the  question ;  and  also  the 
manner  in  which  he  disposed  of  it.  A  special  message  to  the 
Senate,  in  their  executive  capacity,  afterward  brought  before 
them  the  question,  whether  they  would  advise  a  submission  to 
the  opinion  of  the  sovereign  arbiter.  That  body  having  consid- 
ered the  award  as  not  obligatory,  and  advised  me  to  open  a  further 
negotiation,  the  proposition  was  immediately  made  to  the  British 
Government ;  but  the  circumstances  to  which  I  have  alluded 
have  hitherto  prevented  any  answer  being  given  to  the  overture. 
Early  attention,  however,  has  been  promised  to  the  subject,  and 
every  effort  on  my  part  will  be  made  for  a  satisfactory  settle- 
ment of  this  question,  interesting  to  the  Union  generally,  and  par- 
ticularly so  to  one  of  its  members. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  on  Spain  are  not  yet  acknowledged. 
On  a  closer  investigation  of  them  than  appears  to  have  hereto- 
fore taken  place  it  was  discovered  that  some  of  these  demands, 
however  strong  they  might  be  upon  the  equity  of  that  govern- 
ment, Avere  not  such  as  could  be  made  the  subject  of  national 
interference.  And,  faithful  to  the  principle  of  asking  nothing 
but  what  was  clearly  right,  additional  instructions  have  been  sent 
to  modify  our  demands  so  as  to  embrace  those  only  on  which, 
according  to  the  laws  of  nations,  we  had  a  strict  right  to  insist. 
An  inevitable  delay  in  procuring  the  documents  necessary  for 
this  review  of  the  merits  of  these  claims,  retarded  this  operation,' 
until  an  unfortunate  malady  which  has  afflicted  his  Catholic 
Majesty,  prevented  an  examination  of  them.  Being  now  for  the 
first  time  presented  in  an  unexceptionable  form,  it  is  confidently 
hoped  the  application  will  be  successful. 

36— G 


562  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the  application  I 
directed  to  be  made  for  the  delivery  of  a  part  of  the  archives  of 
Florida,  which  had  been  carried  to  the  Havana,  has  produced  a 
royal  order  for  their  delivery,  and  that  measures  have  been  taken 
to  procure  its  execution. 

By  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  communicated  to  you 
on  the  25th  of  June  last,  you  Avere  informed  of  the  conditional 
reduction  obtained  by  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  at 
Madrid,  of  the  duties  on  tonnage  levied  on  American  shipping 
in  the  ports  of  Spain.  The  condition  of  that  reduction  having 
been  complied  with  on  our  part,  by  the  act  passed  on  the  13th 
of  July  last,  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  our  ships 
now  pay  no  higher  nor  other  duties,  in  the  continental  ports  of 
Spain,  than  are  levied  on  their  national  vessels. 

The  demands  against  Portugal  for  illegal  captures  in  the 
blockade  of  Terceira  have  been  allowed  to  the  full  amount  of 
the  accounts  presented  by  the  claimants,  and  payment  was  prom- 
ised to  be  made  in  three  installments.  The  first  of  these  has 
been  paid;  the  second,  although  due,  had  not,  at  the  date  of  our 
last  advices,  been  received,  owing,  it  was  alleged,  to  embarrass- 
ments in  the  finances,  consequent  on  the  civil  war  in  which  the 
nation  is  engaged. 

The  payments  stipulated  by  the  convention  with  Denmark 
have  been  punctually  made,  and  the  amount  is  ready  for  distri- 
bution among  the  claimants  as  soon  as  the  board,  now  sitting, 
shall  have  performed  their  functions. 

I  regret  that,  by  the  last  advices  from  our  charge  d'affaires 
at  Naples,  that  government  had  still  delayed  the  satisfaction  due 
to  our  citizens;  but,  at  that  date,  the  effect  of  the  last  instruc- 
tions was  not  known.  Dispatches  from  thence  are  hourly  ex- 
pected and  the  result  will  be  communicated  to  you  without  delay. 

With  the  rest  of  Europe  our  relations,  political  and  commer- 
cial, remain  unchanged.  Negotiations  are  going  on,  to  put  on  a 
permanent  basis  the  liberal  system  of  commerce  now  carried  on 
between  us  and  the  Empire  of  Russia.  The  treaty  concluded 
with  Austria  is  executed  by  his  Imperial  Majesty  with  the  most 
perfect  good  faith  ;  and  as  we  have  no  diplomatic  agent  at  his 
Court,  he  personally  inquired  into,  and  corrected  a  proceeding 
of  some  of  his  subaltern  officers,  to  the  injury  of  our  consul  in 
one  of  his  ports. 

Our  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte  is  producing  its  expected 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  563 

effects  on  our  commerce.  New  markets  are  opening  for  our 
commodities,  and  a  more  extensive  range  for  the  employment  of 
our  ships.  A  slight  augmentation  of  the  duties  on  our  com- 
merce, inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  treaty,  had  been  im- 
posed; but,  on  the  representation  of  our  charge  d'affaires,  it  has 
been  promptly  withdrawn,  and  we  now  enjoy  the  trade  and 
navigation  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  of  all  the  ports  belonging  to  the 
Turkish  empire  and  Asia,  on  the  most  perfect  equality  with  all 
foreign  nations. 

I  wish  earnestly  that,  in  announcing  to  you  the  continuance 
of  friendship,  and  the  increase  of  a  profitable  commercial  inter- 
course with  Mexico,  with  Central  America,  and  the  States  of 
the  South,  I  could  accompany  it  with  the  assurance  that  they  all 
are  blessed  with  that  internal  tranquillity,  and  foreign  peace, 
which  their  heroic  devotion  to  the  cause  of  their  independence 
merits.  In  Mexico,  a  sanguinary  struggle  is  now  carried  on, 
which  has  caused  some  embarrassment  to  our  commerce;  but 
both  parties  profess  the  most  friendly  disposition  toward  us.  To 
the  termination  of  this  contest,  we  look  for  the  establishment  of 
that  secure  intercourse,  so  necessary  to  nations  whose  territories 
are  contiguous.  HoW  important  it  will  be  to  us,  we  may  calcu- 
late from  the  fact  that,  even  in  this  unfavorable  state  of  things, 
our  maritime  commerce  has  increased,  and  an  internal  trade,  by 
caravans,  from  St.  Louis  to  Santa  Fe,  under  the  protection  of 
escorts  furnished  by  the  Government,  is  carried  on  to  great 
advantage,  and  is  daily  increasing.  The  agents  provided  for  by 
the  treaty  with  this  power,  to  designate  the  boundary  which  is 
established,  have  been  named  on  our  part ;  but  one  of  the  evils 
of  the  civil  war  now  raging  there,  has  been,  that  the  appoint- 
ment of  those  with  whom  they  were  to  co-operate  has  not  yet 
been  announced  to  us. 

The  government  of  Central  America  has  expelled  from  its 
territory  the  party  which  some  time  since  disturbed  its  peace. 
Desirous  of  fostering  a  favorable  disposition  toward  us,  which  has 
on  more  than  one  occasion  been  evinced  by  this  interesting 
country,  I  made  a  second  attempt  in  this  year  to  establish  a  di- 
plomatic intercourse  with  them ;  but  the  death  of  the  distin- 
guished citizen  whom  I  had  appointed  for  that  purpose  has 
retarded  the  execution  of  measures  from  which  I  hoped  much 
advantage  to  our  commerce.  The  union  of  the  three  States  which 
formed  the  Republic  of  Colombia  has   been  dissolved,  but  they 


564  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

all,  it  is  believed,  consider  themselves  as  separately  bound  by  the 
treaty  which  was  made  in  their  federal  capacity.  The  minister  ac- 
credited to  the  federation  continues  in  that  character  near  the  Gov- 
ernment of  New  Grenada ;  and  hopes  were  entertained  that  a  new 
union  would  be  formed  between  the  separate  States,  at  least  for  the 
purposes  of  foreign  intercourse.  Our  minister  has  been  instructed 
to  use  his  good  offices,  whenever  they  shall  be  desired,  to  produce 
the  reunion  so  much  to  be  wished  for  the  domestic  tranquillity  of 
the  parties,  and  the  security  and  facility  of  foreign  commerce. 

Some  agitations,  naturally  attendant  on  an  infant  reign,  have 
prevailed  in  the  Empire  of  Brazil,  which  have  had  the  usual 
effect  upon  commercial  operations ;  and  while  they  suspended  the 
consideration  of  claims  created  on  similar  occasions,  they  have 
given  rise  to  new  complaints  on  the  part  of  our  citizens.  A 
proper  consideration  for  calamities  and  difficulties  of  this  nature 
has  made  us  less  urgent  and  peremptory  in  our  demands  for  jus- 
tice than  duty  to  our  fellow-citizens  would,  under  other  circum- 
stances have  required.  But  their  claims  are  not  neglected,  and 
will,  on  all  proper  occasions,  be  urged  and,  it  is  hoped,  with  effect. 

I  refrain  from  making  any  communication  on  the  subject  of 
our  affairs  with  Buenos  Ayres,  because  the  negotiation  commu- 
nicated to  you  in  my  last  annual  message  was,  at  the  date  of  our 
last  advices,  still  pending,  and  in  a  state  that  would  render  a 
publication  of  the  details  inexpedient. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  has  been  formed  with  the 
Republic  of  Chili,  which,  if  approved  by  the  Senate,  will  be  laid 
before  you.  That  government  seems  to  be  established,  and  at 
peace  with  its  neighbors ;  and  its  ports  being  the  resort  of  our 
ships,  which  are  employed  in  the  highly  important  trade  of  the 
fisheries,  this  commercial  convention  can  not  but  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  our  fellow-citizens  engaged  in  that  perilous  but  profit- 
able business. 

Our  commerce  with  the  neighboring  State  of  Peru,  owing  to 
the  onerous  duties  levied  on  our  principal  articles  of  export,  has 
been  on  the  decline,  and  all  endeavors  to  procure  an  alteration 
have  hitherto  proved  fruitless.  With  Bolivia  we  have  yet  no  dip- 
lomatic intercourse,  and  the  continual  contests  carried  on  between 
it  and  Peru  have  made  me  defer,  until  a  more  favorable  period, 
the  appointment  of  any  agent  for  that  purpose. 

An  act  of  atrocious  piracy  having  been  committed  on  one 
of  our  trading  ships  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  settlement  on  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  565 

west  coast  of  Sumatra,  a  frigate  was  dispatched  with  orders  to 
demand  satisfaction  for  the  injury,  if  those  who  committed  it 
should  be  found  members  of  a  regular  government,  capable  of 
maintaining  the  usual  relations  with  foreign  nations ;  but  if,  as 
it  was  supposed,  and  as  they  proved  to  be,  they  were  a  band  of  law 
less  pirates,  to  inflict  such  a  chastisement  as  would  deter  them 
and  others  from  like  aggressions.  This  last  was  done,  and  the 
efect  has  been  an  increased  respect  for  our  flag  in  those  distant 
seas,  and  additional  security  for  our  commerce. 

In  the  view  I  have  given  of  our  connections  with  foreign 
powers,  allusions  have  been  made  to  their  domestic  disturbances  or 
foreign  wars,  to  their  revolutions  or  dissensions.  It  may  be 
proper  to  observe  that  this  is  done  solely  in  cases  where  those 
events  afiect  our  political  relations  with  them,  or  to  show  their 
operation  on  our  commerce.  Further  than  this,  it  is  neither  our 
policy  nor  our  right  to  interfere.  Our  best  wishes  on  all  occa- 
sions, our  good  offices  when  required,  will  be  afforded  to  promote 
the  domestic  tranquillity  and  foreign  peace  of  all  nations  with 
whom  we  have  any  intercourse.  Any  intervention  in  their  affairs 
further  than  this,  even  by  the  expression  of  an  official  opinion,  is 
contrary  to  our  principles  of  international  policy,  and  will  always 
be  avoided. 

The  report  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will,  in  due 
time,  lay  before  you,  will  exhibit  the  national  finances  in  a  highly 
prosperous  state.  Owing  to  the  continued  success  of  our  com- 
mercial enterprise,  Avhich  has  enabled  the  merchants  to  fulfiU 
their  engagements  with  the  Government,  the  receipts  from  cus- 
toms during  the  year  will  exceed  the  estimate  presented  at  the 
last  session ;  and,  with  the  other  means  of  the  Treasury,  will 
prove  fully  adequate,  not  only  to  meet  the  increased  expenditures 
resulting  from  the  large  appropriations  made  by  Congress,  but  to 
provide  for  the  payment  of  all  the  public  debt  which  is  at  pres- 
ent redeemable.  It  is  now  estimated  that  the  customs  will  yield 
to  the  Treasury,  during  the  present  year,  upward  of  twenty-eight 
millions  of  dollars.  The  public  lands,  however,  have  proved  less 
productive  than  was  anticipated ;  and,  according  to  present  infor- 
mation, will  fall  short  of  two  millions.  The  expenditures  for  all 
objects  other  than  the  public  debt,  are  estimated  to  amount,  dur- 
ing the  year,  to  about  sixteen  millions  of  dollars,  while  a  still 
larger  sum,  viz.,  eighteen  millions  of  dollars,  will  have  been 
applied  to  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  public  debt. 


566  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

It  is  expected,  however,  that  in  consequence  of  the  reduced 
rates  of  duty,  which  will  take  effect  after  the  3d  of  March  next, 
there  will  be  a  considerable  falling  off  in  the  revenue  from  the 
customs  in  the  year  1833.  It  will,  nevertheless,  be  amply  suf- 
ficient to  provide  for  all  the  wants  of  the  public  service,  esti- 
mated even  upon  a  liberal  scale,  and  for  the  redemption  and  pur- 
chase of  the  remainder  of  the  public  debt.  On  the  1st  of  January 
next,  the  entire  public  debt  of  the  United  States,  funded  and 
unfunded,  will  be  reduced  to  within  a  fraction  of  seven  millions 
of  dollars ;  of  which  two  millions  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  dollars  are  not,  of  right, 
redeemable  until  the  1st  of  January,  1834,  and  four  millions  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-six 
dollars,  not  until  the  2d  of  January,  1835.  The  Commissioners 
of  the  Sinking  Fund,  however,  being  invested  with  full  authority 
to  purchase  the  debt  at  the  market  price,  and  the  means  of  the 
Treasury  being  ample,  it  may  be  hoped  that  the  whole  will  be 
extinguished  within  the  year  1833. 

I  can  not  too  cordially  congratulate  Congress  and  my  fellow- 
citizens  on  the  near  approach  of  that  memorable  ^and  happy 
event,  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt  of  this  great  and  free 
Nation.  Faithful  to  the  wise  and  patriotic  policy  mai-ked  out  by 
the  legislation  of  the  country  for  this  object,  the  present  Admin- 
istration has  devoted  to  it  all  the  means  which  a  flourishing  com- 
merce has  supplied,  and  a  prudent  economy  preserved  for  the 
public  Treasury.  Within  the  four  years  for  which  the  people 
have  confided  the  Executive  power  to  my  charge,  fifty-eight  mill- 
ions of  dollars  will  have  been  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  pub- 
lic debt.  That  this  has  been  accomplished  without  stinting  the 
expenditures  for  all  other  proper  objects,  will  be  seen  by  refer- 
ring to  the  liberal  provision  made,  during  the  same  period,  for 
the  support  and  increase  of  our  means  of  maritime  and  military 
defense,  for  internal  improvements  of  a  national  character,  for 
the  removal  and  preservation  of  the  Indians,  and,  lastly,  for  the 
gallant  veterans  of  the  Revolution. 

The  final  removal  of  this  great  burthen  from  our  resources 
affords  the  means  of  further  provision  for  all  the  objects  of  general 
welfare  and  public  defense  which  the  Constitution  authorizes, 
and  presents  the  occasion  for  such  further  reduction  in  the  rev- 
enue as  may  not  be  required  for  them.  From  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  it  will  be  seen  that,  after  the  present 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  667 

year,  such  a  reduction  may  be  made  to  a  considerable  extent; 
and  tlie  subject  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  consideration  of 
Congress  in  the  hope  that  the  combined  wisdom  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  will  devise  such  means  of  effecting  that 
salutary  object,  as  may  remove  those  burthens  which  shall  be 
found  to  fall  unequally  upon  any,  and  as  may  promote  all  the 
great  interests  of  the  community. 

Long  and  patient  reflection  has  strengthened  the  opinions  I 
have  heretofore  expressed  to  Congress  on  this  subject ;  and  I 
deem  it  my  duty,  on  the  present  occasion,  again  to  urge  them 
upon  the  attention  of  the  Legislature.  The  soundest  maxims  of 
public  policy,  and  the  principles  upon  which  our  republican  in- 
stitutions are  founded,  recommend  a  proper  adaptation  of  the 
revenue  to  the  expenditure,  and  they  also  require  that  the  ex- 
penditure shall  be  limited  to  what,  by  an  economical  administra- 
tion, shall  be  consistent  with  the  simplicity  of  the  Government, 
and  necessary  to  an  efficient  public  service.  In  effecting  this 
adjustment,  it  is  due,  in  justice  to  the  interests  of  the  different 
States,  and  even  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself,  that  the 
protection  afforded  by  existing  laws  to  any  branches  of  the 
national  industry  should  not  exceed  what  may  be  necessary  to 
counteract  the  regulations  of  foreign  nations,  and  to  secure  a 
supply  of  those  articles  of  manufacture  essential  to  the  national 
independence  and  safety  in  time  of  war.  If,  upon  investigation, 
it  shall  be  found,  as  it  is  believed  it  will  be,  that  the  legislative 
protection  granted  to  any  particular  interest  is  greater  than  is 
indispensably  requisite  for  these  objects,  I  recommend  that  it  be 
gradually  diminished,  and  that,  as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with 
these  objects,  the  whole  scheme  of  duties  be  reduced  to  the  reve- 
nue standard  as  soon  as  a  just  regard  to  the  faith  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  to  the  preservation  of  the  large  capital  invested  in 
establishments  of  domestic  industry  will  permit. 

That  manufactures  adequate  to  the  supply  of  our  domestic 
consumption  would,  in  the  abstract,  be  beneficial  to  our  country, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt;  and,  to  effect  their  establishment, 
there-  is,  perhaps,  no  American  citizen  who  would  not,  for  a 
while,  be  willing  to  pay  a  higher  price  for  them.  But,  for  this 
purpose,  it  is  presumed  that  a  tariff"  of  high  duties,  designed  for 
perpetual  protection,  has  entered  into  the  minds  of  but  few  of  our 
statesmen.  The  most  they  have  anticipated  is  a  temporary  and, 
generally,  incidental    protection,   which    they  maintain  has   the 


568  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

effect  to  reduce  the  price  by  domestic  competition  below  that  of 
the  foreign  article.  Experience,  however,  our  best  guide  on  this 
as  on  other  subjects,  makes  it  doubtful  whether  the  advantages 
of  this  system  are  not  counterbalanced  by  many  evils,  and  whether 
it  does  not  tend  to  beget,  in  the  minds  of  a  large  portion  of  our 
countrymen  a  spirit  of  discontent  and  jealousy  dangerous  to  the 
stability  of  the  Union.  * 

AVhat  then  shall  be  done?  Large  interests  have  grown  up 
under  the  implied  pledge  of  our  national  legislation,  which  it 
would  seem  a  violation  of  public  faith  suddenly  to  abandon. 
Nothing  could  justify  it  but  the  public  safety,  which  is  the 
supreme  law.  But  those  who  have  vested  their  capital  in  manu- 
facturing establishments  can  not  expect  that  the  people  will  con- 
tinue permanently  to  pay  high  taxes  for  their  benefit,  when  the 
money  is  not  required  for  any  legitimate  purpose  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government.  Is  it  not  enough  that  the  high 
duties  have  been  paid  as  long  as  the  money  arising  from  them 
could  be  applied  to  the  common  benefit  in  the  extinguishment 
of  the  public  debt? 

Those  who  take  an  enlarged  view  of  the  condition  of  our 
country  must  be  satisfied  that  the  policy  of  protection  must  be 
ultimately  limited  to  those  articles  of  domestic  manufacture  which 
are  indispensable  to  our  safety  in  time  of  war.  Within  this 
scope,  on  a  reasonable  scale,  it  is  recommended  by  every  consid- 
ation  of  patriotism  and  duty,  which  will,  doubtless,  always  secure 
to  it  a  liberal  and  efficieut  support.  But,  beyond  this  object,  we 
have  already  seen  the  operation  of  the  system  productive  of  dis- 
content. In  some  sections  of  the  Republic  its  influence  is  depre- 
cated as  tending  to  concentrate  wealth  into  a  few  hands,  and  as 
creating  those  germs  of  dependence  and  vice  which,  in  other 
countries,  have  characterized  the  existence  of  monopolies,  and 
proved  so  destructive  of  liberty  and  the  general  good.  A  large 
portion  of  the  people,  in  one  section  of  the  Republic,  de- 
clares it  not  only  inexpedient  on  these  grounds,  but  as  disturbing 
the  equal  relations  of  property  by  legislation,  and  therefore 
unconstitutional  and  unjust. 

Doubtless  these  effects  are,  in  a  great  degree,  exaggerated, 
and  may  be  ascribed  to  a  mistaken  view  of  the  considerations 
which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  tariff  system  ;  but  they  are, 
nevertheless,  important  in  enabling  us  to  review  the  subject  with 
a  more  thorough   knowledge  of  all   its  bearings  upon   the  great 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  569 

interests  of  the  republic,  and  with  a  determination  to  dispose  of  it 
so  that  none  can  with  justice  complain. 

It  is  my  painful  duty  to  state,  that  in  one  quarter  of  the 
United  States,  opposition  to  the  revenue  laws  has  arisen  to  a 
height  which  threatens  to  thwart  their  execution,  if  not  to  en- 
danger the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Whatever  obstructions  may 
be  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  judicial  authorities  of  the  General 
Government,  it  is  hoped  they  will  be  able  peaceably  to  overcome 
them  by  the  prudence  of  their  own  officers  and  the  patriotism  of 
the  people.  But  should  this  reasonable  reliance  on  the  moderation 
and  good  sense  of  all  portions  of  our  fellow-citizens  be  disappointed, 
it  is  believed  that  the  laws  themselves  are  fully  adequate  to  the 
suppression  of  such  attempts  as  may  be  immediately  made. 
Should  the  exigency  arise,  rendering  the  execution  of  the  existing 
laws  impracticable,  from  any  cause  whatever,  prompt  notice  of  it 
will  be  given  to  Congress,  with  a  suggestion  of  such  views  and 
measures  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  meet  it. 

lu  conformity  with  principles  heretofore  explained,  and  with 
the  hope  of  reducing  the  General  Government  to  that  simple 
machine  which  the  Constitution  created,  and  of  withdrawing  from 
the  States  all  other  influence  than  that  of  its  universal  beneficence 
in  preserving  peace,  affording  a  uniform  currency,  maintaining 
the  inviolability  of  contracts,  diffiisiug  intelligence,  and  discharg- 
ing unfelt  its  other  superintending  functions,  I  recommend  that 
provision  be  made  to  dispose  of  all  stocks  now  held  by  it  in  cor- 
porations, whether  created  by  the  General  or  State  Governments, 
and  placing  the  proceeds  in  the  treasury.  As  a  source  of  profit, 
these  stocks  are  of  little  or  no  value ;  as  a  means  of  influence 
among  the  States,  they  are  adverse  to  the  purity  of  our  institu- 
tions. The  whole  principle  on  which  they  are  based  is  deemed 
by  many  unconstitutional,  and  to  persist  in  the  policy  which  they 
indicate  is  considered  wholly  inexpedient. 

It  is  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  with  an  arrangement  made  by 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  with  a  portion  of  the  holders  of 
the  three  per  cent  stock,  by  which  the  Government  will  be  de- 
prived of  the  use  of  the  public  funds  longer  than  was  anticipated. 
By  this  arrangement,  which  will  be  particularly  explained  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  surrender  of  the  certificates  of  this 
stock  may  be  postponed  until  October,  1833  ;  and  thus  the  liability 
of  the  Government,  after  its  ability  to  discharge  the  debt,  may  be 
continued  by  the  failure  of  the  bank  to  perform  its  duties. 


670  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Such  measures  as  are  within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  have  been  taken,  to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the 
public  deposits  in  that  institution  may  be  regarded  as  entirely 
safe  ;  but  as  his  limited  power  may  prove  inadequate  to  this  ob- 
ject, I  recommend  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  Congress,  under 
the  firm  belief  that  it  is  worthy  of  their  serious  investigation. 
An  inquiry  into  the  transactions  of  the  institution,  embracing  the 
branches  as  well  as  the  principal  bank,  seems  called  for  by  the 
credit  which  is  given  throughout  the  country  to  many  serious 
charges  impeaching  its  character,  and  which,  if  true,  may  justly 
excite  the  apprehension  that  it  is  no  longer  a  safe  depository  of 
the  money  of  the  people. 

Among  the  interests  which  merit  the  consideration  of  Con- 
gress after  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant, in  my  view,  is  that  of  the  public  lands.  Previous  to  the 
formation  of  our  present  Constitution,  it  was  recommended  by 
Congress  that  a  portion  of  the  waste  lands  owned  by  the  States 
should  be  ceded  to  the  United  States  for  the  purposes  of  general 
harmony,  and  as  a  fund  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The 
recommendation  was  adopted,  and,  at  different  periods  of  time, 
the  States  of  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  granted  their  vacant  soil  for  the 
uses  for  which  they  had  been  asked.  As  the  lands  may  now  be 
considered  as  relieved  from  this  pledge,  the  object  for  which  they 
were  ceded  having  been  accomplished,  it  is  in  the  discretion  of 
Congress  to  dispose  of  them  in  such  way  as  best  to  conduce  to 
the  quiet  harmony  and  general  interest  of  the  American  people. 
In  examining  this  question,  all  local  and  sectional  feelings  should 
be  discarded,  and  the  whole  United  States  regarded  as  one  people 
interested  alike  in  the  prosperity  of  their  common  country. 

It  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  speedy  settlement  of  these 
lands  constitutes  the  true  interest  of  the  repul)lic.  The  wealth 
and  strength  of  a  country  are  its  population,  and  the  best  part  of 
that  population  are  the  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Independent 
farmers  are  everywhere  the  basis  of  society,  and  true  friends  of 
liberty. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations,  questions  have  already 
arisen,  and  may  be  expected  hereafter  to  grow  out  of  the  public 
lands,  which  involve  the  rights  of  the  new  States  and  the  powers 
of  the  General  Government;  and  unless  a  liberal  policy  ))e  now 
adopted,  there  is  danger  that  these  questions  may  speedily  assume 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  571 

an  importance  not  now  generally  anticipated.  The  influence  of  a 
great  sectional  interest,  when  brought  into  full  action,  will  be 
found  more  dangerous  to  the  harmony  and  union  of  the  States 
than  any  other  cause  of  discontent ;  and  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom 
and  sound  policy  to  foresee  its  approaches,  and  endeavor,  if  pos- 
sible, to  counteract  them. 

Of  the  various  schemes  which  have  been  hitherto  proposed  in 
regard  to  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands,  none  has  yet  received 
the  entire  approbation  of  the  National  Legislature.  Deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  a  speedy  and  satisfactory  arrange- 
ment of  the  subject,  I  deem  it  my  duty  on  this  occasion  to  urge 
it  upon  your  consideration,  and,  to  the  propositions  which  have 
been  heretofore  suggested  by  others,  to  contribute  those  reflections 
which  have  occurred  to  me,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  assist  you 
in  your  future  deliberations. 

It  seems  to  me  to  be  our  true  policy  that  the  public  lands  shall 
cease,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  be  a  source  of  revenue,  and  that 
they  be  sold  to  settlers  in  limited  parcels,  at  a  price  barely  suffi- 
cient to  reimburse  to  the  United  States  the  expense  of  the  present 
system,  and  the  cost  arising  under  our  Indian  compacts.  The 
advantages  of  accurate  surveys  and  undoubted  titles,  now  se- 
cured to  purchasers,  seem  to  forbid  the  abolition  of  the  present 
system,  because  none  can  be  substituted  which  Avill  more  perfectly 
accomplish  these  important  ends.  It  is  desirable,  however,  that 
in  convenient  time  this  machinery  be  withdrawn  from  the  States, 
and  that  the  right  of  soil  and  the  future  disposition  of  it,  be  sur- 
rendered to  the  States,  respectively,  in  which  it  lies. 

The  adventurous  and  hardy  population  of  the  West,  besides 
contributing  their  equal  share  of  taxation  under  our  impost  sys- 
tem, have,  in  the  progress  of  our  Government,  for  the  lands  they 
occupy,  paid  into  the  treasury  a  large  proportion  of  forty  millions 
of  dollars,  and,  of  the  revenue  received  therefrom  but  a  small 
part  has  been  expended  among  them.  When,  to  the  disadvantage 
of  their  situation  in  this  respect,  we  add  the  consideration  that  it 
is  their  labor  alone  which  gives  real  value  to  the  lands,  and  that 
the  proceeds  arising  from  their  sale  are  distributed  chiefly  among 
States  which  had  not  originally  any  claim  to  them,  and  which 
had  enjoyed  the  undivided  emolument  arising  from  the  sale  of 
their  own  lands,  it  can  not  be  expected  that  the  new  States  will 
remain  longer  contented  with  the  present  policy  after  the  payment 
of  the  public   debt.     To  avert  the  consequences  which  may  be 


572  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

apprehended  from  this  course,  to  put  an  end  forever  to  all  partial 
and  interested  legislation  on  this  subject,  and  to  afford  to  every 
American  citizen  of  enterprise  the  opportunity  of  securing  an  in- 
dependent freehold,  it  seems  to  me,  therefore,  best  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  raising  a  future  revenue  out  of  the  public  lands. 

In  former  messages  I  have  expressed  my  conviction  that  the 
Constitution  does  not  warrant  the  application  of  the  funds  of  the 
General  Government  to  objects  of  internal  improvement  which 
are  not  national  in  their  character,  and  both  as  a  means  of  doing 
justice  to  all  interests,  and  putting  an  end  to  a  course  of  legisla- 
tion calculated  to  destroy  the  purity  of  the  Government,  have 
urged  the  necessity  of  reducing  the  whole  subject  to  some  fixed 
and  certain  rule.  As  there  never  will  occur  a  period,  perhaps, 
more  propitious  than  the  present  to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object,  I  beg  leave  to  press  the  subject  again  upon  your  attention. 

Without  some  general  and  well-defined  principles  ascertaining 
those  objects  of  internal  improvement  to  which  the  means  of  the 
Nation  may  be  Constitutionally  applied,  it  is  obvious  that  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  power  can  never  be  satisfactory.  Besides  the  danger 
to  which  it  exposes  Congress,  of  making  hasty  appropriations  to 
works  of  the  character  of  which  they  may  be  frequently  ignorant, 
it  promotes  a  mischievous  and  corrupting  influence  upon  elec- 
tions, by  holding  out  to  the  people  the  fallacious  hope  that  the 
success  of  a  certain  candidate  will  make  navigable  their  neighbor- 
ing creek  or  river,  bring  commerce  to  their  doors,  and  increase 
the  value  of  their  property.  It  thus  favors  combinations  to 
squander  the  treasure  of  the  country  upon  a  multitude  of  local 
objects,  as  fatal  to  just  legislation  as  to  the  purity  of  public  men. 

If  a  system  compatible  with  the  Constitution  can  not  be  de- 
vised, which  is  free  from  such  tendencies,  we  should  recollect  that 
that  instrument  provides  within  kself  the  mode  of  its  amend- 
ment, and  that  there  is,  therefore,  no  excuse  for  the  assumption 
of  doubtful  powers  by  the  General  Government.  If  those  which 
are  clearly  granted  shall  be  found  incompetent  to  the  ends  of  its 
creatioij,  it  can  at  any  time  apply  for  their  enlargement ;  and 
there  is  no  probability  tliat  such  an  application,  if  founded  on  the 
public  interest,  will  ever  be  refused.  If  the  propriety  of  the  pro- 
posed grant  be  not  sufiiciently  apparent  to  command  the  assent 
of  three-fourths  of  the  States,  the  best  possible  reason  why  the 
power  should  not  be  assumed  on  doubtful  authority  is  afforded ; 
for  if  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  States  are  unwilling  to  make 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  573 

the  grant,  its  exercise  will  be  productive  of  discontents  which 
will  far  overbalance  any  advantages  that  could  be  derived  from 
it.  All  must  admit  that  there  is  nothing  so  worthy  of  the  con- 
stant solicitude  of  this  Government  as  the  harmony  and  union  of 
the  people. 

Being  solemnly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  exten- 
sion of  the  power  to  make  internal  improvements  beyond  the 
limits  I  have  suggested,  even  if  it  be  deemed  Constitutional,  is 
subversive  of  the  best  interests  of  our  country,  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  Congress  to  refrain  from  its  exercise  in  doubtful  cases, 
except  in  relation  to  improvements  already  begun,  unless  they 
shall  first  procure  from  the  States  such  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  as  will  define  its  character  and  prescribe  its  bounds. 
If  the  States  feel'  themselves  competent  to  these  objects,  why 
should  this  Government  wish  to  assume  the  power?  If  they  do 
not,  then  they  will  not  hesitate  to  make  the  grant.  Both  gov- 
ernments are  the  governments  of  the  people  ;  improvements  must 
be  made  with  the  money  of  the  people ;  and  if  the  money  can  be 
collected  and  applied  by  those  more  simple  and  economical  polit- 
ical machines,  the  State  governments,  it  will  unquestionably  be 
safer  and  better  for  the  people  than  to  add  to  the  splendor,  the 
patronage,  and  the  power  of  the  General  Government.  But  if 
the  people  of  the  States  think  otherwise,  they  will  amend  the 
Constitution,  and  in  their  decision  all  ought  cheerfully  to 
acquiesce. 

For  a  detailed  and  highly  satisfactory  view  of  the  operations 
of  the  War  Department,  I  refer  you  to  the  accompanying  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  hostile  incursions  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  necessarily 
led  to  the  interposition  of  the  Government.  A  portion  of  the 
troops,  under  Generals  Scott  and  Atkinson,  and  of  the  militia  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  were  called  into  the  field.  After  a  harassing 
warfare,  prolonged  by  the  nature  of  the  country,  and  by  the  dif- 
ficulty of  procuring  subsistence,  the  Indians  were  entirely  defeated, 
and  the  disaffected  band  dispersed  or  destroyed.  The  result  has 
been  creditable  to  the  troops  engaged  in  the  service.  Severe  as 
is  the  lescon  to  the  Indians,  it  was  rendered  necessary  by  their 
unprovoked  aggressions ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  its  impression 
will  be  permanent  and  salutary. 

This  campaign  has  evinced  the  efficient  organization  of  the 
army,  and  its  capacity  for  prompt  and  active  service.     Its  several 


574  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

departments  have  performed  their  functions  with  energy  and  dis- 
patch, and  the  general  movement  was  satisfactory. 

Our  fellow-citizens  upon  the  frontiers  were  ready,  as  they 
always  are,  in  the  tender  of  their  services  in  the  hour  of  danger. 
But  a  more  efficient  organization  of  our  militia  is  essential  to  that 
security  which  is  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  all  governments. 
Neither  our  situation,  nor  our  institutions,  require  or  permit  the 
maintenance  of  a  large  regular  force.  History  offers  too  many 
lessons  of  the  fatal  results  of  such  a  measure,  not  to  warn  us 
against  its  adoption  here.  The  expense  which  attends  it,  the 
obvious  tendency  to  employ  it,  because  it  exists,  and  thus  to  en- 
gage in  unnecessary  wars,  and  its  ultimate  danger  to  public  lib- 
erty, will  lead  us,  I  trust,  to  place  our  principal  dependence  for 
protection  upon  the  great  body  of  the  citizens-  of  the  republic. 
If,  in  asserting  rights,  or  in  repelling  wrongs,  war  should  come 
upon  us,  our  regular  force  should  be  increased  to  an  extent  pro- 
portioned to  the  emergency,  and  our  present  small  army  is  a 
nucleus  around  which  such  force  could  be  formed  and  embodied. 
But  for  the  purposes  of  defense,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  we 
must  rely  upon  the  electors  of  the  country.  Those  by  whom,  and 
for  whom,  the  Government  was  instituted  and  is  supported,  will 
constitute  its  protection  in  the  hour  of  danger,  as  they  do  its 
check  in  the  hour  of  safety. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  militia  system  is  imperfect.  Much 
time  is  lost,  much  unnecessary  expense  incurred,  and  much  public 
property  wasted,  under  the  present  arrangement.  Little  useful 
knowledge  is  gained  by  the  musters  and  drills  as  now  established, 
and  the  whole  subject  evidently  requires  a  thorough  examination. 
Whether  a  plan  of  classification,  remedying  these  defects,  and 
providing  for  a  system  of  instruction,  might  not  be  adopted,  is 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  Congress.  The  Constitution 
has  vested  in  the  General  Government  an  independent  authority 
upon  the  subject  of  the  militia,  which  renders  its  action  essential 
to  the  establishment  or  improvement  of  the  system,  and  I  recom- 
mend the  matter  to  your  consideration,  in  the  conviction  that 
the  state  of  this  important  arm  of  the  public  defense  requires 
your  attention. 

I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  wise  and  humane  policy 
of  transferring  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi the  remnants  of  our  aboriginal  tribes,  with  their  own  con- 
sent, and    upon   just  terms,   has  been  steadily   pursued,    and   is 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  575 

approaching,  I  trust,  its  consunimatiou.  By  reference  to  the  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  to  the  documents  submitted  with  it, 
vou  will  see  the  progress  which  has  been  made,  since  your  last 
session,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  various  matters  connected  with 
our  Indian  relations.  With  one  exception,  every  subject  involving 
any  question  of  conflicting  jurisdiction,  or  of  peculiar  difficulty, 
has  been  happily  disposed  of;  and  the  conviction  evidently  gains 
ground  among  the  Indians,  that  their  removal  to  the  country  as- 
signed by  the  United  States  for  their  permanent  residence,  fur- 
nishes the  only  hope  of  their  ultimate  prosperity. 

With  that  portion  of  the  Cherokees,  however,  living  within 
the  State  of  Georgia,  it  has  been  found  impracticable  as  yet  to 
make  a  satisfactory  adjustment.  Such  was  my  anxiety  to  remove 
all  the  grounds  of  complaint,  and  to  bring  to  a  termination  the 
difficulties  in  which  they  are  involved,  that  I  directed  the  very 
liberal  propositions  to  be  made  to  them  which  accompany  the 
documents  herewith  submitted.  They  can  not  but  have  seen  in 
these  offers  the  evidence  of  the  strongest  disposition  on  the  part 
of  the  Government  to  deal  justly  and  liberally  with  them.  An 
ample  indemnity  was  offered  for  their  present  possessions,  a  liberal 
provision  for  their  future  support  and  improvement,  and  full 
security  for  their  private  and  political  rights.  Whatever  differ- 
ence of  opinion  may  have  prevailed  respecting  the  just  claims  of 
these  people,  there  will  probably  be  none  respecting  the  liberality 
of  the  propositions,  and  very  little  respecting  the  expediency 
of  their  immediate  acceptance.  They  were,  however,  rejected, 
and  thus  the  position  of  these  Indians  remains  unchanged,  as 
do  the  views  communicated  in  my  message  to  the  Senate,  in 
February,  1830. 

I  refer  you  to  the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
which  accompanies  this  message,  for  a  detail  of  the  operations  of 
that  branch  of  the  service  during  the  present  year. 

Besides  the  general  remarks  on  some  of  the  transactions  of 
our  navy,  presented  in  the  view  which  has  been  taken  of  our 
foreign  relations,  I  seize  this  occasion  to  invite  to  your  notice  the 
increased  protection  which  it  has  affin-ded  to  our  commerce  and 
citizens  on  distant  seas,  without  any  augmentation  of  the  force  in 
commission.  In  the  gradual  improvement  of  its  pecuniary  con- 
cerns, in  the  constant  progress  in  the  collection  of  materials  suit- 
able for  use  during  future  emergencies,  and  in  the  construction 
of  vessels,  and  the  buildings  necessary  to  their  preservation  and 


576  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

repair,  the  present  state  of  this  branch  of  the  service  exhibits  the 
fruits  of  that  vigilance  and  care  which  are  so  indispensable  to  its 
efficiency.  Various  new  suggestions,  contained  in  the  annexed 
report,  as  well  as  others  heretofore  submitted  to  Congress,  are 
worthy  of  your  attention ;  but  none  more  so  than  that  urging  the 
renewal,  for  another  term  of  six  years,  of  the  general  appropria- 
tion for  the  gradual  improvement  of  the  navy. 

From  the  accompanying  report  of  the  Postmaster-General, 
you  will  also  perceive  that  that  Department  continues  to  extend 
its  usefulness,  without  impairing  its  resources,  or  lessening  the 
accommodations  which  it  affords  in  the  secure  and  rapid  trans- 
portation of  the  mail. 

I  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  views 
heretofore  expressed  in  relation  to  the  mode  of  choosing  the  Pres- 
ident and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  to  those  re- 
specting the  tenure  of  office  generally.  Still  impressed  with  the 
justness  of  those  views,  and  with  the  belief  that  the  modifications 
suggested  on  those  subjects,  if  adopted,  will  contribute  to  the 
prosperity  and  harmony  of  the  country,  I  earnestly  recommend 
them  to  your  consideration  at  this  time. 

I  have  heretofore  pointed  out  defects  in  the  law  for  punishing 
official  frauds,  especially  within  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  has 
been  found  almost  impossible  to  bring  notorious  culprits  to  pun- 
ishment, and,  according  to  the  decision  of  the  court  for  this  Dis- 
trict, the  prosecution  is  barred  by  the  lapse  of  two  years  after 
the  fraud  has  been  committed.  It  may  happen  again,  as  it  has 
already  happened,  that,  during  the  whole  two  years,  all  the  evi- 
dences of  the  fraud  may  be  in  the  possession  of  the  culprit  him- 
self. However  proper  the  limitation  may  be  in  relation  to 
private  citizens,  it  would  seem  that  it  ought  not  to  commence 
running  in  favor  of  public  officers  until  they  go  out  of  office. 

The  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States  remains  imperfect. 
Of  the  nine  Western  and  South-western  States,  three  only  enjoy 
the  benefits  of  a  Circuit  Court.  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
are  embraced  in  the  general  system ;  but  Indiana,  Illinois,  Mis- 
souri, Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  have  only  district 
courts.  If  the  existing  system  be  a  good  one,  why  should  it  not 
be  extended?  If  it  be  a  bad  one,  why  is  it  suffered  to  exist? 
•The  new  States  were  promised  equal  rights  and  privileges  when 
they  came  into  the  Union,  and  such  are  the  guaranties  of  the 
Constitution.     Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  the  obligation 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  577 

of  the  General  Government  to  place  all  the  States  on  the  same 
footing  in  relation  to  the  administration  of  justice,  and  I  trust 
this  duty  will  be  neglected  no  longer. 

On  many  of  the  subjects  to  which  your  attention  is  invited  in 
this  communication,  it  is  a  source  of  gratification  to  reflect,  that 
the  steps  to  be  now  adopted  are  uninfluenced  by  the  embarrass- 
ments entailed  upon  the  country  by  the  wars  through  which  it 
has  passed.  In  regard  to  most  of  our  great  interests,  we  may 
consider  ourselves  as  just  starting  in  our  career,  and,  after  a  salu- 
tary experience,  about  to  fix  upon  a  permanent  basis  the  policy 
best  calculated  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  facili- 
tate their  progress  toward  the  most'  complete  enjoyment  of  civil 
liberty.  On  an  occasion  so  interesting  and  important  in  our  his- 
tory, and  of  such  anxious  concern  to  the  friends  of  freedom  through- 
out the  world,  it  is  our  imperious  duty  to  lay  aside  all  selfish  and 
local  considerations,  and  be  guided  by  a  lofty  spirit  of  devotion 
to  the  great  principles  on  which  our  institutions  are  founded. 

That  this  Government  may  be  so  administered  as  to  preserve 
its  efiiciency  in  promoting  and  securing  these  general  objects, 
should  be  the  only  aim  of  our  ambition,  and  we  can  not,  there- 
fore, too  carefully  examine  its  structure,  in  order  that  we  may 
not  mistake  its  powers,  or  assume  those  which  the  people  have 
reserved  to  themselves,  or  have  preferred  to  assign  to  other 
agents.  We  should  bear  constantly  in  mind  the  fact,  that  the 
considerations  which  induced  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  to 
withhold  from  the  General  Government  the  power  to  regulate 
the  great  mass  of  the  business  and  concerns  of  the  people  have 
been  fully  justified  by  experience ;  and  that  it  can  not  now  be 
doubted,  that  the  genius  of  all  our  institutions  prescribes  sim- 
plicity and  economy  as  the  characteristics  of  the  reform  which  is 
yet  to  be  eflfected  in  the  present  and  future  execution  of  the 
functions  bestowed  on  us  by  the  Constitution. 

Limited  to  a  general  superintending  power,  to  maintain  peace 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  to  prescribe  laws  on  a  few  subjects  of 
general  interest,  not  calculated  to  restricf  human  liberty,  but  to 
enforce  human  rights,  this  Government  will  find  its  strength  and 
its  glory  in  ihe  faithful  discharge  of  these  plain  and  simple  duties. 
Relieved  by  its  protecting  shield  from  the  fear  of  war  and  the 
apprehension  of  oppression,  the  free  enterprise  of  our  citizens, 
aided  by  the  State  sovereignties,  will  work  out  improvements  and 
ameliorations,  which   can  not  fail  to  demonstrate  that  the  great 

37— G 


578  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

^  truth,  that  the  people,  can  govern  themselves,  is  not  only  realized 
in  our  example,  but  that  it  is  done  by  a  machinery  in  government 
so  simple  and  economical  as  scarcely  to  be  felt.  That  the  Al- 
mighty Ruler  of  the  universe  may  so  direct  our  deliberations,  and 
overrule  our  acts  as  to  make  us  instrumental  in  securing  a  result 
so  dear  to  mankind,  is  my  most  earnest  and  sincere  prayer. 

This  interesting  message  contains  some  sentiments 
not  in  keeping  with  General  Jackson's  former  views, 
but,  in  the  main,  are  their  natural  consequence.  The 
liquidation  of  the  public  debt  was  deservedly  a  source 
of  pride  to  the  President.  The  Jacksonian  disposition 
to  speak  out  is  everywhere  apparent  in  this  message, 
even  in  praise  of  his  own  Administration  and  the  un- 
precedented happy  results  it  was  bringing  to  the  coun- 
try. That  the  Nation  was  just  starting  in  its  career, 
and  was  only  about  settling  upon  a  permanent  policy, 
best  designed  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  people, 
after  long  and  varied  experiences,  seemed  hardly  sus- 
tained by  the  actual  events  of  the  day.  By  a  remark- 
able consistency  the  President  again,  after  having  de- 
parted from  his  former  principle,  calls  the  attention 
of  Congress  to  his  previous  recommendation  as  to  the 
mode  of  electing  the  President  and  Vice-President  and 
the  single  term  of  service.  The  Bank  again  came  in 
for  a  share  of  attention.  He  wanted  it  to  die  as  hard 
and  with  as  much  public  effect  as  possible.  The  hint 
as  to  the  probability  of  its  not  being  a  safe  depository 
for  the  Government  funds  indicated  his  purpose,  as  to 
the  future.  The  question  of  the  public  lands  is  fully 
presented  and  the  plan  suggested,  which  was  finally 
adopted  and  is  now  in  practice,  of  turning  the  public 
lands  to  the  actual  benefit  of  poor  settlers,  by  selling 
them  at  a  price  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  disposing  of  them. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  579 

The  doctrine  of  internal  improvements  is  here  ef- 
fectually disposed  of  so  far  as  General  Jackson  was 
concerned.  Notwithstanding  the  caution  with  which 
the  old  Republican  Presidents  approached  this  subject, 
and  the  great  and  positive  efforts  of  General  Jackson, 
the  founder  of  more  modern  Democracy,  to  put  down 
entirely  internal  improvements  under  the  direct  patron- 
age of  the  General  Government,  long  ago  it  was  adopted 
as  an  undisputed  doctrine  of  both  parties;  the  only 
question  left  in  connection  with  the  question  being  as 
to  which  party  should  gain  the  most  public  patronage 
by  its  advocacy  of  appropriations.  The  tariff  question 
here  takes  a  new  phase  with  the  President.  Before, 
he  had  recommended  an  arrangement  for  dividing  the 
accumulated  revenue  among  the  States,  after  the  public 
debt  was  paid  ;  but  now  he  recommends  a  reduction 
of  the  sources  of  revenue  to  a  basis  of  the  actual  ex- 
penses of  the  Government,  and  a  plan  of  taxation  and 
revenue  is  recomm-ended  which  seemed  especially 
meant  to  reach  the  wants  of  the  nullifiers  of  the  South. 


580  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  AND  THE  NULLIFIERS— NULLIFICATION 
PROCLAMATION— A  COMPROMISE— WHO  TRIUMPHS? 

THE  great  subject  now  occupying  the  attention  of 
the  President  and  the  country  was  nullification. 
Since  the  General  had  given  utterance  to  the  famous 
sentiment,  •'  The  Federal  Union  :  it  must  be  preserved," 
he  had  been  watching  the  advocates  of  this  new  doc- 
trine, new  at  least,  in  the  extent  to  which  it  was  meant 
to  be  carried,  and  he  had  come  to  hate  its  supporters, 
and  is  said  to  have  regretted  all  the  rest  of  his  days 
that  he  did  not,  at  that  very  time,  hang  its  most  able 
champion,  J.  C.  Calhoun,  as  an  example  for  future 
ages,  as  he  had  done  Hillis  Hajo  and  Alexander  Ar- 
buthnot,  in  1818.  But  unfortunately  neither  the  efforts 
of  this  giant,  nor  the  great  war  against  slavery  with  its 
evil  teachings,  entirely  uprooted  this  baneful  doctrine. 
At  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  Congress,  South  Carolina, 
by  the  acts  of  her  Legislature  and  governor,  was  in  the 
attitude  of  direct  and  determined  opposition  to  the 
Federal  Government.  No  more  revenues  under  the 
very  tariff  which  Mr.  Calhoun  and  other  Southerners 
had  advocated,  were  to  be  collected  in  South  Carolina 
after  February  1,  1833 ;  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  was  to  have  no  more  authority  over  that 
State ;  null  and  void  was  to  be  any  tariff  law ;  South 
Carolinians  were  only  to  obey  the  State  authority ;  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  581 

in  case  the  United  States  attempted  to  oppose  her  will 
as  thus  expressed,  she  would  proceed  to  do  those  things 
which  any  sovereign  and  independent  country  should 
do.  So  said  the  Nullification  Convention  of  November, 
.1832,  And  so  said  the  Legislature  and  Governor  of 
that  State.  From  the  beginning  of  the  disaffection 
with  Mr.  Calhoun  and  his  Southern  friends,  there  had 
been  a  determination  to  make  this  doctrine  of  nullifica- 
tion rest  on  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions  of 
1798  and  1799,  and  be  supported  by  the  name  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  at  least.  It  was  natural  enough  to  trace  this 
doctrine  to  those  resolutions.  In  them  it  had  founda- 
tion enough.  But  to  make  Mr.  Jefferson  responsible 
for  the  present  idea  and  purposes  of  nullification  was 
not  an  easy  task.  Mr.  Madison  was  yet  left  to  speak 
for  himself,  which  he  did  with  great  minuteness,  de- 
stroying all  hopes  of  the  nullifiers  as  to  his  own  posi- 
tion, as  well  as  removing  some  of  the  odium  from  the 
Resolutions  of  1798. 

No  man  can  doubt  the  patriotism  of  General  Jack- 
son, or  believe  that  it  was  of  that  kind  which  could 
be  limited  to  a  State  or  a  section.  But  how  far  his 
hatred  of  nullification  at  that  time  and  throughout  his 
life  was  colored  and  intensified  by  his  hatred  of  Mr. 
Calhoun,  who  was  really  the  beginning  and  the  ending 
of  nullification,  it  is  not  necessary  to  speculate  here. 
ThisJ[ourth  message  granted,  or  laid  the  foundation 
for  granting,  all  that  South  Carolina  asked,  but  her 
conduct  was  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  General 
Jackson.  To  oppose  the  Government  was  to  op- 
pose him.  And  even  while  Congress  was  reading 
this  mild  message,  he  was  preparing,  or  having  pre- 
pared, a  very  different  document.     No  public  man  in 


582  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

this  country  relied  so  much  on  the  pen  as  did  Jackson. 
This  fact  becomes  more  a  matter  of  note  since  he  was 
not  educated  in  books,  nor  was  he  a  reader  of  books, 
to  any  great  extent.  But  if  Jackson  could  gain  his 
object  in  no  other  way,  he  would  resort  to  the  pen. 
Nor  did  he  ever  seem  to  fear  that  these  pen  attacks 
would  be  handled  to  his  disadvantage  at  some  other 
time.  He  often  preferred  to  risk  the  address  or 
proclamation  rather  than  to  resort  to  other  means. 
This  effective  instrument  he  now  took  up  to  remind  the 
nullifiers  of  what  they  might  next  expect  from  him. 

On  the  11th  of  December,  1832,  he  issued  the 
following,  his  most  celebrated  public  paper: — 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  a  Convention  assembled  in  the  State  of  South  Car- 
olina, have  passed  an  Ordinance,  by  which  they  declare,  "That 
the  several  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  purporting  to  be  laws  for  imposing  of  duties  and  imposts 
on  the  importation  of  foreign  commodities,  and  now  having 
actual  operation  and  effect  within  the  United  States,  and  more 
especially,"  two  acts  for  the  same  purposes  passed  on  the  29th  of 
May,  1828,  and  on  the  14th  of  July,  1832,  "are  unauthorized 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  violate  the  true 
meaning  and  intent  thereof,  and  are  null  and  void,  and  no  law," 
nor  binding  on  the  citizens  of  that  State  or  its  officers;  and  by 
the  said  Ordinance,  it  is  further  declared  to  be  unlawful  for  any 
of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  or  of  the  United 
States  to  enforce  the  payment  of  the  duties  imposed  by  the  said 
acts  within  the  same  State,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  full  effect  to 
the  said  Ordinance ; 

And  whereas,  by  the  said  Ordinance  it  is  further  ordained, 
that  in  no  case  of  law  or  equity,  decided  in  the  courts  of  said 
State,  wherein  shall  be  drawn  in  question  the  validity  of  the  said 
Ordinance,  or  of  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  that  may  be  passed 
to  give  it  effect,  or  of  the  said  laws  of  the  United  States,  no 
appeal  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Supreme   Court  of   the  United 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  583 

States,  nor  shall  any  copy  of  the  record  be  permitted  or  allowed 
for  that  purpose,  and  that  any  person  attempting  to  take  such 
appeal  shall  be  punished  as  for  a  contempt  of  court; 

And,  finally,  the  said  Ordinance  declares,  that  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  will  maintain  the  said  Ordinance  at  every 
hazard;  and  that  they  will  consider  the  passage  of  any  act  by 
Congress  abolishing  or  closing  the  ports  of  the  said  State,  or 
otherwise  obstructing  the  free  ingress  or  egress  of  vessels  to  and 
from  the  said  ports,  or  any  other  act  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  coerce  the  State,  shut  up  her  ports,  destroy  or  harass 
her  commerce,  or  to  enforce  the  said  acts  otherwise  than  through 
the  civil  tribunals  of  the  country,  as  inconsistent  with  the  longer 
continuance  of  South  Carolina  in  the  Union ;  and  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  said  State  will  thenceforth  hold  themselves  absolved 
from  all  further  obligation  to  maintain  or  preserve  their  political 
connection  with  the  people  of  the  other  States,  and  will  forthwith 
proceed  to  organize  a  separate  government,  and  do  all  other  acts 
and  things  which  sovereign  and  independent  States  may  of  right  do ; 

And  whereas,  the  said  Ordinance  prescribes  to  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  a  course  of  conduct,  in  direct  violation  of  their 
duty  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
their  country,  subversive  of  its  Constitution,  and  having  for  its 
object  the  destruction  of  the  Union  ;  that  Union  which,  coeval 
with  our  political  existence,  led  our  fathers,  without  any  other 
ties  to  unite  them  than  those  of  patriotism  and  a  common  cause, 
through  a  sanguinary  struggle  to  a  glorious  independence ;  that 
sacred  Union,  hitherto  inviolate,  which,  perfected  by  our  happy 
Constitution,  has  brought  us  by  the  favor  of  Heaven  to  a  state 
of  prosperity  at  home,  and  high  consideration  abroad,  rarely,  if 
ever,  equaled  in  the  history  of  nations :  To  preserve  this  bond 
of  our  political  existence  from  destruction,  to  maintain  inviolate 
this  state  of  national  honor  and  prosperity,  and  to  justify  the 
confidence  my  fellow-citizens  have  reposed  in  me,  I,  Andrew 
Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States,  have  thought  proper  to 
issue  this  my  proclamation,  stating  my  views  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  applicable  to  the  measures  adopted  by  the  Convention 
of  South  Carolina,  and  to  the  reasons  they  have  put  forth  to 
sustain  them,  declaring  the  course  which  duty  will  require  me  to 
pursue,  and,  appealing  to  the  understanding  and  patriotism  of 
the  people,  warn  them  of  the  consequences  that  must  inevitably 
result  from  an  observance  of  the  dictates  of  the  Convention. 


584  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Strict  duty  would  require  of  me  nothing  more  than  the  ex- 
ercise of  those  powers  with  which  I  am  now  or  may  hereafter  be 
invested,  for  preserving  the  peace  of  the  Union  and  for  the 
execution  of  the  laws.  But  the  imposing  aspect  which  opposition 
has  assumed  in  this  case,  by  clothing  itself  with  State  authority, 
and  the  deep  interest  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  must 
all  feel  in  preventing  a  resort  to  stronger  measures,  while  there 
is  a  hope  that  anything  will  be  yielded  to  reasoning  and  remon- 
strance, perhaps  demand,  and  will  certainly  justify,  a  full  exposi- 
tion to  South  Carolina  and  the  Nation  of  the  views  I  entertain 
of  this  important  question,  as  well  as  a  distinct  enunciation  of  the 
course  which  my  sense  of  duty  will  require  me  to  pursue. 

The  Ordinance  is  founded  not  on  the  indefeasible  right  of 
resisting  acts  which  are  plainly  unconstitutional  and  too  oppress- 
ive to  be  endured;  but  on  the  strange  position  that  any  one 
State  may  not  only  declare  an  act  of  Congress  void,  but  pro- 
hibit its  execution,  that  they  may  do  this  consistently  with  the 
Constitution,  that  the  true  construction  of  that  instrument  per- 
mits a  State  to  retain  its  place  in  the  Union,  and  yet  be  bound 
by  no  other  of  its  laws  than  those  it  may  choose  to  consider  as 
Constitutional.  It  is  true  they  add,  that  to  justify  this  abrogation 
of  a  law,  it  must  be  palpably  contrary  to  the  Constitution  ;  but 
it  is  evident,  that  to  give  the  right  of  resisting  laws  of  that 
description,  coupled  with  the  uncontrolled  right  to  decide  what 
laws  deserve  that  character,  is  to  give  the  power  of  resisting  all 
laws.  For,  as  by  the  theory  there  is  no  appeal,  the  reasons 
alleged  by  the  State,  good  or  bad,  must  prevail.  If  it  should  be 
said  that  public  opinion  is  a  sufficient  check  against  the  abuse  of 
this  power,  it  may  be  asked  why  it  is  not  deemed  a  sufficient 
guard  against  the  passage  of  an  unconstitutional  act  by  Con- 
gress. There  is,  however,  a  restraint  in  this  last  case,  which 
makes  the  assumed  power  of  a  State  more  indefensible,  and 
which  does  not  exist  in  the  other.  There  are  two  appeals  from 
an  unconstitutional  act  passed  by  Congress,  one  to  the  Judi- 
ciary, the  other  to  the  People  and  the  States.  There  is  no  appeal 
from  the  State  decision  in  theory,  and  the  practical  illustration 
shows  that  the  Courts  are  closed  against  an  application  to  review 
it,  both  judges  and  jurors  being  sworn  to  decide  in  its  favor. 
But  reasoning  on  this  subject  is  superfluous  when  our  social 
compact  in  express  terms  declares,  that  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,    its    Constitution,   and    treaties    made  under  it,  are   the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  585 

supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  for  greater  caution  adds,  "  that  the 
judges  in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the 
constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing." And  it  may  be  asserted  without  fear  of  refutation,  that 
no  federative  government  could  exist  without  a  similar  provision. 
Look  for  a  moment  to  the  consequence.  If  South  Carolina  con- 
siders the  revenue  laws  unconstitutional,  and  has  a  right  to  pre- 
vent their  execution  in  the  port  of  Charleston,  there  would  be  a 
clear  Constitutional  objection  to  their  collection  in  every  other 
port,  and  no  revenue  could  be  collected  anywhere ;  for  all  imposts 
must  be  equal.  It  is  no  answer  to  repeat,  that  an  unconstitu- 
tional law  is  no  law,  so  long  as  the  question  of  its  legality  is  to 
be  decided  by  the  State  itself;  for  every  law  operating  injuri- 
ously upon  any  local  interest  will  be  perhaps  thought,  and  cer- 
tainly represented,  as-  unconstitutional,  and,  as  has  been  shown, 
there  is  no  appeal. 

If  this  doctrine  had  been  established  at  an  earlier  day,  the 
Union  would  have  been  dissolved  in  its  infancy.  The  excise  law 
in  Pennsylvania,  the  embargo  and  non-intercourse  law  in  the 
Eastern  States,  the  carriage  tax  in  Virginia,  were  all  deemed 
unconstitutional,  and  were  more  unequal  in  their  operation  than 
any  of  the  laws  now  complained  of;  but  fortunately  none  of 
these  States  discovered  that  they  had  the  right  now  claimed  by 
South  Carolina.  The  war  into  which  we  were  forced  to  support 
the  dignity  of  the  Nation  and  the  rights  of  our  citizens,  might 
have  ended  in  defeat  and  disgrace  instead  of  victory  and  honor, 
if  the  States  who  supposed  it  a  ruinous  and  unconstitutional 
measure  had  thought  they  possessed  the  right  of  nullifying  the 
act  by  which  it  was  declared,  and  denying  supplies  for  its  prose- 
cution. Hardly  and  unequally  as  those  measures  bore  upon 
several  members  of  the  Union,  to  the  Legislatures  of  none  did 
this  efficient  and  peaceable  remedy,  as  it  is  called,  suggest  itself. 
The  discovery  of  this  important  feature  in  our  Constitution  was 
reserved  to  the  present  day.  To  the  statesmen  of  South  Caro- 
lina belongs  the  invention,  and  upon  the  citizens  of  that  State 
will  unfortunately  fall  the  evils  of  reducing  it  to  practice. 

If  the  doctrine  of  a  State  veto  upon  the  laws  of  the  Union 
carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of  its  impracticable  absurdity, 
our  Constitutional  history  will  also  afford  abundant  proof  that 
it  would  have  been  repudiated  with  indignation  had  it  been  pro- 
posed to  form  a  feature  in  our  Government. 


586  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

In  our  Colonial  state,  althougli  dependent  on  another  power, 
we  very  early  considered  ourselves  as  connected  by  common 
interest  with  each  other.  Leagues  were  formed  for  common 
defense,  and  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  we  were 
known  in  our  aggregate  character,  as  the  United  Colonies  of 
America.  That  decisive  and  important  step  was  taken  jointly. 
We  declared  ourselves  a  Nation  by  joint,  not  by  several  acts,  and 
when  the  terms  of  our  Confederation  were  reduced  to  form,  it  was 
in  that  of  a  solemn  league  of  several  States,  by  which  they  agreed 
that  they  would  collectively  form  one  nation  for  the  purpose  of 
conducting  some  certain  domestic  concerns  and  all  foreign  rela- 
tions. In  the  instrument  forming  that  union  is  found  an  article, 
which  declares,  "that  every  State  shall  abide  by  the  determina- 
tions of  Congress  on  all  questions  which  by  that  Confederation 
should  be  submitted  to  them." 

Under  the  Confederation,  then,  no  State  could  legally  annul  a 
decision  of  the  Congress,  or  refuse  to  submit  to  its  execution ;  but 
no  provision  was  made  to  enforce  these  decisions.  Congress  made 
requisitions,  but  they  were  not  complied  with.  The  Government 
could  not  operate  on  individuals.  They  had  no  judiciary,  no 
means  of  collecting  revenue. 

But  the  defects  of  the  Confederation  need  not  be  detailed. 
Under  its  operation  we  could  scarcely  be  called  a  nation.  We 
had  neither  prosperity  at  home  nor  consideration  abroad.  This 
state  of  things  could  not  be  endured,  and  our  present  happy 
Constitution  was  formed,  but  formed  in  vain,  if  this  fatal  doc- 
trine prevails.  It  was  formed  for  important  objects  that  are 
announced  in  the  preamble,  made  in  the  name  and  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  whose  delegates 
framed,  and  whose  conventions  approved  it.  The  most  important 
among  these  objects,  that  which  is  placed  first  in  rank,  on  which 
all  the  others  rest,  is,  "  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union."  Now,  is 
it  possible  that  even  if  there  were  no  express  provision  giving 
supremacy  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States 
over  those  of  the  States,  can  it  be  conceived,  that  an  instrument 
made  for  the  purpose  of  "forming  a  more  perfect  Union"  than 
that  of  the  Confederation,  could  be  so  constructed  by  the  assem- 
bled wisdom  of  our  country,  as  to  substitute  for  that  Confedera- 
tion a  form  of  government  dependent  for  its  existence  on  the 
local  interest,  the  party  spirit  of  a  State,  or  of  a  prevailing 
faction  in  a  State?     Every  man  of  plain,  unsophisticated  under- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  587 

Standing,  who  hears  the  question,  will  give  such  an  answer  as 
will  preserve  the  Union.  Metaphysical  subtlety,  in  pursuit  of  an 
impracticable  theory,  could  alone  have  devised  one  that  is  calcu- 
lated to  destroy  it. 

I  consider,  then,  the  power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United 
States,  assumed  by  one  State,  incompatible  with  the  e:S;istence  of 
the  Union,  contradicted  expressly  by  the  letter  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, unauthorized  by  its  spirit,  inconsistent  with  every  principle 
on  which  it  was  founded,  and  destructive  of  the  great  object  for 
which  it  was  formed. 

After  this  general  view  of  the  leading  principle,  we  must 
examine  the  particular  application  of  it  which  is  made  in  the 
Ordinance. 

The  preamble  rests  its  justification  on  these  grounds:  It  as- 
sumes as  a  fact,  that  the  obnoxious  laws,  although  they  purport 
to  be  laws  for  raising  revenue,  were  in  reality  intended  for  the 
protection  of  manufactures,  which  purpose  it  asserts  to  be  uncon* 
stitutional ;  that  the  operation  of  these  laws  is  unequal;  that  the 
amount  raised  by  them  is  greater  than  is  required  by  the  wants 
of  the  Government ;  and  finally,  that  the  proceeds  are  to  be  ap- 
plied to  objects  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution.  These  are  the 
only  causes  alleged  to  justify  an  open  opposition  to  the  laws  of 
the  country,  and  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the  Union,  if  any 
attempt  should  be  made  to  enforce  them.  The  first  virtually 
acknowledges,  that  the  law  in  question  was  passed  under  a  power 
expressly  given  by  the  Constitution,  to  lay  and  collect  imposts; 
but  its  Constitutionality  is  drawn  in  question  from  the  motive  of 
those  who  passed  it.  However  apparent  this  purpose  may  be  in 
the  present  case,  nothing  can  be  more  dangerous  than  to  admit 
the  position  that  an  unconstitutional  purpose,  entertained  by  the 
members  who  assent  to  a  law  enacted  under  a  Constitutional 
power,  shall  make  that  law  void;  for  how  is  that  purpose  to  be 
ascertained?  Who  is  to  make  the  scrutiny?  How  often  may 
bad  purposes  be  falsely  imputed,  in  how  many  cases  are  they 
concealed  by  false  professions,  in  how  many  is  no  declaration  of 
motive  made?  Admit  this  doctrine,  and  you  give  to  the  States 
an  uncontrolled  right  to  decide,  and  every  law  may  be  annulled 
under  this  pretext.  If,  therefore,  the  absurd  and  dangerous  doc- 
trine should  be  admitted,  that  a  State  may  annul  an  unconstitu- 
tional law,  or  one  that  it  deems  such,  it  will  not  apply  to  the 
present  case. 


588  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  next  objection  is,  that  the  laws  in  question  operate  un- 
equally. This  objection  may  be  made  with  truth,  to  every  law 
that  has  been  or  can  be  passed.  The  wisdom  of  man  never  yet 
contrived  a  system  of  taxation  that  would  operate  with  perfect 
equality.  If  the  unequal  operation  of  a  law  makes  it  unconstitu- 
tional, and  if  all  laws  of  that  description  may  be  abrogated  by 
any  State  for  that  cause,  then,  indeed,  is  the  Federal  Constitution 
unworthy  of  the  slightest  effort  for  its  preservation.  We  have 
hitherto  relied  on  it  as  the  perpetual  bond  of  our  Union.  We 
have  received  it  as  the  work  of  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  Na- 
tion. We  have  trusted  to  it  as  to  the  sheet  anchor  of  our  safety 
in  the  stormy  times  of  conflict  with  a  foreign  or  domestic  foe. 
We  have  looked  to  it  with  sacred  awe  as  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties,  and  with  all  the  solemnities  of  religion  have  pledged  to 
each  other  our  lives  and  fortunes  here,  and  our  hopes  of  happi- 
ness hereafter,  in  its  defense  and  support.  Were  we  mistaken, 
my  countrymen,  in  attaching  this  importance  to  the  Constitution 
of  our  country  ?  Was  our  devotion  paid  to  the  wretched,  inef- 
ficient, clumsy  contrivance,  which  this  new  doctrine  would  make 
it  ?  Did  we  pledge  ourselves  to  the  support  of  an  airy  nothing, 
a  bubble  that  must  be  blown  away  by  the  first  breath  of  disaf- 
fection ?  Was  this  self-destroying,  visionary  theory,  the  work  of 
the  profound  statesmen,  the  exalted  patriots,  to  whom  the  task 
of  constitutional  reform  was  intrusted  ?  Did  the  name  of  Wash- 
ington sanction,  did  the  States  deliberately  ratify,  such  an  anom- 
aly in  the  history  of  fundamental  legislation  ?  No  !  We  were 
not  mistaken.  The  letter  of  this  great  instrument  is  free  from 
this  radical  fault;  its  language  directly  contradicts  the  imputa- 
tion ;  its  spirit,  its  evident  intent,  contradicts  it.  No,  we  did 
not  err!  Our  Constitution  does  not  contain  the  absurdity  of 
giving  power  to  make  laws  and  another  power  to  resist  them. 
The  sages,  whose  memory  will  always  be  reverenced,  have  given 
us  a  practical,  and,  as  they  hoped,  a  permanent  Constitutional 
compact.  The  Father  of  his  Country  did  not  aftix  his  revered 
name  to  so  palpable  an  absurdity.  Nor  did  the  States,  when 
they  severally  ratified  it,  do  so  under  the  impression  that  a  veto 
on  the  laws  of  the  United  States  was  reserved  to  them,  or  that 
they  could  exercise  it  by  implication.  Search  the  debates  in  all 
their  conventions ;  examine  the  speeches  of  the  most  zealous  op- 
posers  of  Federal  authority ;  look  at  the  amendments  that  were 
proposed  ;  they  are  all  silent ;  not  a  syllable  uttered,  not  a  vote 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  589 

given,  not  a  motion  made,  to  correct  the  explicit  supremacy  given 
to  the  laws  of  ihe  Union  over  those  of  the  States,  or  to  show  that 
implication,  as  is  now  contended,  could  defeat  it.  No ;  we  have 
not  erred!  The  Constitution  is  still  the  object  of  our  reverence, 
the  bond  of  our  Union,  our  defense  in  danger,  the  source  of  our 
prosperity  in  peace.  It  shall  descend  as  we  have  received  it,  un- 
corrupted  by  sophistical  construction,  to  our  posterity ;  and  the 
sacrifices  of  local  interest,  of  State  prejudices,  or  personal  ani- 
mosities, that  were  made  to  bring  it  into  existence,  will  again  be 
patriotically  offered  for  its  support. 

The  two  remaining  objections  made  by  the  Ordinance  to  these 
laws  are,  that  the  sums  intended  to  be  raised  by  them  are  greater 
than  are  required,  and  that  the  proceeds  will  be  unconstitutionally 
employed. 

The  Constitution  has  given  expressly  to  Congress  the  right  of 
raising  revenue,  and  of  determining  the  sum  the  public  exigen- 
cies will  require.  The  States  have  no  control  over  the  exercise 
of  this  right,  other  than  that  which  results  from  the  power  of 
changing  the  Representatives  who  abuse  it,  and  thus  procure  re- 
dress. Congress  may  undoubtedly  abuse  this  discretionary  poAver, 
but  the  same  may  be  said  of  others  with  which  they  are  vested. 
Yet  the  discretion  must  exist  somewhere.  The  Constitution  has 
given  it  to  the  Representatives  of  all  the  people,  checked  by  the 
Representatives  of  the  States,  and  by  the  Executive  power.  The 
South  Carolina  construction  gives  it  to  the  Legislature  or  the 
convention  of  a  single  State,  where  neither  the  people  of  the 
different  States,  nor  the  States  in  their  separate  capacity,  nor  the 
Chief  Magistrate  elected  by  the  people  have  any  representation. 
Which  is  the  most  discreet  disposition  of  the  power?  I  do  not 
ask  you,  fellow-citizens,  which  is  the  Constitutional  disposition — 
that  instrument  speaks  a  language  not  to  be  misunderstood.  But 
if  you  were  assembled  in  general  convention,  which  would  you 
think  the  safest  depository  of  this  discretionary  power  in  the  last 
resort  ?  Would  you  add  a  clause,  giving  it  to  each  of  the  States, 
or  would  you  sanction  the  wise  provisions  already  made  by  your 
Constitution  ?  If  this  should  be  the  result  of  your  deliberations 
when  providing  for  the  future,  are  you,  can  you  be  ready,  to 
risk  all  that  we  hold  dear,  to  establish,  for  a  temporary  and  a 
local  purpose,  that  which  you  must  acknowledge  to  be  destruc- 
tive and  even  absurd  as  a  general  provision?  Carry  out  the 
consequences  of  this  right  vested  in  the  different  States,  and  you 


590  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

must  perceive  that  the  crisis  your  conduct  presents  at  this  day 
would  recur  whenever  any  law  of  the  United  States  displeased 
any  of  the  States,  and  that  we  should  soon  cease  to  be  a  nation. 

The  Ordinance,  with  the  same  knowledge  of  the  future  that 
characterizes  a  former  objection,  tells  you  that  the  proceeds  of 
the  tax  will  be  unconstitutionally  applied.  If  this  could  be  as- 
certained with  certainty,  the  objection  would,  with  more  pro- 
priety, be  reserved  for  the  law  so  applying  the  proceeds,  but 
surely  can  not  be  urged  against  the  laws  levying  the  duty. 

These  are  the  allegations  contained  in  the  Ordinance.  Ex- 
amine them  seriously,  my  fellow-citizens — judge  for  yourselves. 
I  appeal  to  you  to  determine  whether  they  are  so  clear,  so  con- 
vincing, as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  correctness ;  and  even  if 
you  should  come  to  the  conclusion,  how  far  they  justify  the  reck- 
less, destructive  course,  which  you  are  directed  to  pursue.  Re- 
view these  objections,  and  the  conclusions  drawn  from  them, 
once  more.  What  are  they?  Every  law,  then,  for  raising  reve- 
nue, according  to  the  South  Carolina  Ordinance,  may  be  right- 
fully annulled,  unless  it  be  so  framed  as  no  law  ever  will  or 
can  be  framed.  Congress  has  a  right  to  pass  laws  for  raising 
revenue,  and  each  State  has  a  right  to  oppose  their  execution- 
two  rights  directly  opposed  to  each  other;  and  yet  is  this  ab- 
surdity supposed  to  be  contained  in  an  instrument  drawn  for  the 
express  purpose  of  avoiding  collisions  between  the  States  and  the 
General  Government,  by  an  assembly  of  the  most  enlightened 
statesmen  and  purest  patriots  ever  embodied  for  a  similar 
purpose. 

In  vain  have  these  sages  declared  that  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises ;  in 
vain  have  they  provided  that  they  shall  have  power  to  pass  laws 
which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  those  powers  into 
execution,  that  those  laws  and  that  Constitution  shall  be  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land,  and  that  the  judges  in  every  State  shall 
be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any 
State  to  the  "contrary  notwithstanding."  In  vain  have  the  peo- 
ple of  the  several  States  solemnly  sanctioned  these  provisions, 
made  them  their  paramount  law,  and  individually  sworn  to  sup- 
port them  whenever  they  were  called  on  to  execute  any  office. 
Vain  provisions !  ineffectual  restrictions !  vile  profanation  of 
oaths !  miserable  mockery  of  legislation  ! — if  a  bare  majority  of 
the  voters   in    any  one   State   may,  on  a  real  or  supposed  knowl- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  591 

edge  of  the  intent  with  which  a  law  has  been  passed,  declare 
themselves  free  from  its  operation ;  say  here  it  gives  too  little, 
there  too  much,  and  operates  unequally ;  here  it  suffers  ar- 
ticles to  be  free  that  ought  to  be  taxed ;  there  it  taxes  those 
that  ought  to  be  free ;  in  this  case  the  proceeds  are  intended  to 
be  applied  to  purposes  which  we  do  not  approve ;  in  that,  the 
amount  raised  is  more  than  is  wanted.  Congress,  it  is  true,  are 
vested  by  the  Constitution  with  the  right  of  deciding  these  ques- 
tions according  to  their  sound  discretion.  Congress  is  composed 
of  the  Representatives  of  all  the  States,  and  of  all  the  people  of 
all  the  States ;  but  Ave,  part  of  the  people  of  one  State,  to  whom 
the  Constitution  has  given  no  power  on  the  subject,  from  whom 
it  has  expressly  taken  it  away ;  we,  who  have  solemnly  agreed 
that  this  Constitution  shall  be  our  law ;  we,  most  of  whom  have 
sworn  to  support  it ;  we,  now  abrogate  this  law,  and  swear, 
and  force  others  to  swear,  that  it  shall  not  be  obeyed ;  and  we 
do  this,  not  because  Congress  have  no  right  to  pass  such  laws 
(this  we  do  not  allege),  but  because  they  have  passed  them  with 
improper  views.  They  are  unconstitutional  from  the  motives  of 
those  who  passed  them,  which  we  can  never  with  certainty  know ; 
from  their  unequal  operation,  although  it  is  impossible  from  the 
nature  of  things  that  they  should  be  equal ;  and  from  the  disposi- 
tion which  we  presume  may  be  made  of  their  proceeds,  although 
that  disposition  has  not  been  declared.  This  is  the  plain  meaning 
of  the  Ordinance  in  relation  to  laws  which  it  abrogates  for  al- 
leged unconstitutionality.  But  it  does  not  stop  there.  It  repeals, 
in  express  terms,  an  important  part  of  the  Constitution  itself, 
and  of  laws  passed  to  give  it  effect,  which  have  never  been  al- 
leged to  be  unconstitutional.  The  Constitution  declares  that  the 
judicial  powers  of  the  United  States  extend  to  cases  arising  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  that  such  laws,  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  treaties,  shall  be  paramount  to  the  State  constitutions 
and  laws.  The  judiciary  act  prescribes  the  mode  by  which  the 
case  may  be  brought  before  a  court  of  the  United  States,  by  ap- 
peal, when  a  State  tribunal  shall  decide  against  this  provision  of 
the  Constitution.  The  Ordinance  declares  there  shall  be  no  ap- 
peal ;  makes  the  State  law  paramount  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States  ;  forces  judges  and  jurors  to  swear  that 
they  will  disregard  their  provisions,  and  even  makes  it  penal  in 
a  suitor  to  attempt  relief  by  appeal.  It  further  declares  that  it 
shall  not  be  lawful  for  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  or  of 


592  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

that  State,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  duties  imposed  by  the  rev- 
enue laws  within  its  limits. 

Here  is  a  law  of  the  United  States,  not  even  pretended  to  be 
unconstitutional,  repealed  by  the  authority  of  a  small  majority  of 
the  voters  of  a  single  State.  Here  is  a  provision  of  the  Consti- 
tution, which  is  solemnly  abrogated  by  the  same  authority. 

On  such  expositions  and  reasonings  the  Ordinance  grounds 
not  only  an  assertion  of  the  right  to  annul  the  laws  of  which  it 
complains,  but  to  enforce  it  by  a  threat  of  seceding  from  the 
Union  if  any  attempt  is  made  to  execute  them. 

This  right  to  secede  is  deduced  from  the  nature  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which,  they  say,  is  a  compact  between  the  sovereign 
States,  who  have  preserved  their  whole  sovereignty,  and  there- 
fore are  subject  to  no  superior ;  that  because  they  made  the  com- 
pact they  can  break  it,  when,  in  their  opinion,  it  has  been  de- 
parted from  by  the  other  States.  Fallacious  as  this  course  of 
reasoning  is,  it  enlists  State  pride,  and  finds  advocates  in  the 
honest  prejudices  of  those  who  have  not  studied  the  nature  of  our 
Government  sufficiently  to  see  the  radical  error  on  which  it  rests. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  formed  the  Constitution,  act- 
ing through  the  State  Legislatures  in  making  the  compact,  to 
meet  and  discuss  its  provisions,  and  acting  in  separate  conven- 
tions when  they  ratified  those  provisions;  but  the  terms  used  in 
its  construction  show  it  to  be  a  Government  in  which  the  people 
of  all  the  States,  collectively,  are  represented.  We  are  one  people 
in  the  choice  of  the  President  and  Vice-President.  Here  the 
States  have  no  other  agency  than  to  direct  the  mode  in  which 
the  votes  shall  be  given.  The  candidates  having  the  majority 
of  all  the  votes  are  chosen.  The  electors  of  a  majority  of  the 
States  may  have  given  their  votes  for  one  candidate,  and  yet 
another  may  be  chosen.  The  people,  then,  and  not  the  States, 
are  represented  in  the  Executive  branch. 

In  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  there  is  this  difierence,  that 
the  people  of  one  State  do  not,  as  in  the  case  of  President  and 
Vice-President,  all  vote  for  the  same  officers.  The  people  of  all 
the  States  do  not  vote  for  all  the  members,  each  State  electing 
only  its  own  Representatives.  But  this  creates  no  material  dis- 
tinction. .  When  chosen  they  are  all  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  not  Representatives  of  the  particular  State  from  which 
they  come.  They  are  paid  by  the  United  States,  not  by  the 
State,  nor  are  they  accountable  to  it  for  any  act  done  in  the  per- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  593 

formance  of  their  legislative  functions ;  and  however  they  may 
in  practice,  as  it  is  their  duty  to  do,  consult,  and  prefer  the  in- 
terests of  their  particular  constituents  when  they  come  in  conflict 
with  any  other  partial  or  local  interest,  yet  it  is  their  first  and 
highest  duty,  as  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  to  promote 
the  general  good. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  then,  forms  a  Govern- 
ment, not  a  league,  and  whether  it  be  formed  by  compact  between 
the  States,  or  in  any  other  manner,  its  character  is  the  same. 
It  is  a  GovernSaent  in  which  all  the  people  are  represented, 
which  operates  directly  on  the  people  individually,  not  upon  the 
States  ;  they  retained  all  the  power  they  did  not  grant.  But  each 
State  having  expressly  parted  with  so  many  poAvers  as  to  consti- 
tute jointly  with  the  other  States  a  single  Nation,  can  not,  from 
that  period,  possess  any  right  to  secede,  because  such  secession  does 
not  break  a  league,  but  destroys  the  unity  of  a  Nation,  and  any 
injury  to  that  unity  is  not  only  a  breach  which  would  result  from 
the  contravention  of  a  compact,  but  it  is  an  offense  against  the 
whole  Union.  To  say  that  any  State  may,  at  pleasure,  secede 
from  the  Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are  not  a  Na- 
tion ;  because  it  will  be  a  solecism  to  contend  that  one  part 
of  the  Nation  might  dissolve  its  connection  with  the  other  parts, 
to  their  injury  and  ruin,  without  committing  any  offense.  Seces- 
sion, like  any  other  revolutionary  act,  may  be  morally  justified 
by  the  extremity  of  oppression ;  but  to  call  it  a  Constitutional 
right,  is  confounding  the  meaning  of  terms,  and  can  only  be  done 
through  gross  error,  or  to  deceive  those  who  are  willing  to  assert 
a  right,  but  would  pause  before  they  made  a  revolution,  or  incur 
the  penalties  consequent  on  a  failure. 

Because  the  Union  was  formed  by  compact,  it  is  said  the  par- 
ties to  the  compact  may,  when  they  feel  themselves  aggrieved, 
depart  from  it ;  but  it  is  precisely  because  it  is  a  compact  that 
they  can  not.  A  compact  is  an  agreement  or  binding  obligation. 
It  may  by  its  terms  have  a  sanction  or  penalty  for  its  breach,  or 
it  may  not.  If  it  contains  no  sanction,  it  may  be  broken  with 
no  other  consequence  than  moral  guilt;  if  it  have  a  sanction, 
then  the  breach  incurs  the  designated  or  implied  penalty.  A 
league  between  independent  nations,  generally,  has  no  other 
sanction  than  a  moral  one ;  or  if  it  should  contain  a  penalty,  as 
there  is  no  common  superior,  it  can  not  be  enforced.  A  govern- 
ment, on  the  contrary,  always  has  a  sanction,  express  or  implied ; 


694  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and,  in  our  case,  it  is  both  necessarily  implied  and  expressly 
given.  An  attempt  by  force  of  arms  to  destroy  a  government  is 
an  offense,  by  whatever  'means  the  constitutional  compact  may 
have  been  formed  ;  and  such  government  has  the  right,  by  the 
law  of  self-defense,  to  pass  acts  for  punishing  the  offender,  unless 
the  right  is  modified,  restrained,  or  resumed  by  the  constitutional 
act.  In  our  system,  although  it  is  modified  in  the  case  of  trea- 
son, yet  authority  is  expressly  given  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  to 
carry  its  powers  into  effect,  and  under  this  grant  provision  has 
been  made  for  punishing  acts  which  obstruct  the* due  administra- 
tion of  the  laws. 

It  would  seem  superfluous  to  add  anything  to  show  the 
nature  of  that  union  which  connects  us ;  but  as  erroneous  opin- 
ions on  this  subject  are  the  foundation  of  doctrines  the  most 
destructive  to  our  peace,  I  must  give  some  further  development 
to  my  views  on  this  subject.  No  one,  fellow-citizens,  has  a  higher 
reverence  for  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  than  the  Magis- 
trate who  now  addresses  you  ;  no  one  Avould  make  greater  personal 
sacrifices  of  official  exertions  to  defend  them  from  violation ;  but 
equal  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent,  on  their  part,  an  improper 
interference  with,  or  resumption  of,  the  rights  they  have  vested  in 
the  Nation.  The  line  has  been  so  distinctly  drawn  as  to  avoid 
doubts  in  some  cases  of  the  exercise  of  power.  Men  of  the  best 
intentions  and  soundest  views  may  differ  in  their  construction  of 
some  parts  of  the  Constitution ;  but  there  are  others  on  which 
dispassionate  reflection  can  leave  no  doubt.  Of  this  nature  ap- 
pears to  be  the  assumed  right  of  secession.  It  rests,  as  we  have 
seen,  on  the  alleged  undivided  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and,  on 
their  having  formed,  in  this  sovereign  capacity,  a  compact,  which 
is  called  the  Constitution,  from  which,  because  they  made  it,  they 
have  a  right  to  secede.  Both  of  these  positions  are  erroneous,  and 
some  of  the  arguments  to  prove  them  so  have  been  anticipated. 

The  States  severally  have  not  retained  their  entire  sover- 
eignty. It  has  been  shown  that  in  becoming  parts  of  a  Nation, 
not  members  of  a  league,  they  surrendered  many  of  their  essen- 
tial parts  of  sovereignty.  The  right  to  make  treaties,  declare 
war,  levy  taxes,  exercise  exclusive  judicial  and  legislative  powers, 
were  all  of  them  functions  of  sovereign  power.  The  States, 
then,  for  all  these  important  purposes,  were  no  longer  sovereign. 
The  allegiance  of  their  citizens  was  transferred,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States;  they  became 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  595 

American  citizens,  and  owed  obedience  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  laws  made  in  conformity  with  the  powers 
it  vested  in  Congress.  This  last  position  has  not  been,  and  can 
not  be,  denied.  How,  then,  can  that  State  be  said  to  be  sovereign 
and  independent,  whose  citizens  owe  obedience  to  laws  not  made 
by  it,  and  whose  magistrates  are  sworn  to  disregard  those  laws 
when  they  come  in  conflict  with  those  passed  by  another  ?  What 
shows  conclusively  that  the  States  can  not  be  said  to  have 
reserved  an  undivided  sovereignty  is,  that  they  expressly  ceded 
the  right  to  punish  treason,  not  treason  against  their  separate 
power,  but  treason  against  the  United  States.  Treason  is  an 
oflTense  against  sovereignty,  and  sovereignty  must  reside  with  the 
power  to  punish  it.  But  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States  are 
not  less  sacred  because  they  have  for  their  common  interest  made 
the  General.  Government  the  depository  of  these  powers.  The 
unity  of  our  political  character  (as  has  been  shown  for  another 
purpose)  commenced  with  its  A'^ery  existence.  Under  the  Royal 
Government  we  had  no  separate  character ;  but  opposition  to  its 
oppressions  began  as  United  Colonies.  We  were  the  United 
States  under  the  Confederation ;  and  the  name  was  perpetuated, 
and  the  Union  rendered  more  perfect  by  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion. In  none  of  these  stages  did  we  consider  ourselves  in  any 
other  light  than  as  forming  one  Nation.  Treaties  and  alliances 
were  made  in  the  name  of  all.  Troops  were  raised  for  the  joint 
defense.  How,  then,  with  all  these  proofs,  that  under  all  changes 
of  our  position,  we  had,  for  designated  purposes,  and  with 
defined  powers,  created  national  Governments,  how  is  it  that  the 
most  perfect  of  those  several  modes  of  union  should  now  be  con- 
sidered as  a  mere  league  that  may  be  dissolved  at  pleasure  ?  It 
is  from  an  abuse  of  terms.  Compact  is  used  as  synonymous  with 
league,  although  the  true  term  is  not  employed,  because  it  would 
at  once  show  the  fallacy  of  the  reasoning.  It  would  not  do  to 
say  that  our  Constitution  was  only  a  league,  but  it  is  labored  to 
prove  it  a  compact  (which,  in  one  sense,  it  is),  and  then  to  argue 
that,  as  a  league  is  a  compact,  every  compact  between  nations 
must,  of  course,  be  a  league,  and  that  from  such  an  engagement 
every  sovereign  power  has  a  right  to  secede.  But  it  has  been 
shown  that,  in  this  sense,  the  States  are  not  sovereign,  and  that 
even  if  they  and  the  National  Constitution  had  been  formed  by 
compact,  there  would  be  no  right  in  any  one  State  to  exonerate 
itself  from  its  obligations. 


596  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

So  obvious  are  the  reasons  which  forbid  this  secession,  that  it 
is  necessary  only  to  allude  to  them.  The  Union  was  formed  for 
the  benefit  of  all.  It  was  produced  by  mutual  sacrifices  of  inter- 
ests, and  opinions.  Can  those  sacrifices  be  recalled?  Can  the 
States,  who  magnanimously  surrendered  their  title  to  the  territo- 
ries of  the  West,  recall  the  grant?  WUl  the  inhabitants  of  the 
inland  States  agree  to  pay  the  duties  that  may  be  imposed  with- 
out their  assent  by  those  on  the  Atlantic  or  the  Gulf  for  their 
own  benefit  ?  Shall  there  be  a  free  port  in  one  State  and  oner- 
ous duties  in  another  ?  No  one  believes  that  any  right  exists  in 
a  single  State  to  involve  all  the  others  in  these  and  countless 
other  evils  contrary  to  engagements  solemnly  made.  Every  one 
must  see  that  the  other  States,  in  self-defense,  must  oppose  it  at 
all  hazards. 

These  are  the  alternatives  that  are  presented  by  the  Conven- 
tion :  A  repeal  of  all  the  acts  for  raising  revenue,  leaving  the 
Government  without  the  means  of  support ;  or  an  acquiescence  in 
the  dissolution  of  our  Union  by  the  secession  of  one  of  its  mem- 
bers. When  the  first  was  proposed  it  was  known  that  it  could 
not  be  listened  to  for  a  moment.  It  was  known  if  force  was  ap- 
plied to  oppose  the  execution  of  the  laws,  that  it  must  be  repelled 
by  force;  that  Congress  could  not,  without  involving  itself  in 
disgrace  and  the  country  in  ruin,  accede  to  the  proposition  ;  and 
yet  if  this  is  not  done  in  a  given  day,  or  if  any  attempt  is  made 
to  execute  the  laws,  the  State  is,  by  the  Ordinance,  declared  to 
be  out  of  the  Union.  The  majority  of  a  Convention  assembled 
for  the  purpose  have  dictated  these  terms,  or  rather  this  rejection 
of  all  terms,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  It  is 
true,  that  the  Governor  of  the  State  speaks  of  the  submission  of 
their  grievances  to  a  convention  of  all  the  States ;  which,  he 
says,  they  "sincerely  and  anxiously  seek  and  desire."  Yet  this 
obvious  and  Constitutional  mode  of  obtaining  the  sense  of  the 
other  States  on  the  construction  of  the  federal  compact,  and 
amending  it,  if  necessary,  has  never  been  attempted  by  those 
who  have  urged  the  State  on  to  this  destructive  measure.  The 
State  might  have  proposed  the  call  for  a  general  convention  to 
the  other  States ;  and  Congress,  if  a  sufiicient  number  of  them 
concurred,  must  have  called  it.  But  the  first  magistrate  of 
South  Carolina,  when  he  expressed  a  hope  that,  "on  a  review 
by  Congress  and  the  functionaries  of  the  General  Government 
of  the   merits  of  the   controversy,"   such  a  convention   will  be 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  597 

accorded  to  them,  must  have  known  that  neither  Congress  nor 
any  functionary  of  the  General  Government  has  authority  to 
call  such  a  convention,  unless  it  be  demanded  by  two-thirds  of 
the  States. 

This  suggestion,  then,  is  another  instance  of  the  reckless  in- 
attention to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  with  which  this 
crisis  has  been  madly  hurried  on ;  or  of  the  attempt  to  persuade 
the  people  that  a  Constitutional  remedy  had  been  sought  and  re- 
fused. If  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  "  anxiously  desired" 
a  General  Convention  to  consider  their  complaints,  why  have 
they  not  made  application  for  it  in  the  way  the  Constitution 
points  out.  The  assertion  that  they  "earnestly  seek"  it  is  com- 
pletely negatived  by  the  omission. 

This,  then,  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  A  small  ma- 
jority of  the  citizens  of  one  State  in  the  Union  have  elected 
delegates  to  a  State  Convention ;  that  Convention  has  ordained 
that  all  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  repealed, 
or  that  they  are  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Union.  The  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State  has  recommended  to  the  Legislature  the  rais- 
ing of  an  army  to  carry  the  secession  into  effect,  and  that  he  may 
be  empowered  to  give  clearances  to  vessels  in  the  name  of  the 
State.  No  act  of  violent  opposition  to  the  laws  has  yet  been  com- 
mitted, but  such  a  state  of  things  is  hourly  apprehended,  and  it 
is  the  intent  of  this  instrument  to  proclaim  not  only  that  the  duty 
imposed  on  me  by  the  Constitution,  to  "take  care  that  the  laws 
be  faithfully  executed,"  shall  be  performed  to  the  extent  of  the 
powers  already  vested  in  me  by  law,  or  of  such  others  as  the  wis- 
dom of  Congress  shall  devise  and  intrust  to  me  for  that  purpose ; 
but  to  warn  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  .who  have  been  de- 
luded into  an  opposition  to  the  laws,  of  the  danger  they  will  in- 
cur by  obedience  to  the  illegal  and  disorganizing  Ordinance  of  the 
convention ;  to  exhort  those  who  have  refused  to  support  it  to 
persevere  in  their  determination  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  their  country,  and  to  point  out  to  all  the  perilous  situation 
into  which  the  good  people  of  that  State  have  been  led,  and  that 
the  course  they  are  urged  to  pursue  is  one  of  ruin  and  disgrace 
to  the  very  State  whose  rights  they  affect  to  support. 

Fellow-citizens  of  my  native  State,  let  me  not  only  admonish 
you,  as  the  first  Magistrate  of  our  common  country,  not  to  incur 
the  penalty  of  its  laws,  but  use  the  influence  that  a  father  would 
over  his  children  whom  he  saw  rushing  to  certain  ruin.     In  that 


598  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

paternal  language,  with  that  paternal  feeling,  let  me  tell  you,  my 
countrymen,  that  you  are  deluded  by  men  who  are  either  deceived 
themselves  or  wish  to  deceive  you.  Mark  under  what  pretenses 
you  have  been  led  on  the  brink  of  insurrection  and  treason,  on 
which  you  stand  !  First  a  diminution  of  the  value  of  your  staple 
commodity,  lowered  by  over-production  in  other  quarters,  and 
the  consequent  diminution  in  the  value  of  your  lands,  were  the 
sole  effect  of  the  tariff  laws.  The  effect  of  those  laws  was  con- 
fessedly injurious,  but  the  evil  was  greatly  exaggerated  by  the 
unfounded  theory  you  were  taught  to  believe,  that  its  burthens 
were  in  proportion  to  your  exports,  not  to  your  consumption  of 
imported  articles.  Your  pride  was  roused  by  the  assertion  that  a 
submission  to  those  laws  was  a  state  of  vassalage,  and  that  resist- 
ance to  them  was  equal  in  patriotic  merit  to  the  opposition  of  our 
fathers  offered  to  the  oppressive  laws  of  Great  Britain.  You  were 
told  that  this  opposition  might  be  peaceably,  might  be  Constitu- 
tionally made,  that  you  might  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  the 
Union  and  bear  none  of  its  burthens.  Eloquent  appeals  to  your 
passions,  to  your  State  pride,  to  your  native  courage,  to  your 
sense  of  real  injury,  were  used  to  prepare  you  for  the  period  when 
the  mask  which  concealed  the  hideous  features  of  disunion  should 
be  taken  off.  It  fell,  and  you  were  made  to  look  with  compla- 
cency on  objects  which  not  long  since  you  would  have  regarded 
with  horror.  Look  back  to  the  arts  which  have  brought  you  to 
this  state ;  look  forward  to  the  consequences  to  which  it  must  in- 
evitably lead !  Look  back  to  what  was  first  told  you  as  an  induce- 
ment to  enter  into  this  dangerous  course.  The  great  political 
truth  was  repeated  to  you,  that  you  had  the  revolutionary  right 
of  resisting  all  laws  that  were  palpably  unconstitutional  and  intol- 
erably oppressive  ;  it  was  added,  that  the  right  to  nullify  a  law 
rested  on  the  same  principle,  but  that  it  was  a  peaceable  remedy ! 
This  character  which  was  given  to  it  made  you  receive  with  too 
much  confidence  the  assertions  that  were  made  of  the  unconstitu- 
tionality of  the  law  and  its  oppressive  effects.  Mark,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  that  by  the  admission  of  "your  leaders  the  unconstitution- 
ality must  be  palpable,  or  it  will  not  justify  either  resistance  or 
nullification !  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  palpable  in  the 
sense  in  which  it  is  here  used  ?  That  which  is  apparent  to  every 
one,  that  which  no  man  of  ordinary  intellect  will  fail  to  perceive. 
Is  the  unconstitutionality  of  these  of  that  description  ?  Let  those 
among  your  leaders  who  once  approved  and  advocated  the  prin- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  699 

ciple  of  protective  duties,  answer  the  question;  and  let  them 
choose  whether  they  will  be  considered  as  incapable,  then,  of  per- 
ceiving that  which  must  have  been  apparent  to  every  man  of 
common  understanding,  or  as  imposing  upon  your  confidence  and 
endeavoring  to  mislead  you  now.  In  either  case  they  are  unsafe 
guides  in  the  perilous  path  they  urge  you  to  tread.  Ponder  well 
on  this  circumstance,  and  you  will  know  how  to  appreciate  the 
exaggerated  language  they  address  to  you.  They  are  not  cham- 
pions of  liberty,  emulating  the  fame  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers, 
nor  are  you  an  oppressed  people  contending,  as  they  repeat  to 
you,  against  worse  than  Colonial  vassalage.  You  are  free  mem- 
bers of  a  flourishing  and  happy  Union.  There  is  no  settled  de- 
sign to  oppress  you.  You  have  inde'ed  felt  the  unequal  operation 
of  laws  which  may  have  been  unwisely,  not  unconstitutionally 
passed;  but  that  inequality  must  necessarily  be  removed.  At 
the  very  moment  when  you  were  madly  urged  on  to  the  unfortu- 
nate course  you  have  begun,  a  change  in  public  opinion  had  com- 
menced. The  nearly  approaching  payment  of  the  public  debt, 
and  the  consequent  necessity  of  a  diminution  of  duties,  had 
already  produced  a  considerable  reduction,  and  that  too  on  some 
articles   of  general  consumption  in  your  State, 

The  importance  of  this  change  was  underrated,  and  you  were 
authoritatively  told  that  no  further  alleviation  of  your  burthens 
was  to  be  expected,  at  the  very  time  when  the  condition  of  the 
country  imperiously  demanded  such  a  modification  of  the  duties 
as  should  reduce  them  to  a  just  and  equitable  scale.  But,  as  if 
apprehensive  of  the  effect  of  this  change  in  allaying  your  discon- 
tents, you  were  precipitated  into  the  fearful  state  in  which  you 
now  find  yourselves. 

I  have  urged  you  to  look  back  to  the  means  that  were  used 
to  hurry  you  on  to  the  position  you  have  now  assumed,  and  for- 
ward to  the  consequences  it  will  produce.  Something  more  is 
necessary.  Contemplate  the  condition  of  that  country  of  which 
you  still  form  an  important  part;  consider  its  Government, 
uniting  in  one  bond  of  common  interest  and  general  protection 
so  many  diflferent  States,  giving  to  all  their  inhabitants  the  proud 
title  of  American  citizen,  protecting  their  commerce,  securing  their 
literature  and  their  arts,  facilitating  their  intercommunication, 
defending  their  frontiers,  and  making  their  name  respected  in  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  earth  !  Consider  the  extent  of  their  terri- 
tory, its  increasing  and  happy  population,   its  advance  in   arts. 


600  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

which  render  life  agreeable,  and  the  sciences  which  elevate  the 
mind !  See  education  spreading  the  lights  of  religion,  morality, 
and  general  information,  into  every  cottage  in  this  wide  extent 
of  Territories  and  States !  Behold  it  as  the  asylum  where  the 
wretched  and  the  oppressed  find  a  refuge  and  support !  Look  on 
this  picture  of  happiness  and  honor,  and  say,  We,  too,  are  citizens 
of  America ;  Carolina  is  one  of  these  proud  States ;  her  arms 
have  defended,  her  best  blood  has  cemented  this  happy  Union ! 
And  then  add,  if  you  can,  without  horror  and  remorse,  This 
happy  Union  we  will  dissolve,  this  picture  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity we  will  deface,  this  free  intercourse  we  will  interrupt,  these 
fertile  fields  we  will  deluge  with  blood,  the  protection  of  that 
glorious  flag  we  renounce,  the  very  name  of  Americans  we  discard. 
And  for  what,  mistaken  men!  for  what  do  you  throw  away 
these  inestimable  blessings  ?  for  what  would  you  exchange  your 
share  in  the  advantages  and  honor  of  the  Union  ?  For  the  dream 
of  a  separate  independence,  a  dream  interrupted  by  bloody  con- 
flicts with  your  neighbors,  and  a  vile  dependence  on  a  foreign 
power.  If  your  leaders  could  succeed  in  establishing  a  separa- 
tion, what  would  be  your  situation?  Are  you  united  at  home, 
are  you  free  from  the  apprehension  of  civil  discord,  with  all  its 
fearful  consequences?  Do  our  neighboring  republics,  every  day 
suffering  some  new  revolution  or  contending  with  some  new  in- 
surrection, do  they  excite  your  envy?  But  the  dictates  of  a  high 
duty  oblige  me  solemnly  to  announce  that  you  can  not  succeed. 
The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  executed.  I  have  no  dis- 
cretionary power  on  the  subject;  my  duty  is  emphatically  pro- 
nounced in  the  Constitution.  Those  who  told  you  that  you 
might  peaceably  prevent  their  execution,  deceived  you;  they 
could  not  have  been  deceived  themselves.  They  know  that  a 
forcible  opposition  could  alone  prevent  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
and  they  know  that  such  opposition  must  be  repelled.  Their 
object  is  disunion;  but  be  not  deceived  by  names;  disunion,  by 
armed  force,  is  treason.  Are  you  really  ready  to  incur  its  guilt? 
If  you  are,  on  the  heads  of  the  instigators  of  the  act  be  the 
dreadful  consequences,  on  their  heads  be  the  dishonor,  but  on 
yours  may  fall  the  punishment,  on  your  unhappy  State  will  in- 
evitably fall  all  the  evils  of  the  conflict  you  force  upon  the  Gov- 
ernment of  your  country.  It  can  not  accede  to  the  mad  project 
of  disunion  of  which  you  would  be  the  first  victims;  its  first 
Magistrate  can  not,  if  he  would,  avoid  the  performance   of  his 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  601 

duty;  the  consequence  must  be  fearful  for  you,  distressing  to 
your  fellow-citizens  here,  and  to  the  friends  of  good  government 
throughout  the  world.  Its  enemies  have  beheld  our  prosperity 
w'ith  a  vexation  they  could  not  conceal ;  it  was  a  standing  refuta- 
tion of  their  slavish  doctrines,  and  they  will  point  to  our  discord 
with  the  triumph  of  malignant  joy.  It  is  yet  in  your  power  to 
disappoint  them.  There  is  yet  time  to  show  that  the  descendants 
of  the  Pinckneys,  the  Sumters,  the  Rutledges,  and  of  the  thou- 
sand other  names  which  adorn  the  pages  of  your  Revolutionary 
history,  will  not  abandon  that  Union,  to  support  which,  so  many 
of  them  fought,  and  bled,  and  died.  I  adjure  you,  as  you  honor 
their  memory,  as  you  love  the  cause  of  freedom  to  which  they 
dedicated  their  lives,  as  you  prize  the  peace  of  your  country,  the 
lives  of  its  best  citizens,  and  your  own  fair  fame,  to  retrace  your 
steps.  Snatch  from  the  archives  of  your  State  the  disorganizing 
edict  of  its  convention,  bid  its  members  to  reassemble  and  pro- 
mulgate the  decided  expressions  of  your  will  to  remain  in  the 
path  which  alone  can  conduct  you  to  safety,  prosperity,  and 
honor;  tell  them  that  compared  with  disunion,  all  other  evils  are 
light,  because  that  brings  with  it  an  accumulation  of  all ;  declare 
that  you  will  never  take  the  field  unless  the  star-spangled  banner 
of  your  country  shall  float  over  you ;  that  you  will  not  be  stig- 
matized when  dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you  live, 
as  the  authors  of  the  first  attack  on  the  Constitution  of  your 
country !  Its  destroyers  you  can  not  be.  You  may  disturb  its 
peace,  you  may  interrupt  the  course  of  its  prosperity,  you  may 
cloud  its  reputation  for  stability,  but  its  tranquillity  will  be 
restored,  its  prosperity  will  return,  and  the  stain  upon  its 
national  character  will  be  transferred,  and  remain  an  eternal  blot 
on  the  memory  of  those  who  caused  the  disorder. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States !  The  threat  of  unhal- 
lowed disunion,  the  names  of  those,  once  respected,  by  whom  it 
is  uttered,  the  array  of  military  force  to  support  it,  denote  the 
approach  of  a  crisis  in  our  affairs  on  which  the  continuance  of 
our  unexampled  prosperity,  our  political  existence,  and  perhaps 
that  of  all  free  governments,  may  depend.  The  conjecture  de- 
manded a  free,  a  full,  and  explicit  enunciation,  not  only  of  my 
intentions  but  of  my  principles  of  action;  and  as  the  claim  was 
asserted  of  a  right  by  a  State  to  annul  the  laws  of  the  Union, 
and  even  to  secede  from  it  at  pleasure,  a  frank  exposition  of  my 
opinions  in  relation  to  the  origin  and  form  of  our  Government, 


602  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  the  construction  I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it  was 
created,  seemed  to  be  proper.  Having  the  fullest  confidence  in 
the  justness  of  the  legal  and  Constitutional  opinion  of  my  duties 
which  has  been  expressed,  I  rely  with  equal  confidence  on  your 
undivided  support  in  my  determination  to  execute  the  laws,  to 
preserve  the  Union  by  all  Constitutional  means,  to  arrest,  if 
possible,  by  moderate  but  firm  measures,  the  necessity  of  a  re- 
course to  force;  and,  if  it  be  the  will  of  Heaven  that  the  recur- 
rence of  its  primeval  curse  on  man  for  the  shedding  of  a  broth- 
er's blood  should  fall  upon  our  laud,  that  it  be  not  called  down 
by  any  offensive  act  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

Fellow-citizens!  the  momentous  case  is  before  you.  On 
your  undivided  support  of  your  Government  depends  the  de- 
cision of  the  great  question  it  involves,  whether  your  sacred 
Union  will  be  preserved,  and  the  blessing  it  secures  to  us  as  one 
people  shall  be  perpetuated.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the  una- 
nimity with  which  that  decision  will  be  expressed,  will  be  such  as 
to  inspire  new  confidence  in  republican  institutions,  and  that  the 
prudence,  the  wisdom,  and  the  courage  which  it  will  bring  to 
their  defense,  will  transmit  them  unimpaired  and  invigorated  to 
our  children. 

May  the  great  Ruler  of  nations  grant  that  the  signal  blessings 
with  which  He  has  favored  ours,  may  not,  by  the  madness  of 
party  or  personal  ambition,  be  disregarded  and  lost;  and  may  His 
wise  providence  bring  those  who  have  produced  this  crisis,  to  see 
the  folly  before  they  feel  the  misery  of  civil  strife;  and  inspire 
a  returning  veneration  for  that  Union,  which,  if  we  may  dare  to 
penetrate  His  designs,  he  has  chosen  as  the  only  means  of  attain- 
ing the  high  destinies  to  which  we  may  reasonably  aspire  ! 

In  testimony,  whereof,  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the  United 
States  to  be  hereunto  aflSxed,  having  signed  the  same  with 
my  hand. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  10th  day  of  Decem- 
ber, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
State  the  fifty-seventh. 

By  the  President:  Andrew  Jackson. 

Edwabd  Livingston,  Secretary  of  State. 

Although  there  has  been  some  variety  of  opinion 
as  to  how  far  General  Jackson  himself  furnished  the 


ANDREW.  JACKSON.  603 

substance  and  language  of  this  paper,  his  biographers 
have  mainly  held  to  the  idea  that  to  his  pen  (one  of 
prodigious  size)  was  due  the  first  draft,  and  that  Mr. 
Livingston  then  gave  it  the  finish.  And,  no  doubt,  he 
did  furnish  many  a  well-inked  page  of  his  intense  and 
fiery  ideas  which  gave  spirit  to  the  work  in  the  hands 
of  its  real  author.  Charles  H.  Hunt,  in  his  "  Life  of 
Edward  Livingston,"  gives  the  following  account, 
mainly  correct,  no  doubt,  of  the  origin  of  the  Procla- 
mation : — 

"Among  the  private  papers  which  the  writer  has  examined 
in  the  course  of  preparing  this  volume,  is  the  original  draught 
of  the  celebrated  Proclamation  of  the  10th  of  December,  1832, 
entirely  in  Livingston's  handwriting,  much  amended  by  erasures 
and  interlineations,  according  to  his  invariable  habit  in  all  but 
epistolary  correspondence.  During  the  progress  of  the  task,  he 
received  from  the  President  the  two  following  notes : — 

"  '  FOR  THE  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  PROCLAMATION. 

"  '  Seduced  as  you  have  been,  my  fellow-countrymen,  by  the 
delusive  theories  and  misrepresentations  of  ambitious,  deluded, 
and  designing  men,  I  call  upon  you  in  the  language  of  truth,  and 
with  the  feelings  of  a  father,  to  retrace  your  steps.  As  you  value 
liberty  and  the  blessings  of  peace,  blot  out  from  the  page  of  your 
history  a  record  so  fatal  to  their  security  as  this  Ordinance  will 
become,  if  it  be  obeyed.  Eally  again  under  the  banners  of  the 
Union,  whose  obligations  you,  in  common  with  all  your  country- 
men, have,  with  an  appeal  to  Heaven,  sworn  to  support,  and 
which  must  be  indissoluble  as  long  as  we  are  capable  of  enjoying 
freedom. 

'"  Recollect  that  the  first  act  of  resistance  to  the  laws  which 
have  been  denounced  as  void  by  those  who  abuse  your  confidence 
and  falsify  your  hopes  in  treason,  subjects  you  to  all  the  pains 
and  penalties  that  are  provided  for  the  highest  offense  against 
your  country.  Can  the  descendants  of  the  Rutledges,  the  Pinck- 
neys,  the  Richardsons,  the  Middletons,  the  Sumters,  the  Marions, 
the  Pickenses,  the  Bratons,  the  Taylors,  the  Haynes,  the  Gads- 
dens,  the  Winns,  the  Hills,  the  Henshaws,  and  the  Crawfords, 
with   the  descendants  of  thousands  more   of  the  patriots  of  the 


604  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Kevolution   that  might  be   named,   consent  to  become  traitors? 
Forbid  it,  Heaven  !' 

"  '  Dear  Sir, — I  submit  the  above  as  the  conclusion  of  the 
Proclamation,  for  your  amendment  and  revision.  Let  it  receive 
your  best  flight  of  eloquence,  to  strike  to  the  heart  and  speak  to 
the  feelings  of  my  deluded  countrymen  of  South  Carolina.  The 
Union  must  be  preserved  without  blood,  if  this  be  possible ;  but 
it  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards  and  at  any  price. 

,    "  '  Yours  with  high  regard,  Andrew  Jackson. 

"  *  Edward  Livingston,  Esq. 
" '  December  4,  1832,  11  o'clock  P.  M.' 

Friday,  at  night,  Dec.  7th. 

"*My  Dear  Sir, — Major  Donelson,  having  finished  copying 
the  sheets  handed  by  you  about  4  o'clock  P.  M.  to-day,  is  waiting 
for  the  balance.  Such  as  are  ready,  please  send,  sealed,  by  the 
bearer.  The  message  having  been  made  public  on  the  4th,  it  is 
desirable,  whilst  it  is  drawing  the  attention  of  the  people  in  South 
Carolina,  that  their  minds  should  be  drawn  to  their  real  situation, 
before  their  leaders  can,  by  false  theories,  delude  them  again. 
Therefore  it  is  to  prevent  blood  from  being  shed  and  positive 
treason  committed,  that  I  wish  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  people 
of  South  Carolina  to  the  danger,  that  no  blame  can  attach  to  me 
by  being  silent.  From  these  reasons  you  can  judge  of  my  anxiety 
to  have  this  to  follow  the  message. 

"  '  Yours  respectfully,  Andrew  Jackson. 

"  '  E.  Livingston,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  State.' 

"The  sentences  above  proposed  as  hints  for  the  conclusion  of 
the  Proclamation  were,  I  think,  the  only  suggestion  made  in 
writing  by  General  Jackson  in  relation  to  the  form  of  this  cele- 
brated State  paper,  though  he  did  not  fail  orally  and  repeatedly 
to  impress  upon  Mr.  Livingston  his  own  views  of  the  subject  in 
characteristically  concise  and  emphatic  terms.  The  few  phrases 
conceived  by  the  President  were  not  used  by  the  Secretary.  The 
thoughts  they  embody  appear  here  and  there  in  the  following 
closing  paragraphs  of  the  proclamation  :     .     .     . 

"The  amendments  on  the  face  of  the  manuscript  are  all 
purely  philological,  and  such  as  Mr.  Livingston  habitually  and 
constantly  made,  as  has  been  before  stated.  ...  As  to  what 
might  be  the  final  issue  of  tlie  controversy  between  South  Carolina 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  605 

and  the  Federal  Government,  as  influenced  by  the  possible  public 
opinion  of  the  country,  the  mind  of  the  Secretary  could  contem- 
plate and  state  two  opposite  hypotheses,  while  the  more  dogmatic 
intellect  of  the  President  could  neither  imagine  npr  admit 
but  one." 

Throughout  the  North  this  Proclamation  was  re- 
ceived with  great  favor,  without  respect  to  party,  and 
many  who  had  opposed  Jackson  and  his  Administra- 
tion were  now  loud  in  his  praise.  Still  many  Northern 
people  deplored  or  regretted  the  turn  the  big  tempest 
took,  as  they  felt  that  some  time  a  conflict  would  take 
place  which  this  temporizing  policy  could  not  avert.  The 
Legislature  and  Governor  of  South  Carolina  made  a 
great  show  of  resistance  to  this  Proclamation.  But 
Jackson  went  on  his  way.  On  the  16th  of  January, 
1833,  he  sent  another  message  to  Congress,  in  which 
he  reviewed  the  case  of  the  nuUifiers  as  it  then  stood, 
gave  additional  views  against  them,  and  asked  for 
necessary  provisions  to  enable  him  to  act  efficiently 
and  decisively  in  suppressing  the  rebellion.  This 
message  resulted  in  the  passage  of  what  was  known  as 
the  "  Force  Bill,"  authorizing  the  President  to  act,  but 
which  was  not  brought  into  requisition.  General  Jack- 
son was  not  the  man  to  be  behind  in  a  business  for 
which  he  was  eminently  fitted.  Before  the  nullification 
message  of  the  16th,  and  even  before  the  proclamation, 
he  had  begun  to  send  troops  to  the  South,  and  a  con- 
siderable force  was  gathered  in  Charleston  Harbor 
ready  for  the  crisis  which  was  to  come  on  Febru- 
ary 1st.  But  the  contest  was  fought  and  settled  in 
Congress. 

Of  this  troublesome  afiair,  and  some  other  impor- 
tant matters  brought  before  Congress  at  this  session, 


606  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  author  of  the  "  Statesman's  Manual "  says  briefly 
and  to  the  point : — 

"The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  McLane,  in  his  report 
to  Congress,  urged  upon  that  body  a  reduction  of  duty  to  the 
revenue  standard,  and  declared  that  '  there  was  not  the  same 
necessity  for  high  protecting  duties  as  that  which  was  consulted 
in  our  past  legislation.' 

"It  was  now  distinctly  foreseen  that  the  final  contest  relating 
to  a  protecting  tariff  was  about  to  be  decided.  Upon  distribut- 
ing the  various  subjects  recommended  to  the  consideration  of 
Congress,  this  was  referred  in  the  House,  to  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means,  of  which  Mr.  Verplanck,  of  New  York,  was 
chairman. 

"Notwithstanding  a  new  tariff  had  been  adopted  at  the  last 
session,  after  a  lengthened  discussion,  and  by  large  majorities,  it 
was  now  determined  to  remodel  the  whole,  to  conciliate  its  oppo- 
nents at  the  South,  and  on  the  27th  of  December  a  bill  was  re- 
ported by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  which  was  under- 
stood to  embody  the  views  of  the  Administration. 

"In  the  Senate,  also,  the  subject  was  taken  up  at  an  early 
period,  and  on  the  13th  of  December,  the  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Finance  presented  a  resolution  calling  on  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  for  the  plan  and  details  of  a  bill  in  conformity 
with  his  suggestions.  After  some  debate  as  to  the  propriety  of 
calling  on  a  branch  of  the  Executive  Department  for  an  opinion, 
instead  of  facts  or  information,  the  resolution  was  adopted. 

"The  bill  reported  in  the  House  by  Mr.  Verplanck,  proposed 
a  diminution  on  all  the  protected  articles,  to  take  effect  imme- 
diately, and  a  further  diminution  on  the  2d  of  March,  1834. 
By  this  bill,  a  great  and  immediate  reduction  was  contemplated 
upon  the  chief  manufactures  of  the  country,  and  a  further  re- 
duction to  the  revenue  standard  in  1834.  This  would  afford  to 
the  domestic  manufacturer  a  protecting  duty  from  fifteen  to 
twfenty  per  cent,  and  with  this  advantage,  the  opponents  of  high 
duties  argued  that  he  should  be  content.  On  the  other  side,  it 
was  contended  that  the  diminution  was  too  great,  and  that  by 
suddenly  bringing  the  duties  down  to  the  minimum  point,  the 
Government  would  violate  its  faith  with  those  who  had  been 
induced  to  embark  in  manufacturing,  by  the  adoption  of  what 
was  declared  to  be  the  settled  policy  of  the  country,   and  who 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  607 

would  be  ruined  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  withdrawal  of  the 
protection  they  enjoyed, 

"The  bill  of  last  session  which  was  framed  with  the  view  of 
settling  the  question,  had  not  yet  been  fairly  tested,  and  it  was 
insisted  that  such  a  vacillating  course  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment, was  positive  injustice  to  those  who  had  vested  their  capital 
under  the  existing  laws. 

"While  the  discussion  on  the  bill  was  going  on,  new  interest 
was  imparted  to  the  subject  by  a  message  from  the  President  to 
Congress,  on  the  16th  of  January,  communicating  the  South 
Carolina  ordinance  and  nullifying  laws,  together  with  his  own 
views  as  to  what  should  be  done  under  the  existing  state  ot 
affairs.  Upon  the  message  being  read  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn repelled,  in  the  most  earnest  manner,  the  imputation  of  any 
hostile  feeling  or  intentions  against  the  Union  on  the  part  of 
South  Carolina.  The  State  authorities,  he  asserted,  had  looked 
only  to  a  judicial  decision  upon  the  question,  until  the  concen- 
tration of  the  United  States  troops  at  Charleston  and  Augusta 
had  compelled  them  to  make  provision  to  defend  themselves. 

"The  judiciary  committee,  to  whom  the  message  was  referred, 
reported  a  bill  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  revenue  where  any 
obstructions  were  offered  to  the  officers  employed  in  that  duty. 
It  vested  full  power  in  the  President  to  employ  the  land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  if  necessary,  to  carry  the  rev- 
enue laws  into  effect. 

"After  the  bill  was  reported  to  the  Senate,  Mr.  Calhoun 
offered  a  series  of  resolutions,  embodying  his  views  and  those 
who  sustained  the  doctrines  of  nullification,  with  regard  to  the 
powers  of  the  General  Government  and  the  rights  of  the  States. 
Mr.  Grundy,  of  Tennessee,  offered  other  resolutions  as  substitutes 
for  Mr.  Calhoun's,  and  which  set  forth  the  views  of  the  Admin- 
istration. The  latter  were  not  deemed,  by  a  portion  of  the  Sen- 
ate, fully  to  set  forth  the  character  of  the  Government,  inasmuch 
as  while  they  declare  the  several  acts  of  Congress  laying  duties  on 
imports  to  be  Constitutional,  and  deny  the  power  of  a  single  State 
to  annul  them  or  any  other  Constitutional  law,  they  tacitly  yield 
the  whole  doctrine  of  nullification,  by  the  implied  admission  that 
any  unconstitutional  law  may  be  judged  of  by  the  State  in  the 
last  resort,  and  annulled  by  the  same  authority.  With  the  view 
of  having  placed  upon  record  his  opinions  upon  that  point,  Mr. 
Clayton,  of  Delaware,  an  opposition  Senator,  proposed  a  resolution, 


608  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

setting  them  forth,  and  declaring  that  '  the  Senate  will  not  fail, 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  its  most  solemn  duty,  to  support 
the  Executive  in  the  just  administration  of  the  Government,  and 
clothe  it  with  all  Constitutional  power  necessary  to  the  faithful 
execution  of  the  laws  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union.' 

"The  whole  subject  was  now  before  Congress;  and  the  State 
Legislatures,  being  generally  in  session,  passed  resolutions  ex- 
pressing their  opinions  as  to  the  course  which  that  body  ought 
to  adopt. 

"In  the  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  Delaware,  Tennessee,  Indiana,  and  Missouri,  the  doctrines 
of  nullification  were  entirely  disclaimed,  as  destructive  to  'the 
Constitution.  Those  of  North  Carolina  and  Alabama  were  no 
less  explicit  in  condemning  nullification,  but  they  also  expressed 
an  opinion  that  the  tariff  was  unconstitutional   and   inexpedient. 

"The  State  of  Georgia  also  reprobated  the  doctrine  of  nullifi- 
cation as  unconstitutional,  by  a  vote  of  102  to  51  in  her  Legisla- 
ture ;  but  it  denounced  the  tariff  in  decided  terms,  and  proposed 
a  convention  of  the  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi,  to  devise 
measures  to  obtain  relief  from  that  system. 

"The  Legislature  of  Virginia  assumed  a  more  extraordinary 
ground.  The  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee  on  federal 
relations,  and  a  general  discussion  was  had  on  the  powers  of  the 
Government;  and  finally  resolutions  were  passed,  earnestly  re- 
questing South  Carolina  not  to  proceed  further  under  the  Ordi- 
nance of  their  convention  to  reduce  the  import  duties  to  a  revenue 
standard,  and  declaring  that  the  people  of  Virginia  expect  that 
the  General  Government  and  the  government  of  South  Carolina 
will  carefully  abstain  from  all  acts  calculated  to  disturb  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  country. 

"After  further  resolving  that  they  adhere  to  the  principles 
of  the  Virginia  Resolutions  of  1798,  but  that  they  do  not  con- 
sider them  as  sanctioning  the  proceedings  of  South  Carolina,  or 
the  President's  Proclamation,  they  proceeded  to  appoint  Benjamin' 
W.  Leigh,  as  a  commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  State,  to  pro- 
ceed to  South  Carolina,  to  communicate  the  resolutions  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  to  express  their  good-will  to  the  people  of  that  State, 
and  their  anxious  solicitude  for  an  accommodation  between  them 
and  the  General  Government. 

"The  State  of  New  Hampshire  expressed  no  opinion   as  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  609 

the  doctrines  of  South  Carolina,  but  the  Legislature  passed  reso- 
lutions in  favor  of  reducing  the  tariff  to  the  revenue  standard. 
"On  the  other  hand,  the  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  Ver- 
mont, Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  declared 
themselves  to  be  opposed  to  any  modification  of  the  tariff. 

"While  the  States  were  thus  sustaining  their  respective  views 
and  interests.  Congress  was  slowly  proceeding  in  the  discussion 
of  the  questions  belonging  to  the  subject.  In  the  House,  the  bill 
for  reducing  the  tariff  was  subjected  to  an  ordeal  that  threatened 
to  prove  fatal  to  its  passage  through  that  body.  The  discussion 
upon  its  general  principles  occupied  the  House  for  two  weeks 
after  its  introduction,  and  was  resumed  from  time  to  time,  during 
the  examination  of  its  details,  for  the  purpose  of  amendment; 
and  but  little  prospect  appeared  of  bringing  about  any  satisfac- 
tory termination  of  this  long-disputed  question. 

"The  authorities  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  meantime,  ex- 
erted themselves  to  increase  the  military  force  of  the  State. 
Munitions  were  provided,  depots  formed,  and  the  militia  in  the 
nullifying  districts  were  called  upon  to  volunteer  in  her  defense. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  minority  of  the  people,  who  called  them- 
selves the  Union  party,  were  equally  determined  not  to  submit 
to  the  nullifying  ordinance  and  laws,  and  prepared  themselves 
with  equal  firmness  and  zeal  to  sustain  the  Federal  authorities. 
A  spark  was  sufficient  to  kindle  the  flame  of  civil  war,  but  for- 
tunately no  accident  occurred  to  bring  about  a  collision.  The 
reveuue  laws,  under  the  protection  of  the  forces  of  the  General 
Government,  were  carried  into  effect  without  any  opposition  by 
violence.  No  attempt  was  made  to  enforce  the  laws  under  the 
Ordinance  of  the  State  convention,  and  on  the  31st  of  January, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  leading  nullifiers  at  Charleston,  after  reiter-  * 
ating  their  determination  to  maintain  their  principles,  and  ex- 
pressing their  satisfaction  at  the  proposition  to  modify  the  tariff, 
it  was  resolved  that  during  the  session  of  Congress,  all  collision 
be  avoided  between  the  State  and  Federal  authorities,  in  the  hope 
that  the  controversy  might  be  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

"  During  these  proceedings  in  South  Carolina,  the  enforcing 
bill,  providing  for  the  collection  of  duties,  was  pressed  forward 
to  a  vote.  It  was,  however,  delayed  in  the  Senate,  by  a  length- 
ened discussion,  until  the  20th  of  February,  when  it  passed  that 
body  by  a  vote  of  32  ayes ;  Mr.  Tyler,  only,  voting  in  the  nega- 
tive, the  opponents  of  the  bill  generally  having  withdrawn.    It  also 

39— G 


610  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

passed  the  House  on  the  28th  of  February,  150  to  35,  and  be- 
came a  law. 

"The  tariff"  bill  reported  by  Mr.  Verplanck,  and  sustained  by 
the  friends  of  the  Administration  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, was  delayed  in  that  body  until  the  12th  of  February; 
when  Mr.  Clay,  of  the  Senate,  apprehending  either  the  passage 
of  that  bill,  which  he  considered  would  be  destructive  to  the 
manufacturing  interests,  or  that  Congress  would  adjourn,  leaving 
the  matter  unsettled,  and  the  country  in  danger  of  a  civil  war, 
introduced,  pursuant  to  notice,  a  measure  of  compromise  in  the 
Senate.  This  was  a  bill  which  had  been  prepared,  after  much 
consultation,  for  the  permanent  adjustment  of  the  tariff".  It  pro- 
vided, that  where  the  duties  exceeded  twenty  per  cent,  there 
should  be  one-tenth  part  of  the  excess  deducted  after  December 
30,  1833,  and  one-tenth  each  alternate  year,  until  the  31st  of 
December,  1841,  when  one-half  of  the  residue  was  to  be  de- 
ducted, and  after  the  30th  of  June,  1842,  the  duties  on  all  goods 
were  to  be  reduced  to  twenty  per  cent  on  a  home  valuation,  and 
were  to  be  paid  in  cash. 

"After  Mr.  Clay  had  stated  that  his  views  in  introducing  the 
bill  were  to  preserve  the  protective  tariff"  for  a  length  of  time, 
and  to  restore  good  feelings  and  tranquillity  among  the  people,  he 
explained  the  proposed  measure  and  its  probable  operation.  Mr. 
Calhoun  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  bill;  and  it  was  dis- 
cussed by  various  Senators  until  the  23d  of  February,  when  it 
was  ordered  to  a  third  reading.  On  the  25th,  Mr.  Clay  stated 
that  a  bill  identical  in  its  provisions  to  the  one  before  the  Senate, 
had  just  passed  the  House,  and  would  probably  be  presented  the 
next  day  to  the  Senate  for  approval.  The  Senate,  on  his  motion, 
therefore  adjourned. 

"In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr.  Verplanck's  bill  was 
taken  up  for  discussion,  when,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Letcher,  of 
Kentucky,  it  was  recommitted,  with  instructions  to  report  Mr. 
Clay's  bill.  The  bill  being  referred  to  the  committee,  the  substi- 
tute was  agreed  to,  forthwith  reported  to  the  House,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  passed,  by  a  vote  of  119  to  85.  In  the  Senate,  after 
some  further  discussion,  it  passed,  ayes  29,  noes  16,  and  received 
the  signature  of  the  President  on  the  2d  of  March,  1833. 

"The  passage  of  this  bill  was  regarded  by  all  as  a  concession 
to  South  Carolina,  and  many  considered  it  as  sanctioning  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  principles  advanced  by  that  State. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  611 

"The  supporters  of  the  bill  who  were  friendly  to  the  system 
of  protection  insisted,  on  the  contrary,  that  this  was  the  only 
mode  of  preventing  an  entire  and  immediate  destruction  of  the 
manufacturing  interests ;  that  the  Administration  had  a  decided 
majority  in  the  next  Congress;  and  if  the  question  was  not  set- 
tled now,  the  manufacturers  would  be  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
their  enemies. 

"Those  who  looked  to  the  ultimate  results  of  this  compro- 
mise, preferred  to  test,  rather  than  to  surrender,  the  powers  of 
the  Government,  and  they  strongly  reprobated  the  idea  of  aban- 
doning the  policy  of  the  Government  upon  the  demand  of  a 
single  State. 

"The  leaders  of  the  nullifying  party,  on  their  part,  affected 
to  regard  the  compromise  as  an  unqualified  triumph.  The  con- 
vention of  South  Carolina  assembled  at  Columbia,  at  the  call  of 
the  Governor,  on  the  11th  of  March,  and,  deeming  it  expedient 
to  consider  the  compromise  tariff  as  satisfactory,  they  repealed, 
the  Ordinance  nullifying  the  revenue  laws,  and  nullified  the 
enforcing  law.  After  this  the  tarifi*  controversy  in  South  Caro- 
lina ended. 

' '  The  bill  providing  for  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands  among  the  States,  was  again  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Clay,  at  an  early  period  of  this  session.  After 
much  discussion,  it  passed  that  body  on  the  25th  of  January, 
ayes  24,  noes  20.  It  was  not  taken  up  in  the  House  until  the 
1st  of  March,  when,  after  being  amended,  it  was  passed,  ayes  96, 
nays  40,  and  sent  back  to  the  Senate.  The  amendment  of  the 
House  was  concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  23  to  5.  These  votes 
indicated  that  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  were  in  favor  of 
the  policy  proposed  to  be  established  by  Mr.  Clay's  bill;  and  if 
the  President  had  returned  the  bill  with  his  objections,  it  was 
understood  that  it  would  have  become  a  law,  notwithstanding 
the  veto. 

"This  opportunity,  however,  was  not  given  to  them,  as  the 
President  retained  the  bill  until  after  the  adjournment,  which 
took  place  at  the  termination  of  their  Constitutional  term  on  the 
3d  of  March,  and  thus  prevented  Congress  from  expressing  its 
opinion  upon  his  objections.  The  bill  was  thus  defeated  by  the 
Executive,  who  in  this  manner  assumed  an  absolute  instead  of  a 
qualified  veto  upon  the  acts  of  Congress,  which  was  confided  to 
him  by  the  Constitution.     The  reason  of  the  President   for   his 


612  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

course  in  this  matter,  as  given  to  the  next  Congress,  was  want 
of  time  for  a  due  consideration  of  this  important  measure. 

"Among  the  subjects  recommended  by  the  President  in  his 
annual  message  in  December,  1832,  was  the  propriety  of  remov- 
ing the  public  moneys  from  the  United  States  Bank.  The  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  who  had  hitherto  advocated  the  re-charter 
of  the  Bank,  followed  up  the  President's  recommendation  by  the 
expression  of  his  doubts  as  to  their  safety,  if  continued  in  its 
custody.  An  agent  appointed  by  the  Treasury  to  investigate  the 
actual  condition  of  the  Bank,  shortly  after  made  his  report,  and 
it  appeared  that  this  institution  had  an  excess  of  funds  of  more 
than  seven  millions  of  dollars  over  its  liabilities,  besides  its 
capital  of  $35,000,000. 

"The  President  also  recommended  a  sale  of  the  stock  of  the 
bank  belonging  to  the  United  States.  A  proposition  to  that  effect, 
reported  by  Mr.  Polk  from  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
in  the  House,  was  rejected  on  the  first  reading,  102  to  91. 

"The  subject  of  the  public  deposits  w^as  referred  to  the  same 
committee,  who,  through  Mr.  Verplanck,  made  a  report  stating 
the  situation  of  the  Bank.  They  consequently  recommended  a 
resolution  that  the  Government  deposits  may,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  House,  be  safely  continued  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
This  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  House — ayes,  109;  noes,  46." 

When  the  result  was  reached  in  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Benton  who,  of  course,  voted  with  the  minority,  said  : 
"And  thus  a  new  principle  of  protection,  never  before 
engrafted  upon  the  American  system,  and  to  get  at 
which  the  Constitution  had  to  be  violated  in  the  article 
of  the  uniformity  of  duties,  was  established !  and 
established  by  the  aid  of  those  who  declared  all  protec- 
tion to  be  unconstitutional,  and  just  cause  for  the 
secession  of  a  State  from  the  Union !  and  were  then 
acting  on  that  assumption." 

The  tariff  of  1828  was  justly  complained  of  by  the 
South,  and  the  argument  against  the  complaint  and 
resistance,  to  the  effect  that  the  tariff  was  a  beneficial 
national  measure,  was  hardly  fair  or  sufficient.     The 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  613 

tariff  did,  perhaps,  bear  unequally  on  the  South,  and 
only  Louisiana  had  assented  to  it.  The  evil  was  not 
in  opposition  to  the  tariff,  but  in  the  remedy  of  nulli- 
fication adopted  by  South  Carolina,  and  supported  by 
many  of  the  Southern  leaders.  Nullification  was  a 
Jacobinic  falsehood.  And  however  much  it  was  in 
harmony  with  the  character  of  General  Jackson,  it  was 
not  in  keeping  with  his  position  as  President  to  let  it 
control  the  Government.  Besides  this,  there  was  a 
personal,  or  another  personal,  consideration  in  the  case. 
General  Jackson  could  not  dismiss  from  his  acts  or 
opinions  on  public  matters,  his  personal  identity,  his 
private  animosities.  He  suspected  and  then  hated  Mr. 
Calhoun,  and  this  hatred  destroyed  Mr.  Calhoun's 
chances  for  the  Presidency.  His  quarral  with  Cal- 
houn based  upon  the  most  trifling  and  unmanly  foun- 
dation, exerted  a  marked  influence  on  national  affairs, 
as  did  several  other  matters,  which  should  have  had 
no  place  in  the  moral  and  civil  history  of  the  times. 
How  far  he  was  influenced  in  his  opposition  to  nulli- 
fication by  his  personal  animosity  towards  Mr.  Calhoun, 
who  had  become  the  apostle  of  the  false  prijiciple,  it 
would,  perhaps,  not  be  easy  to  say.  That  Calhoun 
had  fallen  from  his  pinnacle,  and  become  the  champion 
of  this  hapless  dogma,  on  account  of  this  personal 
quarrel,  for  which  he  was  not  responsible  or  blamable, 
with  General  Jackson,  there  need  be  no  dispute. 

The  South  was,  however,  disappointed  in  Jackson. 
The  leaders  in  that  section  had  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  would  side  with  them,  and  ignore  the  authority 
and  dignity  of  the  Government.  He  had  done  so 
in  the  Georgia  Indian  difficulties.  But  whatever  were 
the  motives   and  causes,  fortunately  General  Jackson 


614  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

took  a  stand  against  nullification.  That  he  would  do 
so  was  plainly  enough  announced  in  the  Jefferson 
birthday  banquet,  April  30,  1830,  at  Washington. 
He  did  not  stop  with  his  celebrated  "  toast."  In  a 
letter  dated  June  14,  1831,  he  notified  the  South 
Carolinians  that  a  force  policy  against  nullification 
might  be  expected  of  him.  The  nullifiers  started  out 
with  what  they  believed  to  be  a  non-impeachable 
backing.  Thomas  Jefferson  was  their  oracle.  But 
this  authority  was  never  especially  great  with  Gen- 
eral Jackson. 

During  the  Administration  of  John  Adams  the 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  were  passed,  and,  although 
Mr.  Adams  did  not  originate  these  acts,  yet  they  have 
always  been  charged  as  his  great  political  sin.  A  hue 
and  cry  went  from  the  mouths  of  the  opposition  about 
these  famous  acts  at  the  time,  which  have  never  been 
allowed  to  die.  But  these  measures  were,  in  them- 
selves, proper  enough,  and,  at  the  moment,  entirely 
necessary.  They  were  brave,  manly,  patriotic  laws, 
and  their  leading  opponents  saw  occasions  for  their 
salutary  application  in  after  times. 

The  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  were  really  a  credit 
to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the  Federalists.  But 
of  nullification  what  can  be  said  ?  Yet  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  its  author.  In  his  famous  Kentucky  Resolutions 
the  doctrine  was  distinctly  and  simply  announced. 
That  the  Legislature  of  that  State  omitted  the  doc- 
trine in  the  resolutions  as  adopted  in  1798,  did  not 
change  the  fact,  it  was  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  writing ;  and 
in  the  additional  resolutions  of  the  following  year, 
goaded  by  the  sting  of  failure,  the  Kentucky  Legisla- 
ture merely  introduced  the  nullification  theory,  which 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  615 

it  had  not  been  desperate  enough  to  do  before. 
There  can  be  no  comparison  between  the  ground- 
lessness and  folly  of  nullification  and  the  salutary 
and  proper  purposes  of  the  "  Alien  and  Sedition 
Laws."  The  opposition  to  them  at  the  outset  was 
factious  and  mean,  and  since  it  has  been  factious 
and  foolish.  For  the  last  fifty  years,  few  of  those 
w^ho  have  cried  "Alien  and  Sedition  Laws"  have,  per- 
haps, understood  their  character,  or  known  the  des- 
perate necessity  on  which  they  were  founded. 

All  of  the  rest  of  the  Union  opposed  the  nullifi- 
cation action  of  South  Carolina,  and  some  of  the  States 
favored  no  tariff,  most  of  them  favored  a  reduction, 
some  of  them  opposed  any  reduction,  and  were  unwill- 
ing to  treat  with  or  pamper  as  pirit  so  dangerous  as  to 
give  rise  to  nullification,  and,  more  ridiculous  than  any 
other  State,  Virginia  wanted  to  appear  as  a  mediator 
between  the  Government  and  the  rebellious  State. 
South  Carolina,  in  an  authoritative  and  formal  way 
called  General  Jackson  a  usurper  and  a  tyrant,  and 
this  so  aroused  the  "bull-dog"  in  him  that  he  medi- 
tated making  characteristic  examples  of  some  of  the 
nullifiers.  No  man  could  call  General  Jackson  names 
with  impunity.  At  all  events,  the  experiment  was 
dangerous.  Nothing  that  Jackson  ever  did  added 
justly  so  much  to  his  political  fame  as  this  Proclama- 
tion and  his  opposition  to  nullification. 


616  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CMAPTER  XXX. 

ELECTORAL  COUNT— PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  SECOND  INAU- 
GURAL ADDRESS— HARVARD  MAKES  ANOTHER  LL.  D. 

ANOTHER  exciting  Presidential  election  had  re- 
sulted in  a  conquest  for  the  Hero  of  New  Or- 
leans. He  had  put  his  greatest  enemy  under  his  feet. 
To  do  this  it  was  not  necessary  to  hurl  at  him  the 
old  exploded  charge  of  "bargain  and  corruption,"  but 
even  this  he  had  not  neglected.  His  adversaries, 
however,  had  no  conscientious  qualms,  and  his  conduct 
of  public  and  private  matters  since  he  had  been  a 
resident  of  the  White  House  gave  them  a  rich,  new 
field,  which  they  explored  with  vigor. 

He  was  held  up  as  the  man  who  had  positively  led 
the  people  to  think  that  he  was  unalterably  opposed  to 
a  second  term,  and  now  he  had  ignored  all  his  promises 
and  pretensions  on  this  point.  He  had  even  proceeded, 
through  the  machinations  of  his  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  to 
have  his  re-election  made  to  appear  as  a  necessity  be- 
fore his  first  term  was  half  gone,  and  had  set  willing 
instruments  in  Tennessee  to  crying  this  necessity  to 
the  country.  He  had  opposed  the  appointment  of 
Congressmen  to  places  in  the  control  of  the  President, 
and  at  once  had  taken  from  Congress  four  members 
of  his  Cabinet,  and  had,  in  the  first  six  months,  ap- 
pointed more  Congressmen  to  office,  all  taken  together, 
than  had  been  done  from  the  formation   of  the  Govern- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  617 

ment  to  the  time  of  his  own  Administration.  Instead 
of  reforming  the  public  Administration,  it  had  for 
the  first  time  been  prostituted,  throughout  the  entire 
country,  to  party  and  personal  purposes,  and  at  greatly 
increased  expense  and  loss  to  the  people.  Instead  of 
being  the  head  of  the  Nation,  as  he  had  proclaimed 
that  he  ought  to  be,  he  had  turned  the  wealth  and 
vast  machinery  of  the  Government  to  advancing  the 
interest  of  his  friends.  His  hostility  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  was  ruining  the  country.  And 
finally,  they  said  that  his  partisan  preferences,  bad 
temper,  intolerance,  and  support  of  bullying  and  cor- 
ruption had  spread  immorality  and  viciousness  through- 
out the  country,  and  established  rudeness,  corruption, 
and  insecurity  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  This  was  a 
deep-dyed  catalogue,  indeed.  But  the  hickory  poles 
were  raised,  the  roosters  crowed,  and  the  people 
shouted  "  Hurrah  for  Jackson,"  all  the  same,  and  when 
the  votes  came  to  be  counted,  Mr.  Clay  was  farther 
from  the  Presidency  than  he  ever  had  been. 

In  the  course  of  the  hot  debates  in  the  winter  of 
1832,  or  about  this  time,  William  L.  Marcy  gave  utter- 
ance to  the  sentiment,  which  was  held  up  as  a  natural 
outbirth  of  the  era  of  political  corruption  now  intro- 
duced, that  the  politicians  of  New  York  "  saw  nothing 
wrong  in  the  rule,  that  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils 
of  the  enemy."  It  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Marcy  that 
this  evil  utterance,  throwing  aside  the  virtue  of  prin- 
ciple or  integrity  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs, 
was  the  only  one  he  ever  made  which  will  live.  Are 
the  evil  deeds  and  sayings  of  men  more  prolific  and 
longer  lived  than  their  good  ones  ?  However  doubtful 
this    may    be,   as    a    general   principle,    Mr.    Marcy 's 


618  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

sentiment  had  already  been  introduced  by  General  Jack- 
son, and  from  that  day  to  this  the  vile  principle  has 
been,  to  a  great  extent,  the  practice  of  the  party  in 
power  whatever  its  general  political  character. 

In  the  election  of  1832,  all  the  States  gave  popular 
votes  except  South  Carolina.  In  Alabama  there  was 
no  Clay  or  Wirt  ticket  in  the  field,  and  hence  there 
was  no  vote  cast  in  that  State  against  General  Jackson. 
On  the  13th  of  February,  1833,  the  electoral  votes 
were  counted  in  joint  session  of  the  two  branches  of 
Congress,  in  the  Hall  of  the  House.     Of  the  288  votes, 

Andrew  Jackson  had 219 

Henry  Clay 49 

John.  Floyd 11 

William  Wirt 7 

For  the  Presidency.  In  Maryland  there  were  two 
vacancies. 

FOR   THE    VICE-PRESIDENCY. 

Martin  Van  Buren  received 189 

John  Sergeant 49 

William  AVilkins 30 

Henry  Lee 11 

Amos  Ellmaker 7 

Mr.  Wilkins  got  his  Azotes  from  the  Jackson  men 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  would  not  support  Van  Buren ; 
the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  cast  the  vote  of  that 
State,  and,  of  course,  was  expected  to  do  some  char- 
acteristic thing,  which  was  effected  in  giving  the  dis- 
tinction of  her  eleven  votes  to  Floyd  and  Lee  ;  and 
Vermont  made  an  everlasting  mark  for  herself  in  the 
Electoral  College  by  casting  her  seven  votes  for  Wirt 
and  Ellmaker,  against  Free  Masonry. 

The   States   whose   electoral   votes    were   civen  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  619 

General  Jackson  were  Alabama,  Georgia,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Louisiana,  Maine,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  New 
Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Tennessee,  and  Virginia.  Mary- 
land also  gave  him  three  of  her  eleven  electoral  votes, 
but  Mr.  Clay  had  a  majority  of  four  votes  at  the  polls 
in  that  State.  The  electoral  votes  of  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts,  Delaware,  and  Ken- 
tucky were  cast  for  Mr.  Clay.  Maryland  also  gave 
him  five  of  the  eight  votes  which  she  cast. 

The  popular  vote  for  Mr.  Clay  was  530,189,  while 
that  for  General  Jackson,  with  his  enormous  electoral 
vote,  was  only  157,313  more.  Mr.  Wirt  received  over 
33,000  votes  at  the  polls. 

At  12  o'clock  on  the  4th  of  March,  1833,  the 
President,  and  Vice-President  elect,  entered  the  House 
of  Representatives.  With  them  were  Cabinet  minis- 
ters, ministers  of  foreign  governments,  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Senators,  and  members  of  the  House. 
A  vast  concourse  of  people,  citizens  and  strangers,  had 
assembled  to  see  the  second  inauguration  of  Andrew 
Jackson  as  President.  The  President  took  the  chair 
of  the  Speaker,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren  sat  on  his  left, 
and  Donelson,  his  secretary,  on  his  right.  The  Presi- 
dent rose,  and  after  the  cheers  of  the  assembly  had 
subsided,  read  his  inaugural  address  in  a  good,  audible 
tone.  He  was  again  cheered.  The  Chief  Justice  then 
administered  the  oath  of  office  to  him. 

The  following  is  his 

SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

March  4,  1833. 
Fellow-citizens, — The   will    of   the   American    people,   ex- 
pressed through  their  unsolicited  suffrages,  calls  me  before  you  to 


620  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

pass  through  the  solemnities  preparatory  to  taking  upon  myself 
the  duties  of  President  of  the  United  States  for  another  term. 
For  their  approbation  of  my  public  conduct,  through  a  period 
which  has  not  been  without  its  difficulties,  and  for  this  renewed 
expression  of  their  confidence  in  my  good  intentions,  I  am  at  a 
loss  for  terras  adequate  to  the  expression  of  my  gratitude.  It 
shall  be  displayed,  to  the  extent  of  my  humble  abilities,  in  con- 
tinued efforts  so  to  administer  the  Government  as  to  preserve 
their  liberty  and  promote  their  happiness. 

So  many  events  have  occurred  within  the  last  four  years, 
which  have  necessarily  called  forth,  sometimes  under  circumstances 
the  most  delicate  and  painful,  my  views  of  the  principles  and 
policy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  by  the  General  Government, 
that  I  need,  on  this  occasion,  but  allude  to  a  few  leading  consid- 
erations connected  with  some  of  them. 

The  foreign  policy  adopted  by  our  Government  soon  after  the 
formation  of  our  present  Constitution,  and  very  generally  pursued 
by  successive  Administrations,  has  been  crowned  with  almost  com- 
plete success,  and  has  elevated  our  character  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  To  do  justice  to  all,  and  to  submit  to  wrong  from 
none,  has  been,  during  my  Administration,  its  governing  maxim  ; 
and  so  happy  have  been  its  results,  that  we  are  not  only  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  but  have  few  causes  of  controversy,  and  those 
of  minor  importance,  remaining  unadjusted. 

In  the  domestic  policy  of  this  Government  there  are  two 
objects  which  especially  deserve  the  attention  of  the  people  and 
their  Representatives,  and  which  have  been,  and  will  continue  to 
be,  the  subjects  of  my  increasing  solicitude.  They  are,  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 

These  great  objects  are  necessarily  connected,  and  can  only  be 
attained  by  an  enlightened  exercise  of  the  powers  of  each  within 
its  appropriate  sphere,  in  conformity  with  the  public  will  Consti- 
tutionally exj^ressed.  To  this  end,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  to 
yield  a  ready  and  patriotic  submission  to  the  laws  Constitutionally 
enacted,  and  thereby  promote  and  strengthen  a  proper  confidence 
in  those  institutions  of  the  several  States  and  of  the  United 
States,  which  the  people  themselves  have  ordained  for  their  own 
Government. 

My  experience  in  public  concerns,  and  the  observation  of  a 
life  somewhat  advanced,  confirm  the  opinions  long  since  imbibed 
by  me,  that  the  destruction  of  our  State   Governments  or   the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  621 

annihilation  of  their  control  over  the  local  concerns  of  the  people, 
would  lead  directly  to  revolution  and  anarchy,  and  finally  to 
despotism  and  military  domination.  In  proportion,  therefore, 
as  the  General  Government  encroaches  upon  the  rights  of  the 
States,  in  the  same  proportion  does  it  impair  its  own  power  and 
detract  from  its  ability  to  fulfill  the  purposes  of  its  creation.  Sol- 
emnly impressed  with  these  considerations,  my  countrymen  will 
ever  find  me  ready  to  exercise  my  Constitutional  powers  in 
arresting  measures  which  may  directly  or  indirectly  encroach 
upon  the  rights  of  these  States,  or  tend  to  consolidate  a  political 
power  in  the  General  Government.  But  of  equal,  and,  indeed, 
of  incalculable  importance,  is  the  Union  of  these  States,  and  the 
sacred  duty  of  all  to  contribute  to  its  preservation  by  a  liberal 
support  of  the  General  Government  in  the  exercise  of  its  just 
powers.  You  have  been  wisely  admonished  to  "accustom  your- 
selves to  think  and  speak  of  the  Union  as  of  the  palladium  of 
your  political  safety  and  prosperity,  watching  for  its  preservation 
with  jealous  anxiety,  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest 
even  a  suspicion  that  it  can,  in  any  event,  be  abandoned,  and 
indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  any  attempt  to 
alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble 
the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  the  various  parts." 
Without  union  our  independence  and  liberty  would  never  have 
been  achieved,  without  union  they  can  never  be  maintained. 
Divided  in  twenty-four,  or  even  a  smaller  number  of  separate 
communities,  we  shall  see  our  internal  trade  burthened  with  num- 
berless restraints  and  exactions,  communications  between  distant 
points  and  sections  obstructed  or  cut  off;  our  sons  made  sol- 
diers, to  deluge  with  blood  the  fields  they  now  till  in  peace ;  the 
mass  of  our  people  borne  down  and  impoverished  by  taxes  to 
support  armies  and  navies ;  and  military  leaders  at  the  head  of 
their  victorious  legions  becoming  our  lawgivers  and  judges.  The 
loss  of  liberty,  of  all  good  Government,  of  peace,  plenty,  and 
happiness,  must  inevitably  follow  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  In 
supporting  it,  therefore,  we  support  all  that  is  dear  to  the  free- 
man and  the  philanthropist. 

The  time  at  which  I  stand  before  you  is  full  of  interest.  The 
eyes  of  all  nations  are  fixed  on  our  Republic.  The  event  of  the 
existing  crisis  will  be  decisive,  in  the  opinion  of  mankind,  of  the 
practicability  of  our  Federal  system  of  Government.  Great  is 
the  stake  placed  in  our  hands ;  great  is  the  responsibility  which 


622  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

must  rest  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Let  us  realize 
the  importance  of  the  attitude  in  which  we  stand  before  the 
world.  Let  us  exercise  forbearance  and  firmness.  Let  us  extri- 
cate our  country  from  the  dangers  which  surround  it,  and  learn 
wisdom  from  the  lessons  they  inculcate. 

Deeply  impressed  with  the  truth  of  these  observations,  and 
under  the  obligation  of  that  solemn  oath  which  I  am  about 
to  take,  I  shall  continue  to  exert  all  my  faculties  to  maintain 
the  just  powers  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  transmit  unimpaired 
to  posterity  the  blessings  of  our  Federal  Union.  At  the  same 
time  it  will  be  my  aim  to  inculcate,  by  my  official  acts,  the  neces- 
sity of  exercising,  by  the  General  Government,  those  powers  only 
that  are  clearly  delegated  ;  to  encourage  a  simplicity  and  economy 
in  the  expenditures  of  the  Government ;  to  raise  no  more  money 
from  the  people  than  may  be  requisite  for  these  objects,  and  in  a 
manner  that  will  best  promote  the  interests  of  all  classes  of  the 
community,  and  of  all  portions  of  the  Union.  Constantly  bear- 
•ing  in  mind  that,  in  entering  into  society,  "individuals  must 
give  up  a  share  of  liberty  to  preserve  the  rest,"  it  will  be  my  de- 
sire so  to  discharge  my  duties  as  to  foster  with  our  brethren  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  a  spirit  of  liberal  concession  and  compro- 
mise; and  by  reconciling  our  fellow-citizens  to  those  partial  sac- 
rifices which  they  must  unavoidably  make  for  the  preservation  of 
a  greater  good,  to  recommend  our  invaluable  Government  and 
Union  to  the  confidence  and  affections  of  the  American  people. 

Finally,  it  is  my  most  fervent  prayer  to  that  Almighty  Being 
before  whom  I  now  stand,  and  who  has  kept  us  in  his  hands 
from  the  infancy  of  our  Republic  to  the  present  day,  that  He 
will  so  overrule  all  my  intentions  and  actions,  and  inspire  the 
hearts  of  my  fellow-citizens  that  we  may  be  preserved  from  dan- 
gers of  all  kinds,  and  continue  forever  a   united   and  happy 

PEOPLE. 

There  was  little  disposition  to  complain  of  this 
short  and  peaceful  address,  and,  in  fact,  it  was  pre- 
dicted that  General  Jackson's  second  term  would  be  a 
comparatively  harmonious  and  happy  period.  A  mon- 
strous delusion.  It  was  hardly  in  the  nature  of  An- 
drew Jackson  to  be  quiet ;  it  was  absolutely  impossible 
while  anything  was  left  for  him  to  fight.     The  Bank 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  623 

• 

of  the  United  States  was  not  yet  dead,  nor  was  it 
going  to  give  up  life  without  another  struggle.  Gen- 
eral Jackson  could  not  let  this  "  monster  "  rest,  even  in 
his  happiest  moments. 

In  May,  President  Jackson  went  down  to  Freder- 
icksburg to  be  present  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
of  the  projected  monument  at  the  grave  of  the  mother 
of  Washington.  His  brief,  beautiful  address  on  this 
occasion  is  found  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

On  the  steamboat,  on  the  way  down  the  Potomac, 
he  was  assaulted  while  the  boat  was  lying  at  Alex- 
andria, by  a  discharged  lieutenant  of  the  naval  service. 
This  man  came  upon  him  without  the  least  notice 
of  his  intention,  and,  it  is  said,  deliberately  pulled  the 
General's  nose.  After  which  he  escaped  from  the 
boat,  and  was  never  prosecuted  for  his  villainy.  The 
President  did  not  know  him,  and  had  never  had  any 
kind  of  dealing  with  him. 

*  On  the  29th  of  May  Mr.  Livingston  left  the  De- 
partment of  State  to  become  Minister  to  France,  the 
President  believing  that  he  could  be  more  successful 
in  settling  the  difficulties  with  that  nation  on  the  spo- 
liation question.  This  step  fortunately  relieved  the 
amiable  Livingston,  the  man  who  is  said  never  to  have 
been  angry,  from  the  great  turmoil  that  again  arose 
in  the  Cabinet  and  the  country.  The  President  knew 
Livingston's  want  of  sympathy  with  his  Bank   fight. 

Mr.  McLane  was  transferred  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment. He  was  unfavorable  to  some  of  the  President's 
financial  plans.  William  J.  Duane,  an  able  and  honest 
lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  son  of  William  Duane  of  the 
"Aurora,"  who  was  a  great  favorite  of  General  Jack- 
son's, but  who  did  not  enjoy  the  reputation  of  his  son 


624  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

with  a  very  respectable  class  of  people,  in  which  was 
President  Monroe,  unfortunately  accepted  the  position 
of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  without  knowing  what 
the  President  designed  him  to  do.  One  thing  the 
President  knew,  and  that  was  that  Mr.  Duane  was, 
from  his  own  convictions,  opposed  to  the  Bank. 

This  summer  General  Jackson  made  a  journey  to 
the  North ;  and  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  New  York, 
Boston,  Providence,  and  other  places  he  was  received 
with  extraordinary  warmth  by  all  the  citizens  without 
respect  to  party.  It  is  easier  to  imagine  the  wonder- 
ful, wild  demonstrations  of  respect  paid  the  Chief 
Magistrate  on  this  visit  than  to  write  of  them.  It 
would  only  repeat  the  picture  which  is  in  every 
American's  eye.  No  man  could  bear  foolish  adulation 
better  than  General  Jackson.  But  few  Presidents 
since  his  time  have  indicated  any  great  repugnance  to 
"public  honors."  Boston  outdid  herself  on  this  tour 
of  the  President's.  Not  satisfied  with  cannons,  flags, 
speeches,  grand  receptions,  dinners,  and  every  common 
device  to  please  him  and  herself,  it  was  actually  sug- 
gested as  proper  for  old  Harvard  College  to  confer  on 
General  Jackson  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  And  this  was 
really  done,  although  greatly  against  the  will  of  at 
least  one  of  the  directors  who  regretted  that  in  a  wild 
fit  of  enthusiasm,  the  institution  should  be  prostituted 
to  political  sycophancy,  in  throwing  the  privileges 
w^hich  demanded  years  of  toil,  upon  men  of  no  liter- 
ary, or  even  legal,  attainments.  On  this  interesting 
occasion  an  address  was  delivered  to  the  General  in 
Latin.  After  this,  it  is  said,  that  Major  Jack  Down- 
ing, or  some  other  wag,  called  upon  him  for  some 
Latin,  when,  with  his  usual  politeness  and   readiness, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  625 

he  stepped  forward,  and  said :  "  E  plurihiis  Unum,  my 
friends,  sine  qua  non  /"  This  was  very  good,  and  well 
sustained  the  sentiment  then  uppermost  with  General 
Jackson,  and  which  was  giving  him  some  deserved 
fame  among  patriots.  At  Concord  the  tour  was  cut 
short  by  the  President's  illness,  and  by  way  of  Prov- 
idence and  Newport  he  hastened  back  to  Washington. 
Although  John  Quincy  Adams  was  at  Quincy  and 
could  hear  the  firing  of  cannon  at  Boston,  he  was  un- 
willing to  be  present  at  any  of  the  demonstrations  in 
honor  of  President  Jackson.  Mr.  Quincy  had  called 
upon  him  to  see  what  he  would  think  of  the  project 
of  conferring  the  degree  on  Jackson,  and  to  find  if  he 
would  accept  an  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  cere- 
mony, when  the  following  remarks  passed  between 
them,  as  Mr.  Adams  recorded  in  his  Diary  : — 

"I  said  that  the  personal  relations  in  which  President  Jack- 
son had  chosen  to  place  himself  with  me  were  such  that  I  could 
hold  no  intercourse  of  a  friendly  character  with  him.  I  could, 
therefore,  not  accept  an  invitation  to  attend  upon  this  occasion. 
And,  independent  of  that,  as  myself  an  affectionate  child  of  our 
alma  mater,  I  would  not  be  present  to  witness  her  disgrace  in 
conferring  her  highest  literary  honors  upon  a  barbarian  who  could 
not  write  a  sentence  of  grammar,  and  hardly  could  spell  his  own 
name.  Mr.  Quincy  said  he  Avas  sensible  how  utterly  unworthy 
of  literary  honors  Jackson  was,  but  the  Corporation  thought  it 
was  necessary  to  follow  the  precedent,  and  treat  him  precisely  as 
Mr.  Monroe,  his  predecessor,  had  been  treated.  As  the  people 
of  the  United  States  had  seen  fit  to  make  him  their  President, 
the  Corporation  thought  the  honors  which  they  conferred  upon 
him  were  compliments  due  to  the  station,  by  whomsoever  it  was 
occupied." 

40— <3 


626  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE  TWO  GIANTS,  THE   MAN    AND   THE    BANK— WILLIAM  J. 
DUANE  ALSO  FALLS— A  WONDERFUL  CONTEST. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  was  now  bent  on  removing 
the  Government  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  He  had  given  this  institution  a  mortal 
stab,  and  without  feeling  it  yet,  the  people  had  ap- 
plauded. He  knew  the  Bank  would  again  apply  for 
a  charter,  notwithstanding  its  failure  at  first.  When 
he  should  have  entirely  destroyed  this  great  "  monop- 
oly" his  work  would  mainly  be  done,  his  Administra- 
tion at  an  end.  Unattractive,  indeed,  is  the  history 
of  this  Bank  conflict.  It  is  hard  for  any  calm,  sound- 
minded  person  to  view  the  monetary  history  of  this 
country  even,  let  alone  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
without  wearisomeness  and  disgust;  or  to  have  but  a 
timid  confidence  in  any  man's  plans,  theories,  or  sys- 
tems of  finance ;  to  have  any  respect  for  his  own,  if 
he  should  be  unfortunate  enough  to  have  a  money 
theory;  to  have  any  patience  with  the  cry  concerning 
the  too  limited  supply  or  circulation,  or  of  its  unequal 
distribution ;  to  have  any  respect  for  the  men  who 
cry  these  things,  or  anything  else  about  money.  No 
man's  misfortunes,  or  wants,  or  fancies  can  possibly 
be  a  standard  for  judgment  in  this  difficult  field.  The 
general,  continued  activity  and  prosperity  of  a  great 
community  may  well  be  taken  as  an   indication   that 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  627 

its  money  is  comparatively  sound  and  reliable.  The 
subject  of  money,  in  one  form  and  another,  as  to 
nations  and  individuals,  has  troubled  or  cursed  a  great 
part  of  the  world,  since  the  beginning  of  human 
affairs,  and,  perhaps,  will  continue  to  do  so  forever. 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  "  wise  men,"  who 
treat  this  subject  with  such  confidence  in  their  own 
ability  to  set  the  world  right,  are  more  worthy  of 
respect  than  the  strange  genius  who,  ages  ago,  wrote 
a  pamphlet,  much  like  many  written  at  this  day,  in 
which  he  attempted  to  explain  that  gold,  that  money, 
could  be  made  out  of  anything,  and  the  only  thing  he 
yet  lacked  to  make  his  discovery  complete  and  the 
world  absolutely  happy,  was  the  trifling  matter  of 
knowing  how  to  do  it. 

General  Jackson  had  a  monetary  system,  he 
thought,  or  an  idea,  at  least,  and  really  believed  that 
he  understood  money  as  well  as  anybody.  Perhaps  he 
did.  He  did  not  believe  in  paper  as  money.  He  hated 
it.  He  said  it  would  ruin  the  country.  During  his 
Administration  it  was  rags ;  a  few  years  ago  it  was 
"rag  baby."  But,  at  this  later  period,  it  was  fondly 
cherished  by  some  of  his  political  descendants.  With 
this  statement  I  would  drop  the  Bank  topic  and  every- 
thing connected  with  it,  and  burn  the  files  of  old 
records,  pamphlets,  books,  speeches,  debates,  reports, 
and  what  not,  which  lie  around  me  on  the  subject, 
but  conscientiously  I  can  not.  The  whole  matter  is 
too  intimately  associated  with  the  history  of  the  won- 
derful man  and  his  times.  The  cry  of  fraud  and  cor- 
ruption was  again  howled  against  the  Bank  in  the 
summer  of  1833.  The  Bank  was  lending  money 
to  Congressmen,  to  influential  newspapers,  to  various 


628  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

persons  in  a  strange  way,  for  an  honorable  and  wisely 
conducted  institution.  Men  were  borrowing  money 
without  the  formality  of  notes.  This  great  "  monopoly" 
was  corrupting  the  country.  Bribery  was  in  the  very 
atmosphere.  It  was  read  in  men's  eyes.  So  it  was 
said.  But  the  directors  of  the  Bank  were  mainly  men 
of  high  reputation,  and  Mr.  Biddle,  its  president,  was 
a  man  of  undoubted  standing,  and  the  prince  of  all 
American  bankers.  Future  investigations,  as  former 
ones,  did  not  sustain  the  sweeping  charges  against  the 
Bank.  Since  the  days  of  Andrew  Jackson  the  cry 
of  fraud  and  corruption  and  reform  has  been  made  to 
do  service  on  every  possible  occasion.  When  nothing 
else  could  be  found  this  cry  has  been  appropriate.  Its 
great  virtue  has  been  that,  being  inexplicable,  it  seems 
to  imply  so  much,  and  appeal  so  shamefully  to  the 
better  feelings  of  men  who  would  prefer  to  be  classed 
as  respectable. 

General  Jackson  and  his  supporters  raised  this  cry 
on  frivolous  and  fictitious  grounds,  the  very  men  who 
could  not  afford,  by  their  conduct,  to  make  pretensions 
of  purity,  the  men  whose  example,  to  a  great  extent, 
fashioned  the  real  political  corruptions  of  after  times. 
During  the  summer  of  1833,  President  Jackson  him- 
self started  the  unwarranted  rumor  that  kills  banks 
and  men  financially,  and  which  he  would  not  relin- 
quish, that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  "was 
broken."  This  fancy  he  took  from  the  fact  that  the 
"  proud  Mr.  Biddle "  had  condescended  to  make  a  trip 
to  Washington  in  March  to  induce  Mr.  McLane  not  to 
carry  out  his  design  of  liquidating  six  and  a  half 
millions  of  the  Government  three  per  cent  bonds. 
But  the  measure  would  not  benefit  the   Government, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  629 

and  would  ruin  many  "  business  men,"  and  Mr.  Biddle 
desired  to  prevent  the  evil  step,  his  motive  being  much 
higher  than  General  Jackson  was  willing  to  assign  to 
him.  But  to  him  it  meant  failure  merely ;  and  now 
he  had  another  inducement  for  carrying  on  the  work 
which  was  destined  to  bring  general  calamity  to  the 
country  as  the  price  of  better  things. 

As  the  Bank  did  not  break  fast  enough  by  reason 
of  Mr.  Biddle's  trip  to  Washington,  to  suit  General 
Jackson,  he  was  accused  of  devising  a  remarkable 
method  of  hastening  the  desired  result,  that  was  to 
break  one  of  its  branches.  The  one  at  Savannah, 
Georgia,  was  selected  as  doing  the  least  business,  and 
as  being  farthest  removed  from  the  timely  aid  of  the 
parent  bank  at  Philadelphia.  A  broker  in  New  York 
was  put  in  management  of  the  rascally  scheme.  He 
gathered  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars in  the  notes  of  the  Savannah  Branch,  which  had 
not  half  so  much  specie  in  its  vaults,  and  then  went 
down  there  to  have  his  paper  redeemed.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  Nicholas  Biddle,  suspecting  the  designs 
of  the  great  enemy,  by  the  small  returns  made  of  the 
notes  of  the  Savannah  Branch  in  various  bank  reports, 
sent  to  Savannah  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
specie.  Accordingly,  when  the  Jacksonian  broker  ap- 
peared at  the  Savannah  Bank  and  demanded  specie, 
the  president  told  him  that  they  were  glad  to  get  rid 
of  it,  that  they  had  more  than  they  wanted.  And, 
greatly  to  the  amazement  of  Mr.  Broker,  keg  after 
keg  was  rolled  out,  and  he  was  made  to  take  them, 
and  convey  them  at  expense  and  loss  to  New  York. 
Nicholas  Biddle  was  too  smart  a  man  to  be  allowed  to 
live  in  the  same  country  with  Andrew  Jackson. 


630  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

General  Jackson's  "Unit  Cabinet"  would  have  been 
quite  differently  organized  if  its  members  had  known, 
and  they  would  have  known  if  the  General  had  had 
a  sentiment  against  the  Bank,  of  what  they  would  be 
called  upon  to  do  in  reference  to  the  Bank.  Mr. 
Ingham  entertained  this  opinion  : — 

"The  Bank  has  purified  one  of  the  worst  currencies  that  ever 
infested  any  country  or  people.  It  consisted  of  mere  paper, 
of  no  definite  value,  accompanied  by  worthless  tickets  issued  from 
broken  banks,  petty  corporations,  and  partnerships,  in  almost 
every  village.  Instead  of  this  the  United  States  Bank  has  given 
us  the  best  currency  known  among  nations.  It  supplies  a  me- 
dium equal  in  value  to  gold  and  silver  in  every  part  of  the 
Union.  Yet  General  Jackson  would  destroy  this  institution,  and 
expose  the  country  to  all  the  evils  from  which  it  has  so  happily 
but  just  recovered." 

It  was,  indeed,  to  the  country  then  much  the  same 
as  the  "greenback,"  the  national  currency,  is  to-day. 
It  was  received  with  as  great  confidence  in  one  part 
of  the  Nation  as  another,  and  that  the  country  was 
able,  after  a  great  struggle,  to  come  safely  out  of  the 
calamitous  overthrow  of  that  currency  is  one  of  the 
great  points  of  admiration  in  its  character,  a  fact  which 
demonstrates,  to  some  extent,  too,  the  truth  that 
money  is  not  the  greatest  thing  on  this  earth,  or  the 
best  subject  of  human  contemplation.  Any  one  who 
will  stop  to  imagine  what  would  be  the  consequences 
to-day  if  some  self-willed  political  giant  in  the  seat  of 
the  Presidents  would  undertake  to,  and  actually  suc- 
ceed in  overthrowing  the  present  national  currency 
and  put  nothing  in  its  place,  can  have  some  adequate 
notion  of  the  state  of  affairs  following  the  downfall 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  The  recuperative 
power  of  the  country  no  one  could  doubt.     Some  new 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  631 

order  of  things  would  eventually  take  the  place  of 
the  ohl.  The  country  would,  in  time,  adapt  itself  to 
the  changed  circumstances,  whatever  they  should  be. 
This  is  all  that  can  be  argued,  perhaps,  in  support  of 
General  Jackson's  feat  of  destroying  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  Men  may  now  generously  console 
themselves  with  the  reflection  that  that  result  would 
eventually  have  come  anyhow ;  that  it  was  necessary 
that  it  should  go  down,  and  that  it  was  a  fortunate 
circumstance  that  there  was  a  strong  man,  willing  to 
venture  at  the  head  of  affairs.  That  the  calamity  to 
the  country  by  the  downfall  of  the  great  institution 
could  have  been  more  complete  at  any  later  date,  may 
be  held  as  extremely  doubtful.  The  undertaking,  on 
the  part  of  General  Jackson,  was  not  well  based  on 
facts  against  the  management  of  the  Bank  nor  against 
its  usefulness  to  the  country.  It  was  mainly  a  per- 
sonal contest  with  him,  resting  on  personal  grounds. 
If  there  was  virtue  in  the  performance,  on  account  of 
the  final  results,  the  nature  of  the  contest,  on  the 
part  of  President  Jackson,  tended  greatly  to  lift  any 
credit  concerning  it  from  his  shoulders.  It  is  a  char- 
acteristic, if  not  a  virtue,  of  time  to  relent.  It  is 
easy  to  say  now  that  whatever  may  have  been  the 
benefits  or  evils  of  the  Bank,  and  the  praise  or  cen- 
sure due  him  who  worked  its  downfall,  we  are  glad  we 
have  not  the  Bank  of  Nicholas  Biddle  to-day ;  we  are 
almost  unanimous  in  our  satisfaction  with  what  stands 
in  its  place. 

It  was  claimed,  with  great  strength,  by  John  Quincy 
Adams,  and  a  host  of  others,  that  General  Jackson's 
enmity  to  the  Bank  came  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
not  a  Jacksonian  institution,  that  it  was  not  officered 


632  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  conducted  to  further  his  political  and  personal  in- 
terests. Jackson  was  utterly  unable  to  give  his  sup- 
port to  anything  on  earth  which  did  not  appear  for 
him  or  friendly  to  him.  The  Bank  was  not  a  political 
or  partisan  institution,  but  it  was  claimed  that  General 
Jackson  was  sorry  that  it  was  not,  and  that  he  could 
not  turn  it  to  his  purposes.  He  seemed  to  spurn  the 
idea  that  any  man,  or  anything,  had  the  right  to  live 
and  be  prosperous  and  beneficial  unless  it  was  in  keep- 
ing with  his  way.  On  this  principle  he  acted,  to  a 
great  extent,  in  war,  in  politics,  in  the  Presidency, 
and  in  public  and  private  life.  Somebody  had  started 
the  view  that  the  public  or  Government  funds  should 
be  removed  from  the  Bank  and  placed  in  State  and 
other  banks  to  be  selected  here  and  there  over  the 
country.  Most  of  the  President's  advisers  were  op- 
posed to  this  measure.  Even  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet " 
was  not  a  unit  on  it.  It  was  beyond  the  depth  of 
that  able  council.  Most  of  the  friends  of  the  Presi- 
dent were  opposed  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits  from 
the  Bank  unless  it  should  be  done  by  act  of  Congress ; 
and  some  of  them  said  that  there  was  no  other  power 
for  doing  such  a  thing ;  and  that  if  it  was  done,  it  would 
ruin  many  business  men  and  greatly  injure  the  coun- 
try. This  opposition  at  once  fixed  Jackson's  purpose. 
His  mind  was  then  made  up,  and  it  did  not  matter  as 
to  anybody's  opinion,  or  the  evils  of  the  act.  He 
would  assume  the  responsibility.  The  next  thing  was 
to  have  a  medium  for  carrying  out  his  will.  It  should 
evidently  be  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  There 
was,  however,  another  matter  of  moment  to  General 
Jackson  at  this  time,  connected  with  the  Bank  ques- 
tion.    Several  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  not  sat- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  633 

isfied  with  the  course  about  to  be  taken  as  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits,  and  were  considering  the 
necessity  of  withdrawing  from  the  position. 

In  his  last  annual  message  the  President  had  rec- 
ommended an  investigation  of  the  affairs  of  the  Bank 
with  relation  to  the  Government,  with  the  hope  of 
finding  some  tangible  excuse  for  the  step  he  was  about 
to  take.  Mr.  McLane,  accordingly,  appointed  an  hon- 
est Jackson  man,  Henry  Toland,  to  make  the  examina- 
tion, and  the  result  was  that  the  Bank's  assets  amounted 
to  forty-two  millions  of  dollars  more  than  its  liabilities, 
and  nothing  of  any  importance  could  be  found  against 
it.  Mr.  McLane  was,  consequently,  unwilling  to  order 
the  removal  of  the  deposits;  in  fact,  he  was  opposed 
to  such  a  step  being  taken  at  all.  For  this  reason  he 
was  transferred  to  the  head  of  the  State  Department, 
which  had  been  vacated  by  the  sending  of  Mr.  Living- 
ston to  France.  William  J.  Duane,  of  Philadelphia, 
was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  These 
changes  occurred  on  the  29th  of  May,  1833.  But 
Mr.  Duane  also  refused  to  order  the  removal  of  the 
deposits,  even  after  the  President  had  read  a  paper  in 
his  Cabinet  assuring  the  members  that  he  had  decided 
to  be  entirely  responsible  himself  for  the  removal. 
Mr.  Duane  was  at  once  dismissed,  and  on  the  23d  of 
September,  Roger  B.  Taney,  of  Maryland,  was  put  into 
the  difficult  office.  Although  Mr.  Taney  filled  this 
place  acceptably  to  the  President,  the  Senate  declined 
to  confirm  the  appointment.  Indeed,  the  Cabinet  had 
to  be  remodeled  again.  Mr.  McLane  resigned ;  Mr. 
Woodbury  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, ■  the  dirty  work  having  now  been  done 
through  Mr.  Taney ;  Mahlon  Dickerson  was  appointed 


634  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  and  John  Forsyth  was  made 
Secretary  of  State.  Mr.  Duane  had  not  been  consulted 
as  to  his  views  touching  the  removal  before  his  ap- 
pointment. 

Governor  Cass  was,  at  the  outset,  unfavorable  to 
the  President's  project  of  removing  the  deposits,  but 
gradually  modified  his  views  on  the  subject.  Jackson 
had  a  strong  inclination  to  agree  with  Cass,  or  to  have 
Cass  agree  with  him.  The  most  confidential  and  know- 
ing of  General  Jackson's  friends,  Wm.  B.  Lewis,  was 
emphatically  opposed  to  the  step.  Taney  and  Barry 
were  on  the  side  of  the  President,  as  were  the  two 
astute  political  managers,  Kendall  and  Blair.  Gener;il 
Jackson  was  now  fighting  the  whole  Bank  difficulty  in 
his  Cabinet.  The  record  of  Mr.  Duane's  dealing  with 
the  President  is  one  of  the  most  painfully  interesting 
passages  in  the  political  history  of  the  country. 

In  1838  Mr.  Duane  published  a  narrative  of  his 
brief  connection  with  the  Cabinet  of  General  Jackson. 
The  following  extract  will  sufficiently  show  his  reason 
and  apology  for  that  performance  : — 

"lu  May,  1833,  I  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
and  in  September  following  was  removed  from  office,  because  I 
would  not,  prior  to  the  meeting  of  Congress,  transfer  the  public 
deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank  to  State  banks.  As  I  had 
not  sought  office,  as  my  appointment  had  been  generally  approved 
of,  and  as  it  was  doubtful  whether  public  opinion  would  sanction 
my  dismissal  for  not  removing  the  deposits,  the  true  reason  for 
the  change  was  not  avowed ;  and  even  the  fact,  that  I  had  been 
removed,  was  suppressed  in  the  official  annuncation  of  my  suc- 
cessor's appointment.  Pains,  however,  were  taken  by  partisans 
of  the  Executive  to  prepare  the  public  for  the  change  or  to  rec- 
oncile them  to  it,  by  exciting  suspicions  as  to  the  purity  of  my 
motives  for  resisting  him.  Nevertheless,  I  rested  in  silence  upon 
my  official  acts  and  personal  reputation;  especially  as  I  supjwsed 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  635 

that  Congress  would  institute  an  inquiry  concerning  the  removal 
of  the  deposits.  And  I  would  have  remained  silent  if  the  Presi- 
dent himself  had  not  become  my  assailant  on  the  19th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1833.  On  that  occasion,  instead  of  laying  before  the  public 
the  whole  of  the  correspondence  which  had  passed  between  us,  he 
caused  detached  passages  only  to  be  published  in  the  official  paper ; 
and  in  consequence  I  then  briefly  addressed  my  fellow-citizens. 
"Having  been  again  assailed  in  the  official  paper  of  the  7th 
of  February,  1834,  and  then  concluding  that  an  inquiiy  would 
not  be  made  by  Congress,  I  addressed  a  series  of  letters  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  in  vindication  of  my  conduct.  At 
that  time  I  would  have  published  the  whole  of  the  correspondence, 
between  the  President  and  myself,  if  all  the  letters  composing  it 
had  been  in  my  possession.  It  was  not,  however,  until  July, 
1837,  that  I  obtained  at  the  Treasury  Department,  copies  of  such 
of  them  as  were  deficient ;  and,  justified  by  the  example  of  the 
Executive,  I  now  present  them  all  in  the  succeeding  pages." 

After  stating  how  he  was  visited  by  Mr.  McLane 
and  invited  and  urged  by  him,  and  afterwards  by  his 
own  friends,  to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Mr.  Duane  says  : — 

"My  commission  bore  the  date  of  the  29th  of  that  mouth 
(May),  and  on  the  30th  I  reached  Washington.  After  waiting 
upon  the  President,  on  the  next  day,  I  went  to  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, and  took  the  oath  of  office  on  the  1st  of  June.  On 
the  evening  of  that  day  Mr.  Reuben  M.  Whitney  called  upon 
me  at  my  lodgings,  at  the  desire,  as  he  said,  of  the  Presi- 
dent, to  make  known  to  me  what  had  been  done,  and  what  was 
contemplated,  in  relation  to  the  United  States  Bank.  He  stated 
that  the  President  had  concluded  to  take  upon  himself  the  respoa- 
sibility.of  directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  remove  the 
public  deposits  from  that  bank,  and  to  transfer  them  to  State 
banks ;  that  he  had  asked  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  to  give 
him  their  opinions  on  the  subject;  that  the  President  had  said, 
*  Mr.  Taney  and  Mr.  Barry  had  come  out  like  men  for  the  re- 
moval ;'  that  Mr.  McLane  had  given  a  long  opinion  against  it ; 
that  Mr.  Cass  was  supposed  to  be  against  it,  but  had  given  no 
written  opinion  ;  that  Mr.  Woodbury  had  given  an  opinion  which 
was  '  yes '  and  '  no ;'  that  the  President  would  make  the  act  his 


636  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

own,  by  addressing  a  paper  or  order  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury ;  that  Mr.  Amos  Kendall,  who  was  high  in  the  Presi- 
dent's confidence,  was  now  preparing  that  paper;  that  there  had 
been  delay  owing  to  the  affair  at  Alexandria ;  but,  no  doubt,  the 
President  would  soon  speak  to  me  on  the  subject ;  that  the  paper 
referred  to  would  be  put  lorth  as  the  pi'oclamation  had  been,  and 
would  be  made  a  rallying  point ;  that  he  (Mr.  Whitney)  had,  at  the 
desire  of  the  President,  drawn  up  a  memoir  or  exposition,  showing 
that  the  measure  might  be  safely  adopted,  and  that  the  State 
banks  would  be  fully  adequate  to  all  the  purposes  of  Government. 
He  then  read  the  exposition  to  me;  and,  as  I  desired  to  under- 
stand matters  so  important  and  so  singularly  presented,  I  asked 
him  to  leave  the  paper  with  me,  which  he  accordingly  did.  He 
also  read  to  me  divers  letters  from  individuals  connected  with 
State  banks.  The  drift  of  his  further  observations  was  to  satisfy 
me  that  the  Executive  arm  alone  could  be  relied  on  to  prevent  a 
renewal  of  the  United  States  Bank  charter. 

"The  communication  thus  made  to  me  created  surprise  and 
mortification.  I  was  surprised  at  the  position  of  afl^airs  which  it 
revealed  ;  and  mortified  at  the  low  estimate  which  had  been  formed 
of  the  independence  of  my  character.  I  listened,  however,  re- 
spectfully, to  one  who  gave  such  evidence  of  the  confidence  re- 
posed in  him;  and  awaited  the  explanation,  which  he  intimated 
the  President  would  give.  Soon  after  this  interview,  I  took  occa- 
sion to  express  my  mortification  at  my  position,  to  the  member 
of  the  Cabinet  who  had  represented  the  President  in  asking  me  to 
accept  office.  On  the  next  evening  (Sunday),  Mr.  Whitney  again 
called  on  me,  in  company  with  a  stranger,  whom  he  introduced 
as  Mr.  Amos  Kendall,  a  gentleman  in  the  President's  confidence, 
who  would  give  me  any  further  explanations  that  I  might  desire, 
as  to  what  was  meditated  in  relation  to  the  United  States  Bank, 
and  who  then  called  on  me,  because  he  was  about  to  proceed 
forthwith  to  Baltimore.  I  did  not  invite  nor  check  comyiunica- 
tiou.  Very  little  was  said,  and,  perhaps,  because  I  could  not 
wholly  conceal  my  mortification  at  an  attempt  apparently  made 
with  the  sanction  of  the  President,  to  reduce  me  to  a  mere  cipher 
in  the  Administration. 

"The  next  morning,  June  3d,  I  waited  upon  the  President, 
and,  as  I  had  been  apprised  by  Mr.  Wliitney  would  be  the  case, 
he  soon  introduced  the  subject  of  the.  Bank.  I  stated  that  Mr. 
Whitney  had  made  known  to  me  what  had  been  done,  and  what 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  637 

was  intended,  and  had  intimated  that  his  communication  was 
made  at  the  President's  desire.  The  President  replied,  in  a  tone 
of  dissatisfaction,  that  it  was  true  he  had  conferred  with  Mr. 
Whitney,  and  obtained  information  irom  him  as  to  the  Bank,  but 
that  he  did  not  make  him  his  confidant,  nor  had  he  told  him  to 
call  on  me.  I  enumerated  the  representations  which  Mr.  Whit- 
ney had  made,  and  their  correctness  was  admitted.  I  said  I 
feared  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  see  the  subject  in  the  light  in 
which  the  President  viewed  it;  to  which  he  remai-ked,  that  he 
liked  frankness;  that  my  predecessor  and  himself  had  sometimes 
differed  in  opinion,  but  it  had  made  no  difference  iu  feeling,  and 
should  not  in  my  case;  that  the  matter  under  consideration  was 
of  vast  consequence  to  the  country;  that  unless  the  Bank  was 
broken  down,  it  would  break  us  down;  that  if  the  last  Congress 
had  remained  a  week  longer  in  session,  two-thirds  would  have 
been  secured  for  the  Bank  by  corrupt  means;  and  that  the  like 
result  might  be  apprehended  at  the  next  Congress;  that  such  a 
State  Bank  agency  must  be  put  in  operation,  before  the  meeting 
of  Congress,  as  would  show  that  the  United  States  Bank  was  not 
necessary,  and  thus  some  members  would  have  no  excuse  for  vot- 
ing for  it.  My  suggestions  as  to  an  inquiry  by  Congress  (as  in 
December,  1832),  or  a  recourse  to  the  judiciary,  the  President 
repelled,  saying  it  would  be  idle  to  rely  upon  either;  referring  as 
to  the  judiciary  to  decisions  already  made,  as  indications  of  what 
would  be  the  effect  of  an  appeal  to  them  in  future.  After  men- 
tioning that  he  would  speak  to  me  again,  before  his  departure  to 
the  eastward,  the  President  said  he  would  take  with  him  the 
opinions  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  but  would  send  them  to 
me  from  New  York,  along  with  his  views;  and,  on  his  return, 
would  expect  me  to  give  him  my  sentiments  frankly  and  fully. 

"On  the  5th  of  June,  the  day  before  his  departure,  we 
accordingly  had  another  conversation,  which  he  ended  by  saying, 
he  did  not  wish  any  one  to  conceal  his  opinions,  and  that  all  he 
asked  was,  that  I  should  reflect  with  a  view  to  the  public  good. 

"I  had  heard  rumors  of  the  existence  of  an  influence  at 
Washington,  unknown  to  the  Constitution  and  to  the  country ; 
and  the  conviction  that  they  were  well  founded,  now  became 
irresistible.  I  knew  that  four  of  the  six  members  of  the  last 
Cabinet,  and  that  four  of  the  members  of  the  present  Cabinet, 
opposed  a  removal  of  the  deposits;  and  yet  their  exertions  were 
nullified  by  individuals,  whose  intercourse  with  the  President  was 


638  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

clandestine.  During  his  absence,  several  of  those  individuals 
called  on  me,  and  made  many  of  the  identical  observations,  in 
the  identical  language,  used  by  himself.  They  represented  Con- 
gress as  corruptible,  and  the  new  members  as  in  need  of  especial 
guidance.  They  pointed  out  the  importance  of  a  test  question, 
at  the  opening  of  a  new  Congress,  for  party  purposes.  They 
argued  that  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power  must  be  secured ;  that 
it  could  be  in  no  other  way  so  effectually  attained  as  by  at  once 
removing  the  deposits;  and  that  unless  they  were  removed,  the 
President  would  be  thwarted  by  Congress.  In  short,  I  felt  satis- 
fied, from  all  that  I  saw  and  heard,  that  factions  and  selfish  views 
alone  guided  those  who  had  influence  with  the  Executive ;  and 
that  the  true  welfare  and  honor  of  the  country  constituted  no 
part  of  their  objects.  I  Avas  painfully  impressed  with  these  con- 
victions, and  also  mortified  that  I  should  have  been  considered 
capable  of  entering  into  schemes  like  these;  when,  on  the  1st  of 
July,  I  received  from  the  President,  the  letter  and  views." 

The  "letter"  and  "views"  here  mentioned  were 
pretentious  documents.  The  "views"  was  no  doubt 
the  work  of  Amos  Kendall,  if  the  "  letter "  was 
not  also.  It  went  into  a  very  full  statement  of  the 
case,  beginning  with  the  first  message  to  Congress  in 
1829,  touching  the  Bank.  And  by  a  careful  and  art- 
ful exhibit  showing  that  "by  these  misrepresentations 
and  acts,  on  the  part  of  the  Bank,  the  President 
thinks  it  has  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  confidence  of 
the  Government,  and  ought  not  to  be  longer  retained 
in  its  service."  And  argues  the  necessity  and  pro- 
priety of  placing  the  deposits  in  various  State  banks. 
It  also  disposes,  in  a  summary  way,  of  all  arguments 
in  favor  of  re-chartering  the  Bank,  of  continuing  the 
Government  deposits  in  it,  and  of  its  advantages  at 
any  time  to  the  country.  This  extensive  statement 
terminates  in  these  words,  after  mentioning  that  the 
President  would  much  prefer  to  leave  this  whole  sub- 
ject in  the  hands  of  others,  if  his  duty  to  the  country 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  639 

could  admit  of  such  a  course:  "As  the  subject,  of 
this  letter,  belongs  principally  to  your  department, 
the  President  has  thought  it  proper  to  communicate  to 
you,  in  writing,  the  course  of  policy,  appertaining  to 
it,  which  he  desires  to  have  pursued ;  as  well  as  to 
enable  you,  thoroughly  to  understand  it,  as  to  take 
upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  a  course,  which 
involves  much  private  interest,  and  public  considera- 
tions of  the  greatest  magnitude." 

The  followin":  is  the  President's  letter,  dated  at 
Boston  while  on  his  Northern  tour: — 

"  Boston,  June  26,  1833. 
"  W.  J.  DuANE,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury : 

"  My  Dear  Sm, — I  send  you  herewith  a  paper  containing  my 
views  upon  the  subject  of  a  discontinuance  of  the  Government 
deposits  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  substitution 
of  certain  State  banks,  as  the  fiscal  agents  of  the  United  States 
so  far  as  those  duties  are  performed  by  that  institution. 

"The  only  difficulty  I  have  for  some  time  had  upon  the  sub- 
ject, has  been  as  it  respects  the  time  when  this  change  should 
commence.  Upon  a  careful  review  of  the  subject  in  all  its  bear- 
ings, I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  ought  to  be  done  as 
soon  as  we  can  get  ready,  and  at  furthest  by  the  1st  or  15th 
of  September  next,  so  that  we  may  have  it  in  our  power  to  pre- 
sent the  new  system  to  Congress,  in  complete  and  successful 
operation  at  the  commencement  of  the  session. 

"  In  the  furtherance  of  this  object,  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  desir- 
able that  you  should  appoint  a  discreet  agent  to  proceed  forth- 
with, with  proper  credentials  from  your  department,  to  the  cities  of 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  to  consult  with  the  presi- 
dents and  directors  of  State  banks,  in  those  cities,  upon  the 
practicability  of  making  an  arrangement  with  them,  or  some  of 
them,  upon  something  like  the  following  terms,  viz.: — 

"  1st.  That  one  bank  be  selected  in  Baltimore,  one  in  Phila- 
delphia, two  in  New  York,  and  one  in  Boston,  with  a  right,  on 
the  part  of  the  Government,  to  add  one  in  Savannah,  one  in 
Charleston,  S.  C,  one  in  the  State  of  Alabama,  one  in  New 
Orleans,  and  one  in  Norfolk,   upon  their  acceding  to  the  terms 


640  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

proposed,  which  shall  receive  the  deposits  in  those  places  re- 
spectively, and  be  responsible  to  the  Government  for  the  whole 
public  deposits  of  the  United  States. 

"2d.  That  these  banks  shall  have  the  right,  by  a  convention 
<jf  their  presidents  or  otherwise,  to  select  all  the  banks,  at  other 
points  throughout  the  United  States,  in  which  the  public  money 
shall  be  deposited,  with  an  absolute  negative  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury. 

"3d.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  have  power  to 
discontinue  the  deposits  in  any  bank  or  banks,  or  break  up  the 
whole  arrangement,  whenever  he  may  think  proper ;  he  giving,  in 
such  case,  the  longest  notice  of  his  intention  to  do  so  which  the 
public  interest  may  admit  of. 

' '  4th.  That  the  primary  and  secondary  banks  shall  make  re- 
turns of  their  entire  condition  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
monthly,  and  as  much  oftener  as  he  may  require,  and  report  to 
the  Treasurer  weekly  the  state  of  his  deposits ;  and  that  they  will 
also  submit  themselves  to  a  critical  examiuation  of  their  books 
and  transactions  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  an  author- 
ized agent,  whenever  the  Secretary  may  require  it. 

"5th.  That  the  arrangement  of  the  Government  be  only  with 
the  primary  bauks,  which  shall  be  responsible  to  it,  not  only  for 
the  safety  of  the  entire  deposits,  wherever  made,  but  for  making 
payments  at  any  places  in  the  United  States,  without  charge  to 
the  Government,  in  gold  and  silver,  or  its  equivalent,  of  any  sum 
which  may  be  required  there  to  be  paid  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury ;  that  they  shall  also  pay  any  expenses  that  may  attend 
the  removal  of  the  deposits,  as  also  the  compensation  and  ex- 
penses of  any  agent,  temporary  or  permanent,  whom  the  Sec- 
retary may  appoint  to  examine  into  their  affairs. 

"6th.  That  they  will  render,  or  cause  to  be  rendered,  without 
charge,  any  service  which  can  now  be  lawfully  required  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States. 

"7th.  It  would  be  inconvenient  to  employ  all  the  State  banks 
iu  good  credit,  at  the  places  designated  for  the  location  of  the 
primary  banks ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  extremely  desirable  to 
secure  their  good-will  and  friendly  co-operation.  The  importance 
of  that  object  is  too  obvious  to  require  elucidation.  It  is  sup- 
posed it  might  be  accomplished  by  an  arrangement  between  the 
primary  banks  and  the  other  institutions  in  their  immediate 
vicinity,  by  which,  iu  consideration  of  an  assumption  by  them  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  641 

a  share  of  the  responsibilities  assumed  by  the  primary  banks,  an 
equitable  share,  all  circumstances  considered,  of  the  benefits  of 
the  public  deposits,  would  be  secured  to  the  institutions  referred 
to.  This  might  be  done  by  allowing  them,  respectively,  a  credit 
at  the  selected  banks  equal  to  their  share  of  the  deposits,  taking 
into  view  the  amount  of  capital,  the  trouble  of  the  primary 
banks,  and  all  other  circumstances  entitled  to  consideration.  If 
such  an  arrangement  could  be  made  it  would  increase  the  actual 
security  of  the  Government,  consolidate  the  entire  mass  of 
the  mercantile  community  of  the  principal  cities  in  favor  of 
the  system,  and  place  its  success  and  permanency  beyond 
contingency. 

"You  will  at  once  perceive  that  it  is  not  my  wish  to  remove 
from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  the  funds  of  the  Govern- 
ment, which  may  happen  to  be  on  deposit  there  when  the  pro- 
posed change  takes  place,  otherwise  than  as  they  may  be  wanted 
for  the  service  of  the  Government;  but  that  they  be  exclusively 
drawn  upon  for  that  object  until  they  are  exhausted. 

"In  making  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  this  frank  and  explicit 
avowal  of  my  opinions  and  feelings,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  in- 
terfere with  the  independent  exercise  of  the  discretion,  committed 
to  you  by  law,  over  the  subject.  I  have  thought  it,  however, 
due  to  you,  under  the  circumstances,  to  place  before  you,  with 
this  restriction,  my  sentiments  upon  the  subject,  to  the  end  that 
you  may,  upon  my  responsibility,  allow  them  to  enter  into  your 
decision  upon  the  subject,  and  into  any  further  exposition  of  it, 
as  far  as  you  may  deem  it  proper. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obedi- 
ent servant  and  friend,  Andrew  Jackson." 

With  these  strange  and  artful  papers  were  also 
sent  the  opinions  of  McLane,  Woodbury,  Taney,  and 
Barry. 

Under  date  of  July  10th  Mr.  Duane  replied  at  great 
length,  believing  that  the  President  desired  frankness 
on  his  part,  and  that  he  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  only  could  remove  the  de- 
posits according  to  law.  In  this  letter  Mr.  Duane 
used  this  harmless  language,  which  proved  to  be  very 

41— G 


642  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

objectionable  as  were  all  his  ideas  about  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  to  the  President :  "  This  information 
was  communicated  by  Mr.  R.  M.  Whitney,  who  called 
to  speak  to  the  undersigned  on  the  subject ;  and  who 
was  listened  to  attentively,  as  well  in  consideration  of 
the  importance  of  the  communication,  as  of  the  respect 
due  to  an  individual  apparently  in  the  President's 
confidence." 

This  direct  reference  to  a  member  of  the  shameful 
and  unheard-of  "  Kitchen  Cabinet "  did  not  strike  Gen- 
eral Jackson  favorably,  and  he  asked  it  to  be  left  out 
of  the  letter.  Had  Mr.  Duane  understood  his  man 
he  could  have  saved  himself  from  further  trouble  and 
anxiety,  as  all  this  maneuvering  and  show  of  this 
ductile  reasoning  on  the  part  of  the  President  would 
never  save  him  from  his  fate.  He  had  already  exhib- 
ited an  opposition  which  it  was  not  in  General  Jack- 
son to  bear.  It  was  the  old  "  0  pshaw !  to  me  "  again. 
There  must  be  a  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  who 
would  recognize  but  one  will,  the  President's,  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Government.  Honest  scruples,  judg- 
ment, opinions  of  law  or  public  good  need  not  come 
into  the  consideration,  as  the  President  was  more  than 
ready  to  assume  the  responsibility. 

Mr.  Duane  thus  continues  his  narrative : — 

"  Agreeably  to  appointment,  I  waited  on  the  President  on  the 
15th  of  July.  He  commenced  the  conversation  by  saying  that 
lie  had  read  my  letter  of  the  10th  of  July  (then  lying  on  the 
table  before  him),  and  feared  we  did  not  understand  each  other. 

"'My  object,  sir,'  said  he,  'is  to  save  the  country;  and  it 
will  be  lost  if  we  permit  the  Bank  to  exist.  We  must  prepare  a 
substitute,  or  our  friends  in  Congress  will  not  know  what  to  do. 
I  do  justice  to  your  motives,  but. some  parts  of  your  letter  gave 
me  uneasiness.     One  part  only  I  will  mention ;  that  referring  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  643 

Mr.  Whitney.  I  am  sorry  you  put  that  in,  for  he  is  not  in  my 
confidence.  He  is  an  abused  man,  sir,  and  has  much  information 
of  which  Mr.  Polk  and  I  have  availed  ourselves,  but  he  can  not 
be  called  my  confidant.  I  was  sorry  to  see  his  name  introduced, 
and  don't  see  that  your  argument  needed  it.' 

"  I  replied  that  I  had  been  accustomed  to  write  freely  and 
without  disguise  ;  that,  in  the  present  instance,  I  had  barely  stated 
facts ;  that  I  had  been  unused  to  official  correspondence ;  that,  I 
confessed,  I  had  been  mortified  at  the  approaches  of  Mr.  Whitney, 
and  when  I  felt  strongly  I  wrote  so ;  that  I  meant  no  disrespect 
to  the  President,  however,  and  as  its  omission  would  not  affect 
the  rest  of  my  letter,  I  would  at  once  strike  out  the  passage  re- 
lating to  Mr.  Whitney.  Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  I  took 
up  a  pen  and  struck  out  two  or  three  lines. 

"'Now,'  said  the  President,  'we  are  friends,  and  should  be 
so.  If  we  diflfer  in  opinion,  what  of  it?  It  is  but  opinion,  after 
all ;  and  I  like  you  the  better  for  telling  me  frankly  what  you 
think.' 

"  He  then  alluded  to  passages  in  my  letter  which  had  a  refer- 
ence to  Congress  and  the  judiciary,  and  deprecated  any  reliance 
whatever  upon  either.  He  said  it  would  be  idle  to  resort  to  a 
court  which  had  decided  that  the  very  bills  which  Congress  had 
prohibited  were  legal ;  that  there  was  but  one  course,  to  use  the 
power  possessed  by  the  Executive. 

"I  replied  that  we  differed  upon  one  point  only.  That  he 
had  asked  me,  upon  my  responsibility  to  Congress,  to  remove  the 
deposits;  and  that  I  could  not  remove  them  without  violating 
what  I  considered  my  duty;  that  on  all  other  points  I  agreed 
with  him,  and  was  ready  to  go  hand  in  hand  to  provide  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  United  States  Bank. 

"  '  Sir,'  said  he,  '  I  addressed  you  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  told  you  to  use  my  letter  as  your  shield.' 

"  'You  called  on  me,  sir,'  I  replied,  'to  exercise  a  power  con- 
ferred on  me  by  law;  and  you  said  you  did  not  mean  to  interfere 
with  the  independent  exercise  of  it.  You  called  on  me  to  do  an 
act  for  which  I  might  be  impeached ;  and  if  I  comply,  your  letter 
will  be  no  protection,  for,  in  effect,  it  tells  me  I  may  do  as  I 
please.  The  very  circumstance  that  you  disclaim  the  exercise  of 
control  over  me,  would  forbid  my  holding  your  letter  up  as  a 
shield.' 

"The  President  here  remarked  that  I  did  not  understand  that 


644  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

part  of  his  letter  to  which  I  alluded,  but,  instead  of  explaining 
it,  he  said : 

"'I  am  preparing  a  reply  to  your  communication,  and  ask 
you  to  read  it  attentively.  I  am  disposed  to  confide  in  you,  and 
to  be  your  friend,  and  if  anybody  tells  you  otherwise,  don't  be- 
lieve him.' 

"I  said  I  felt  myself  worthy  of  his  confidence;  that  I  had 
come  to  speak  of  a  substitute  for  the  present  fiscal  agent ;  that  if 
the  United  States  Bank  were  to  be  soon  closed,  I  did  not  appre- 
hend evil  as  to  the  public  funds  or  operations  ;  that  the  funds  of 
the  Government  in  the  former  United  States  Bank  remained 
there  until  a  few  days  before  it  expired ;  that  nearly  three  years 
must  elapse  ere  the  doors  of  the  present  bank  would  be  shut ; 
that,  in  my  letter,  I  had  suggested  a  relinquishment  of  aU  bank 
agency,  but  that  time  for  inquiry  and  reflection,  as  to  the  plan 
of  a  substitute,  was  indispensable ;  that  I  doubted  whether  a  pro- 
vision for  fiscal  operations  could  or  ought  to  be  made,  without 
inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the  general  currency  ;  that  a  regu- 
lation of  commerce,  and  a  control  over  bank  paper,  seemed  to  be 
demanded;  that  legislators  alone  could  duly  investigate  such  im- 
portant subjects ;  that  I  had  no  confidence  in  the  competency 
of  State  banks  for  fiscal  purposes ;  and  that  an  extension  of  patron- 
age to  them  would  only  increase  evils  already  too  great. 

"The  President  said  he  had  already  declared  against  delay, 
and  why  there  should  be  none ;  that  there  might  be,  as  I  sup- 
posed, abuses,  but  there  were  other  and  greater  abuses ;  that  to 
wait  for  inquiry  would  give  a  triumph  to  the  bank  ;  that  State 
institutions  were  now  our  only  resource  ;  that  he  had  himself 
asked  Congress  so  to  organize  the  Treasury  Department  as  to  dis- 
pense with  banks,  but  that  he  had  not  been  attended  to  by  Con- 
gress or  the  people." 

On  the  17th  of  July  another  long  letter,  signed 
Andrew  Jackson,  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Duane.  Al- 
though these  letters  were  all  sanctioned  by  the  Greneral 
and  suited  him,  they  were  so  un-Jacksonian  as  to  make 
it  clear  to  Mr.  Duane  that  he  had  to  contend  with 
other  men,  and  that  the  President  did  not,  or  would 
not,  perhaps,  reflect  upon  arguments  made  by  him. 

The  scheme  of  the  President  and  a  small  part  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  645 

his  Cabinet  and  the  greater  part  of  his  "Back-door 
Cabinet,"  to  send  out  an  agent  to  "  sound  "  the  banks, 
as  to  taking  the  deposits,  was  carried  out.  Mr.  Ken- 
dall, in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  was  the  person 
to  undertake  this  mission.  Instructions  were  drawn  up 
contrary  to  the  plan  of  the  Secretary,  and  according 
to  the  desire  of  the  President  and  his  unconstitutional 
advisers,  and  Mr.  Kendall  was  sent  out.  The  Presi- 
dent now  more  than  ever,  adopted  the  plan  of  writing 
(having  written)  his  opinions  and  "  feelings "  to  Mr. 
Duane,  even  when  he  had  promised  personal  interviews. 
In  a  letter  dated  July  22d,  the  President  says  : — 

"Previously  to  inquiry,  however,  you  declare  that  nothing 
has  yet  occurred  to  render  necessary  the  movement  anticipated  by 
it,  and  thus  leave  me  to  infer  that  should  the  inquiry  establish  the 
competency  of  the  State  banks  to  perform  the  agency  proposed  to 
them,  you  will  not  feel  yourself  at  liberty  to  carry  into  effect  the 
decision  transferring  the  public  deposits  to  them,  which  the  Presi- 
dent, on  advisement  with  his  Cabinet,  may  make.  Please  inform 
me  whether  I  am  correct  in  supposing  that  this  is  your  determi- 
nation. If  I  am,  it  will  then  be  my  duty  in  frankness  and  can- 
dor to  suggest  the  course  which  will  be  necessary  on  my  part." 

Mr.  Duane  considered  this  letter  as  violating  the 
assurances  of  the  Boston  letter  and  at  other  times, 
that  the  President  would  not  interfere  with  his  ultimate 
conclusion  and  function.  "  The  question  of  the  actual 
removal  of  the  deposits  had  been  reserved,"  said  Mr. 
Duane,  "  and  yet  the  above  letter  demanded  a  commit- 
ment at  once.  These  and  other  manifestations  of  bad 
faith,  gave  me  much  uneasiness." 

At  last  Mr.  Kendall  returned,  and  Mr.  Duane  found 
on  examination  of  his  report  these  facts,  namely,  that 
several  of  the  most  reliable  State  banks  refused  to  act 
as  fiscal  agents  for  the  Government ;  that  some  of  them 


646  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

considered  the  plan  of  the  Executive  impracticable; 
that  others  denied  that  the  State  banks  could  give  the 
facilities  the  Government  needed  ;  and  that  those  that 
were  most  anxious  to  become  depositories  seemed,  from 
the  evidence  given,  to  be  the  most  unfit  to  be  trusted. 
But  all  this  did  not  disturb  the  purpose  of  the  Presi- 
dent. In  his  opinion  the  banks  were  under  the  shadow 
of  the  "  Monster."  That  would  soon  change.  He 
knew  more  about  it  than  Mr.  Duane  did,  or  at  least 
Mr.  Kendall  did.  On  the  10th  of  September  a  Cabinet 
meeting  was  called.  That  is,  the  members  of  the  Cab- 
inet came  to  see  what  the  President  was  going  to  do, 
what  had  been  agreed  upon  in  the  "  Kitchen." 
Mr.  Duane  says  this  is  what  was  done  : — 

"Gentlemen, — I  have  got  here  (holding  up  a  paper)  the  re- 
port of  the  agent  on  the  deposit  question,  and  I  want  to  call 
your  attention  to  it.  The  first  question  is,  whether  the  State 
banks  are  safe  places  to  put  the  public  moneys  in.  The  next  is, 
whether,  if  they  are,  it  is  not  our  duty  to  put  them  there ; 
whether  we  are  not  called  upon,  by  the  late  disclosures  of  the 
corrupt  conduct  of  the  United  States  Bank,  to  cast  off  the  con- 
nection at  once.  This  is  an  important  business.  You  know  I 
have  long  had  it  in  agitation,  and  what  took  place  in  Congress. 
I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  ask  your  opinions;  and,  ahhough  I  men- 
tioned to  Mr.  Duane  that  the  subject  was  under  consideration,  I 
must,  in  justice  to  myself,  as  well  as  to  him,  say,  I  did  not  think 
it  proper,  before  his  appointment,  to  explain  to  him  my  views. 
But  after  doing  so,  I  did  think  it  due  to  our  country  that  we 
should  go  on.  The  present  is  a  most  serious  state  of  things. 
How  shall  we  answer  to  God,  our  country,  or  ourselves,  if  we 
permit  the  public  money  to  be  thus  used  to  corrupt  the  people  ? 
Observe,  I  do  not  Avant  immediate  action,  but  I.  desire  a  day  to 
be  fixed.  Nor  do  I  want  to  touch  a  dollar  of  the  money  that  is 
in  the  Bank;  but  I  do  want  that  the  money  coming  in  may  be 
put  where  it  will  be  safe,  and  not  used  for  purposes  of  so  infa- 
mous a  kind.  I  want  harmony  in  my  Cabinet.  I  am  well 
pleased  with  you  all.     I  want  to  go  unitedly  in  this  solemn  duty. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  647 

The  former  conduct  of  the  Bauk,  in  its  corrupt  loans,  in  its 
attempts  to  depreciate  the  credit  of  the  country,  in  its  whole  cor- 
rupt state,  justified  our  acting;  hut  the  last  disclosures  leave  us 
no  excuse  for  further  delay.  The  country  will  reproach  us  if  we 
'do  not  go  on.  By  the  last  resolution  of  the  Bank,  the  whole  of 
its  funds  may  be  employed  for  corrupt  purposes ;  and  remember, 
that,  for  a  part  of  the  sum  spent,  no  explanation  or  voucher  is 
given ;  that  it  was  by  accident  one  of  the  directors,  Mr.  Wager, 
noticed  this  monstrous  abuse.  And  give  me  leave  to  tell  you 
that  this  is  a  small  part,  could  the  truth  be  got  at.  I  anxiously 
desire,  then,  that  we  should  at  least  do  something.  This  report, 
if  you  put  confidence  in  it,  and  I  think  you  may,  shows  the 
readiness  of  the  State  banks  to  take  the  public  money,  and  their 
ability  and  safety  as  substitutes  for  the  present  agent.  Why, 
then,  should  we  hesitate?  Why  not  proceed,  I  say,  as  the 
country  expects  us  to  do?  Here  are  the  papers.  When  you 
have  read  them  let  us  come  to  an  understanding." 

After  this  meeting  Mr.  Duane  says  that  his  confi- 
dence   in    the    sincerity   of    the   President    began    to 
waver,  and  he  was  now  assailed  in  the  leading  news- 
papers in   the   confidence   of   the   President,    directly 
through  the  agency  of  Amos  Kendall,  he  was  led  to 
believe.     He  saw  that  it  was  designed  to  remove  him, 
but  means  were  to  be  used,  and  they  were  used,  to  pre- 
vent his  expulsion  from  office  raising  a  clamor,  or  in- 
terfering with  the  President's  plans  as  to  the   Bank. 
On  the  17th  of  September,  there  was  a  Cabinet  meet- 
ing with  this  result :  The  Secretary  of  State  gave  his 
opinion   at  length   against    the    removal;    Mr.   Duane 
wished  to  defer  the   whole   matter    to   Congress,  and 
believed  the  step  would  be  calamitous  to  the  country ; 
the  Secretary  of  War  said  that  his  opinion  was   the 
same  as  always,  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
only,  had  power  to  remove  the  deposits,  and  that  the 
whole  matter  rested  with  him;  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  said  he  had  now  fallen  in  with  the  President ; 


648  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  Mr.  Taney  had  always  been  there.  Mr.  Barry 
was  not  present.  After  hearing  these  views  the  Pres- 
ident merely  said :  "  Gentlemen,  I  desire  to  meet  you 
to-morrow,  and  will  then  make  known  my  own  views." 

When  the  Cabinet  had  assembled  accordingly,  the 
President  caused  to  be  read  the  document  called  after- 
wards in  the  newspapers  "  the  paper  read  to  the  Cab- 
inet on  the  18th  of  September."  This  noted  paper 
simply  reviewed  the  whole  case,  and  ended  by  saying 
that  the  decision  was  made,  the  deposits  would  be  re- 
moved, and  that  the  President  would  shoulder  the 
responsibility.  When  this  was  heard  the  Cabinet  with- 
drew, the  President  remarking  to  Mr.  Duane  that  he 
expected  him  to  order  the  removal  of  the  deposits  on 
his  responsibility,  and  adding  that  if  he  would  stand 
by  him  it  would  be  the  happiest  day  of  his  life.  That 
all  the  earnestness  and  determination  of  the  President 
were  fully  aroused  at  the  time,  nobody  can  doubt. 
He  had  to  deal  with  a  conscientious  man  who  would 
not  yield  to  friendship  merely,  and  he  had  had  little 
beyond  a  struggle  yet  with  his  Cabinet. 

On  the  19th  Mr.  Donelson  called  on  Mr.  Duane  to 
notify  him  that  the  President  was  going  to  announce 
his  decision  on  the  removal  of  the  deposits  in  "  The 
Globe "  on  the  following  day,  and  actually  began  to 
read  to  him  a  paper  prepared  for  that  purpose.  ^Ir. 
Duane  refused  to  hear  the  paper,  and  declared  that 
the  whole  proceeding  was  an  insult  to  him  as  a  man 
and  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  that  he  was 
preparing  a  defense  and  would  give  the  President  his 
answer  on  the  21st.  On  the  20th  the  President  made 
the  announcement,  however,  in  the  official  paper.  Mr. 
Duane  at  once  decided  not  to  resign  as  he  had  prom- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  649 

ised,  and  also  decided  not  to  remove  the  deposits,  and 
on  the  21st  delivered  his  letter  personally  to  the 
President,  when  a  very  pointed  interview  took  place 
between  them.     But  nothing  good  came  of  it. 

How  could  anything  good  come  of  it?  It  was  a 
struggle,  it  must  be  believed,  between  two  honest 
men.  Who  could  have  doubted,  from  the  moment  it 
first  began,  what  the  result  would  be  ?  When  General 
Jackson  had  put  on  Thor's  belt,  no  one  could  doubt 
the  result  of  a  conflict  with  him. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1833,  this  letter  was 
sent  to  Mr.  Duane : — 

"To  THE  Secretary  of  the  Treasury: 

"Sir, — Since  I  returned  your  first  letter  of  September  21st, 
and  since  the  receipt  of  your  second  letter  of  the  same  day, 
which  was  sent  back  to  you  at  your  own  request,  I  have  received 
your  third  and  fourth  letters  of  the  same  date.  The  two  last,  as  well 
as  the  first,  contain  sentiments  that  are  inaccurate ;  and  as  I  have 
already  indicated  in  my  last  note  to  you,  that  a  correspondence  of 
this  description  is  inadmissible,  your  two  last  letters  are  herewith  re- 
turned. But  from  your  recent  communications,  as  well  as  your  re- 
cent conduct,  your  feelings  and  sentiments  seem  to  be  of  such  a 
character  that,  after  your  letter  of  July  last,  in  which  you  say, 
should  your  views  not  accord  with  mine  '  I  will,  from  respect  to  you 
and  for  myself,  afibrd  you  an  opportunity  to  select  a  successor  whose 
views  may  accord  with  your  own  on  the  important  matter  in  con- 
templation ;'  and  your  determination  now  to  disregard  the  pledge 
you  then  gave,  I  feel  myself  constrained  to  notify  you  that  your 
further  services  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  are  no  longer 
required.  I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Andrew  Jackson." 

"The  Globe"  soon  after  attacked  the  character  of 
Mr.  Duane,  and  the  "refrain"  was  taken  up  by  papers 
that  followed  its  lead.  Of  this  he  complained  bit- 
terly to  Mr.  Donelson,  hoping  that  the  President 
would  have  it  stopped  ;  but  Mr.  Donelson,  who  really 


650  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

desired  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Duane,  and  wanted  the 
President  and  him  to  be  reconciled  to  each  other, 
wrote  him  that  the  President  could  not  control  "  The 
Globe,"  and  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  course 
pursued  by  its  editors.  But  every  body  knew  that  "  The 
Globe"  expressed  the  President's  will,  and  that  he 
only  needed  to  speak  a  word,  if  it  did  not.  It  was 
established  for  that  purpose  and  on  that  basis.  But 
when  these  attacks  at  last  drove  Mr.  Duane,  in  the 
following  year,  to  write  some  letters  to  the  public,  the 
case  took  quite  a  different  aspect.  In  various  locali- 
ties in  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Ala- 
bama, Ohio,  and  other  States,  meetings  were  held,  and 
resolutions  passed  highly  commending  Mr.  Duane's 
course  in  his  contest  with  General  Jackson,  and  let- 
ters were  sent  to  him  expressing  the  greatest  admira- 
tion of  his  conduct  and  sympathy  on  account  of  the 
villainous  treatment  he  received.  The  kind  of  heroic 
virtue  displayed  by  Mr.  Duane  will  never  want  for 
admirers.  Although  there  may  still  reasonably  be  a 
division  of  opinion  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  two  lead- 
ing characters  in  this  political  drama,  and  while  popular 
sentiment  has,  on  many  accounts,  justly  placed  the 
name  of  General  Jackson  high  on  the  doubtful  pinnacle 
of  fame,  yet  the  name  of  William  J.  Duane  deserves 
an  eternal  place  in  the  memory  of  his  countrymen,  as 
one  who,  without  reaching  great  distinction  by  his 
brilliant  traits,  was  endowed  with  incorruptible  virtue. 
On  the  spotted  pages  of  American  political  history 
his  name  may  well  be  set  among  the  most  worthy. 
"Bull-dog"  courage  General  Jackson  had  often  encoun- 
tered, but  seldom  such  great  moral  strength.  Before 
dropping  Mr.  Duane  from  sight  some  reference  should. 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


651 


perhaps,  be  made  to  two  things  in  his  conduct  which 
appeared  erroneous  in  judgment,  and  probably  were 
indicative  of  weakness,  but  which  were  not  without 
palliating  circumstances.  These  were  his  appeal  to  his 
ftither  to  aid  in  extricating  him  from  the  difficulty, 
and  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Donelson,  the  Presi- 
dent's secretary,  after  his  dismissal.  For  the  latter 
act  Mr.  Duane  had  this  ground  of  defense,  he  had 
worked  hard  for  the  election  of  General  Jackson  from 
1823,  believing  that  the  General  was  a  plain,  honest  man, 
free  from  political  scheming,  and  was  one  who  could 
be  relied  on  as  caring  in  all  his  acts  only  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  country ;  Mr.  Duane  also  entertained 
the  mistaken  fancy  that  for  what  the  General  had 
done  the  people  of  the  United  States  owed  him  a 
great  debt  of  gratitude;  and  now,  after  all,  he  really 
had  no  desire  to  be  on  bad  terms  with  Jackson.  He 
also  wished  to  see  the  assaults  upon  himself  in  the 
official  paper  stopped  by  the  President,  who  held  that 
under  his  finger.  When  he  could  not  communicate 
with  the  President,  to  take  up  the  private  secretary 
was  hardly  in  keeping  with  the  position  even  of  an 
ex-member  of  the  Cabinet.  But  no  sense  of  dignity 
merely  could  ever  stand  in  a  great  man's  way  to  a  just 
act  or  the  discharge  of  duty. 

On  the  18th  or  19th  of  September  Mr.  Duane 
wrote  to  his  father,  and  asked  him  to  come  imme- 
diately to  the  Capital.  He  wished  to  avail  himself 
of  his  advice.  When  pressed  by  the  President  for  his 
decision,  on  the  19th,  he  sent  this  note  him: — 

"To  THE  President  of  the  United  States: 

<<Snt, — Upon  a  matter  that  deeply  concerns,  not  only  my- 
self, but  all  whoare  dear  to  me,  I  have   deemed  it   right,  as  I 


652  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

have  not  a  friend  here  to  advise  with,  to  ask  the  counsel  of  my 
father  at  this  crisis.  I  wrote  to  him  last  night,  and  am  sure  that 
nothing  but  sickness  will  prevent  his  presence  to-morrow  night; 
on  the  next  day  I  trust  that  I  shall  be  able  to  make  a  commu- 
nication to  you. 

"With  the  utmost  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"W.    J.    DUANE. 

"  September  19,  1833." 

Mr.  Duane  gives,  perhaps,  in  this  note  the  best 
reason  for  this  appeal  to  his  father,  having  no  friends 
by  him  in  whose  opinion  he  could  receive  benefit.  It 
may  be  a  strange  and  undignified  thing  for  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  in  a  great 
quarrel  with  the  President,  to  ask  the  counsel  of  his 
father  as  a  last  or  only  resort.  Nothing  anywhere  to 
be  found  so  completely  falsifies  the  statements  made 
against,  and  defends  the  character  of  his  father,  Wm. 
Duane,  the  old  editor  of  "  The  Aurora,"  as  this  frank 
note  to  the  President.  That  such  a  son  could,  in  his 
utmost  strait,  ask  the  advice  of  his  father,  must  go  far 
towards  establishing  the  character  of  the  father,  if  the 
very  existence  of  such  a  son  did  not  of  itself  put  the 
father's  character  on  the  highest  possible  ground. 
Perhaps,  his  making  known  to  the  President  that  he 
had  sent  for  his  father,  was  the  smallest  or  the  only 
small  feature  of  this  case.  But  even  this  had  a  good 
quality  to  defend  it.  That  a  wise  and  upright  son 
should  appeal  to  the  opinion  of  his  father,  in  an  ex- 
treme case,  would  justify  the  conclusion  that  the  father 
was  wise  and  upright.  This  act  of  W.  J.  Duane,  more 
than  the  friendship  of  Andrew  Jackson,  must  furnish  a 
strong  prop,  at  all  events,  to  any  reasonable  estimate 
of  "Billy"  Duane's  character. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  653 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  FIFTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— WAR  WITH 
THE  SENATE. 

AFTER  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Duane,  Roger  B. 
Taney,  the  Attorney-General,  was  transferred  to 
the  Treasury  Department,  as  has  been  mentioned,  and 
Benjamin  F.  Butler,  of  New  York,  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  was  appointed  to  Mr.  Taney's  former  place  in 
the  Cabinet.  In  a  few  days  Mr.  Taney  issued  the 
order  for-  the  removal  of  the  deposits.  Although  the 
days  of  the  Bank  were  now  numbered,  yet  the  war 
was  not  ended,  nor  was  the  infernal  affair  disposed  of 
for  many  years.  .  General  Jackson  was  yet  to  have  a 
bout  with  Congress  and  the  people.  Nor  was  the  Bank 
powerless.  But  to  render  it  so,  the  President  resorted 
to  the  despicable  expedient  of  trying  to  ruin  its  credit. 
The  Bank  was  forced  to  retrench  its  operations.  The 
deposits  of  the  Government,  amounting  to  nearly  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  were  withdrawn  within  nine  months, 
from  October  1st,  1833,  most  of  the  amount  in  the  first 
four  months.  The  new  order  of  things  shook  public 
confidence,  individual  credit  was  impaired,  business  was 
checked  or  stopped  throughout  the  country,  and  in  a 
few  short  months  the  whole  Nation  was  turned  into  a 
state  of  great  financial  distress. 

In  this  condition  of  things  Congress  convened  on 
the  second   day   of  December,    1833.     Congress    was 


654  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

especially  noted  at  this  time  for  the  number  of  men 
who  were  afterwards  distinguished  in  public  affairs.  A 
new  member  in  the  House  at  the  beginning  of  this 
session  was  Franklin  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire.  An- 
drew Stevfenson,  a  Jacksonian,  was  again  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  by  a  large  majority,  a  vote  of 
more  than  two  to  one,  showing  the  strength  of  the 
President  in  that  body.  Mr.  Van  Buren  took  his  seat 
as  President  of  the  Senate.  In  that  branch  Mr.  Cal- 
houn and  his  friends,  to  a  great  extent,  acting  with  the 
opposition,  the  Administration  was  left  in  the  minority. 
Members  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress  being  elected 
or  changed  every  two  years,  carelessness  or  convenience 
started  the  custom  of  calling  this  term,  a  Congress, 
although  it  only  applied  to  the  length  of  time  for 
which  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were 
elected.  Senators  serving  six  years,  that  term  might 
"have  been  called  a  Congress,  as  well.  The  members 
of  both  branches  are  changed,  but  Congress  is  a  fixed 
body.  The  terms  of  members  are  expiring  at  dif- 
ferent times,  and  the  Congressional  elections  are  not 
held  at  the  same  time  in  all  the  States. 
The  following  is  President  Jackson's 

FIFTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

December  3,  1S33. 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repkesentatives  : — 

On  your  assembling  to  perform  the  high  trusts  which  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  have  confided  to  you,  of  legislating  for 
their  common  welfare,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  congratulate  you 
upon  the  happy  condition  of  our  beloved  country.  By  the  favor 
of  Divine  Providence,  health  is  again  restored  to  us;  peace 
reigns  within  our  borders;  abundance  crowns  the  labors  of  our 
fields ;  commerce  and  domestic  industry  flourish  and  increase ;  and 
individual  happiness  rewards  the  private  virtue  and  enterprise  of 
our  citizens. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  655 

Our  condition  abroad  is  no  less  honorable  than  it  is  prosper- 
ous' at  home.  Seeking  nothing  that  is  not  right,  and  determined 
to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong,  but  desiring  honest  friend- 
ships and  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations,  the  United  States 
have  gained  throughout  the  world  the  confidence  and  respect 
which  are  due  to  the  character  of  the  American  people,  and  to 
a  policy  so  just,  and  so  congenial  to  the  spirit  of  their  institutions. 

In  bringing  to  your  notice  the  particular  state  of  our  foreign 
affairs,  it  affords  me  high  gratification  to  inform  you  that  they 
are  in  a  condition  which  promises  the  continuance  of  friendship 
with  all  nations. 

With  Great  Britain,  the  interesting  question  of  our  north- 
eastern boundary  remains  still  undecided.  A  negotiation,  how- 
ever, upon  that  subject,  has  been  renewed  since  the  close  of  the 
last  Congress,  and  a  proposition  has  been  submitted  to  the 
British  Government,  with  the  view  of  establishing,  in  conformity 
with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate,  the  line  designated  by  the 
treaty  of  1783.  Though  no  definitive  answer  has  been  received, 
it  may  be  daily  looked  for,  and  I  entertain  a  hope  that  the  over- 
ture may  ultimately  lead  to  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  this  im- 
portant matter. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  a  negotiation, 
which,  by  desire  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  opened 
some  years  ago  with  the  British  Government,  for  the  erection  of 
light-houses  on  the  Bahamas,  has  been  successful.  Those  works, 
when  completed,  together  with  those  which  the  United  States 
have  constructed  on  the  western  side  of  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  will 
contribute  essentially  to  the  safety  of  navigation  in  that  sea. 
This  joint  participation  in  establishments,  interesting  to  humanity 
and  beneficial  to  commerce,  is  worthy  of  two  enlightened  nations, 
and  indicates  feelings  which  can  not  fail  to  have  a  happy  influ- 
ence upon  their  political  relations.  It  is  gratifying  to  the  friends 
of  both,  to  perceive  that  the  intercourse  between  the  two  people 
is  becoming  daily  more  extensive,  and  that  sentiments  of  mutual 
good-will  have  grown  up,  befitting  their  common  origin,  justify- 
ing the  hope  that,  by  wise  counsels  on  each  side,  not  only  unset- 
tled questions  may  be  satisfactorily  terminated,  but  new  causes 
of  misunderstanding  prevented. 

Notwithstanding  that  I  continue  to  receive  the  most  amicable 
assurances  from  the  Government  of  France,  and  that  in  all  other 
respects  the  most  friendly  relations    exist   between   the   United 


656  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

States  and  that  government,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  convention,  concluded  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831, 
remain  in  some  important  parts  unfulfilled. 

By  the  second  article  of  that  convention,  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  sum  payable  to  the  United  States  should  be  paid  at 
Paris,  in  six  annual  installments,  into  the  hands  of  such  person  or 
persons  as  should  be  authorized  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  receive  it ;  and  by  the  same  article,  the  first  installment 
was  payable  on  the  2d  day  of  February,  1833.  By  the  act  of 
Congress  of  the  13th  July,  1832,  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  cause  the  several  installments,  with 
the  interest  thereon,  to  be  received  from  the  French  Government, 
and  transferred  to  the  United  States,  in  such  manner  as  he  may 
deem  best;  and  by  the  same  act  of  Congress,  the  stipulations  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  in  the  convention,  were  in  all  re- 
spects fulfilled.  Not  doubting  that  a  treaty  thus  made  and  rati- 
fied by  the  two  governments,  and  faithfully  executed  by  the 
United  States,  would  be  promptly  complied  with  by  the  other 
party,  and  desiring  to  avoid  the  risk  and  expense  of  intermediate 
agencies,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  deemed  it  advisable  to 
receive  and  transfer  the  first  installment  by  means  of  a  draft  upon 
the  French  Minister  of  Finance.  A  draft  for  this  purpose  was 
accordingly  drawn  in  favor  of  the  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  amount  accruing  to  the  United  States  out 
of  the  first  installment,  and  the  interest  payable  with  it.  This 
bill  was  not  drawn  at  Washington  until  five  days  after  the  in- 
stallment was  payable  at  Paris,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  special 
authority  from  the  President,  authorizing  the  cashier,  or  his 
assigns,  to  receive  the  amount.  The  mode  thus  adopted,  of  re- 
ceiving the  installment,  was  officially  made  known  to  the  French 
Government  by  the  American  charge  d'aflfaires  at  Paris,  pursuant 
to  instructions  from  the  Department  of  State.  The  bill,  how- 
ever, though  not  presented  for  payment  until  the  23d  day  of 
March,  was  not  paid,  and  for  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  French 
Minister  of  Finance,  that  no  appropriation  liad  been  made  by  the 
French  Chambers.  It  is  not  known  to  me,  that,  up  to  that 
period,  any  appropriation  had  been  required  of  the  Chambers; 
and  although  a  communication  was  subsequently  made  to  the 
Chambers,  by  direction  of  the  king,  recommending  that  the 
necessary  provision  should  be  made  for  carrying  the  convention 
into   effect,   it   was   at  an  advanced  period   of   the  session,  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  657 

the  subject  was  finally  postponed  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Chambers. 

Notwithstanding  it  has  been  supposed  by  the  French  ministry, 
that  the  financial  stipulation  of  the  treaty  can  not  be  carried  into 
eflfect  without  an  appropriation  by  the  Chambers,  it  appears  to 
me  to  be  not  only  consistent  with  the  character  of  France,  but 
due  to  the  character  of  both  governments,  as  well  as  to  the  rights 
of  our  citizens,  to  treat  the  convention,  made  and  ratified  in 
proper  form,  as  pledging  the  good  faith  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment for  its  execution,  and  as  imposing  upon  each  departmept  an 
obligation  to  fulfill  it;  and  I  have  received  assurances  through 
our  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris,  and  the  French  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary at  Washington,  and  more  recently  through  the  Minister 
of  the  United  States  at  Paris,  that  the  delay  has  not  proceeded 
from  any  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the  king  and  his  ministers 
to  fulfill  the  treaty,  and  that  measures  will  be  presented  at  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Chambers,  and  with  a  reasonable  hope  of 
success,  to  obtain  the  necessary  appropriation. 

It  is  necessary  to  state,  however,  that  the  documents,  except 
certain  lists  of  vessels  captured,  condemned,  or  burnt  at  sea, 
proper  to  facilitate  the  examination  and  liquidation  of  the  recla- 
mations comprised  in  the  stipulations  of  the  convention,  and 
which,  by  the  six  articles,  France  engaged  to  communicate  to 
the  United  States  by  the  intermediary  of  the  legation,  though  re- 
peatedly applied  for  by  the  American  charge  d'afl^aires,  under  in- 
structions from  this  Government,  have  not  yet  been  communi- 
cated ;  and  this  delay,  it  is  apprehended,  will  necessarily  prevent 
the  completion  of  the  duties  assigned  to  the  commissioners  within 
the  time  at  present  prescribed  by  law. 

The  reasons  for  delaying  to  communicate  these  documents 
have  not  yet  been  explicitly  stated,  and  this  is  the  more  to  be 
regretted,  as  it  is  not  understood  that  the  interposition  of  the 
Chambers  is  in  any  manner  required  for  the  delivery  of  those 
papers. 

Under  these  circumstances,  in  a  case  so  important  to  the  in- 
terests of  our  citizens  and  to  the  character  of  our  country,  and 
under  disappointments  so  unexpected,  I  deem  it  my  duty,  how- 
ever I  might  respect  the  general  assurances  to  which  I  have 
adverted,  no  longer  to  delay  the  appointment  of  a  minister  plen- 
ipotentiary to  Paris,  but  to  dispatch  him  in  season  to  communi- 
cate the  result  of  his  application  to  the  French  Government  at 

42— G 


658  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

an  early  period  of  your  session.  I  accordingly  appointed  a  dis- 
tinguished citizen  for  this  purpose,  who  proceeded  on  his  mission 
in  August  last,  and  was  presented  to  the  king  early  in  the  month 
of  October,  He  is  particularly  instructed  as  to  all  matters  con- 
nected with  the  present  posture  of  affairs ;  and  I  indulge  the  hope 
that,  with  the  representations  he  is  instructed  to  make,  and  from 
the  disposition  manifested  by  the  king  and  his  ministers  in  their 
recent  assurances  to  our  minister  at  Paris,  the  subject  will  be 
early  considered  and  satisfactorily  disposed  of  at  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Chambers. 

As  this  subject  involves  important  interests,  and  has  attracted 
a  considerable  share  of  the  public  attention,  I  have  deemed  it 
proper  to  make  this  explicit  statement  of  its  actual  condition; 
and  should  I  be  disappointed  in  the  hope  now  entertained,  the 
subject  will  be  again  brought  to  the  notice  of  Congress  in  such  a 
manner  as  the  occasion  may  require. 

The  friendly  relations  which  have  always  been  maintained  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Russia  have  been  further  extended 
and  strengthened  by  the  treaty  of  navigation  and  commerce,  con- 
cluded on  the  6th  of  December  last,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Senate 
before  the  close  of  its  last  session.  The  ratifications  having  been 
since  exchanged,  the  liberal  provisions  of  the  treaty  are  now  in 
full  force ;  and,  under  the  encouragement  which  they  have  re- 
ceived, a  flourishing  and  increasing  commerce,  yielding  its  bene- 
fits to  the  enterprise  of  both  nations,  affords  to  each  the  just 
recompense  of  wise  measures,  and  adds  new  motives  for  that 
mutual  friendship  which  the  two  countries  have  hitherto  cherished 
toward  each  other. 

It  affords  me  pecular  satisfaction  to  state  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  Spain  has  at  length  yielded  to  the  justice  of  the  claims 
which  have  been  so  long  urged  in  behalf  of  our  citizens,  and  has 
expressed  a  willingness  to  provide  an  indemnification  as  soon  as 
the  proper  amount  can  be  agreed  upon.  Upon  this  latter  point, 
it  is  probable  an  understanding  had  taken  place  between  the 
Minister  of  the  United  States  and  the  Spanish  Government  before 
the  decease  of  the  late  king  of  Spain  ;  and  unless  that  event  may 
have  delayed  its  completion,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  it  may 
be  in  my  power  to  announce  to  you,  early  in  your  present  session, 
the  conclusion  of  a  convention  upon  terms  not  less  favorable  than 
those  entered  into  for  similar  objects  with  other  nations.  That 
act  of  justice  would  well  accord  with  the  character  of  Spain,  and 


ANDEEW  JACKSON.  659 

is  due  to  the  United  States  from  their  ancient  friend.  It  could 
not  fail  to  strengthen  the  sentiments  of  amity. and  good-will  be- 
tween the  two  nations  which  it  is  so  much  the  wish  of  the 
United  States  to  cherish,  and  so  truly  the  interest  of  both  to 
maintain. 

By  the  first  section  of  an  act  of  Congress  passed  on  the  13th 
of  July,  1832,  the  tonnage  duty  on  Spanish  ships  arriving  from 
the  ports  of  Spain,  was  limited  to  the  duty  payable  on  American 
vessels  in  the  ports  of  Spain,  previous  to  the  20th  of  October, 
1817,  being  five  cents  per  ton.  The  act  was  intended  to  give 
effect,  on  our  side,  to  an  arrangement  made  with  the  Spanish 
Government,  by  which  discriminating  duties  of  tonnage  were  to 
be  abolished  in  the  ports  of  the  United  States  and  Spain,  on  the 
vessels  of  the  two  nations.  Pursuant  to  that  arrangement,  which 
was  carried  into  effect  on  the  part  of  Spain,  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1832,  by  a  royal  order  dated  the  20th  of  April,  1832,  American 
vessels  in  the  ports  of  Spain  have  paid  five  cents  per  ton,  which 
rate  of  duty  is  also  paid  in  those  ports  by  Spanish  ships;  but,  as 
American  vessels  pay  no  tonnage  duty  in  the  ports  of  the  United 
States,  the  duty  of  five  cents  payable  in  our  ports  by  Spanish 
vessels  under  the  act  above  mentioned,  is  really  a  discriminating 
duty  operating  to  the  disadvantage  of  Spain.  Though  no  com- 
plaint has  yet  been  made  on  the  part  of  Spain,  we  are  not  the 
less  bound  by  the  obligations  of  good  faith  to  remove  the  dis- 
crimination ;  and  I  recommend  that  the  act  be  amended  accord- 
ingly. As  the  royal  order  above  alluded  to  includes  the  ports  of 
the  Balearic  and  Canary  Islands,  as  well  as  those  of  Spain,  it 
would  seem  that  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  should  be 
equally  extensive;  and  that,  for  the  repayment  of  such  duties  as 
may  have  been  improperly  received,  an  addition  should  be  made 
to  the  sum  appropriated  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  for  refund- 
ing discriminating  duties. 

As  the  arrangement  referred  to,  however,  did  not  embrace 
the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  discriminating  duties,  to  the 
prejudice  of  American  shipping,  continue  to  be  levied  there. 
From  the  extent  of  the  commerce  carried  on  between  the  United 
States  and  those  islands,  particularly  the  former,  this  discrimina- 
tion causes  serious  injury  to  one  of  those  great  national  interests 
which,  it  has  been  considered  an  essential  part  of  our  policy  to 
cherish,  and  has  given  rise  to  complaints  on  the  part  of  our  mer- 
chants.    Under  instructions  given  to   our  minister  at   Madrid, 


660  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

earnest  representations  have  been  made  by  him  to  the  Spanish 
Government  upon  this  subject,  and  there  is  reason  to  expect, 
from  the  friendly  disposition  which  is  entertained  toward  this 
country,  that  a  beneficial  change  will  be  produced.  The  disad- 
vantage, however,  to  which  our  shipping  is  subjected  by  the 
operation  of  these  discriminating  duties,  requires  that  they  be 
met  by  suitable  countervailing  duties  during  your  present  session, 
power  being  at  the  same  time  vested  in  the  President  to  modify 
or  discontinue  them  as  the  discriminating  duties  on  American 
vessels  or  their  cargoes  may  be  modified  or  discontinued  at  those 
islands.  Intimations  have  been  given  to  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment, that  the  United  States  may  be  obliged  to  resort  to  such 
measures  as  are  of  necessary  self-defense,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  apprehend  that  it  would  be  unfavorably  received.  The  pro- 
posed proceedings,  if  adopted,  would  not  be  permitted,  however, 
in  any  degree  to  induce  a  relaxation  in  the  eflforts  of  our  minister 
to  eflfect  a  repeal  of  this  irregularity  by  friendly  negotiation,  and 
it  might  serve  to  give  force  to  his  representations  by  showing  the 
dangers  to  which  that  valuable  trade  is  exposed  by  the  obstruc- 
tions and  burdens  which  a  system  of  discriminating  and  counter- 
vailing duties  necessarily  produces. 

The  selection  and  preparation  of  the  Florida  archives  for  the 
purpose  of  being  delivered  over  to  the  United  States,  in  confor- 
mity with  the  royal  order,  as  mentioned  in  my  last  annual  mes- 
sage, though  in  progress,  has  not  yet  been  completed.  This  delay 
has  been  produced,  partly  by  causes  which  were  unavoidable, 
particularly  the  prevalence  of  cholera  at  Havana ;  but  measures 
have  been  taken  which  it  is  believed  will  expedite  the  delivery 
of  those  important  records. 

Congress  were  informed  at  the  opening  of  the  last  session, 
that,  "owing,  as  was  alleged,  to  embarrassments  in  the  finances 
of  Portugal,  consequent  upon  the  civil  war  in  which  that  nation 
was  engaged,"  payment  had  been  made  of  only  one  installment 
of  the  amount  which  the  Portuguese  Government  had  stipulated 
to  pay  for  indemnifying  our  citizens  for  property  illegally  cap- 
tured in  the  blockade  of  Terceira.  Since  that  time,  a  postpone- 
ment for  two  years,  with  interest,  of  the  two  remaining  install- 
ments, was  requested  by  the  Portuguese  Government;  and  as  a 
consideration,  it  offered  to  stipulate  that  rice  of  the  United 
States  should  be  admitted  into  Portugal  at  the  same  duties  as 
Brazilian  rice.     Being  satisfied  that  no  better  arrangement  could 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  661 

be  made,  my  consent  was  given ;  and  a  royal  order  of  the  king 
of  Portugal  was  accordingly  issued,  on  the  4th  of  February 
last,  for  the  reduction  of  the  duty  on  rice  of  the  United  States. 
It  would  give  me  great  pleasure,  if,  in  speaking  of  that  country, 
in  whose  prosperity  the  United  States  are  so  much  interested,  and 
with  whom  a  long-subsisting,  extensive,  and  mutually  advanta- 
geous commercial  intercourse  has  strengthened  the  relations  of 
friendship,  I  could  announce  to  you  the  restoration  of  its  internal 
tranquillity. 

Subsequently  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  the  final  installment  payable  by  Denmark  under  the 
convention  of  the  28th  day  of  March,  1830,  was  received.  The 
commissioners  for  examining  the  claims  have  since  terminated 
their  labors,  and  their  awards  have  been  paid  at  the  treasury  as 
they  have  been  called  for.  The  justice  rendered  to  our  citizens 
by  that  government  is  thus  completed,  and  a  pledge  is  thereby 
afforded  for  the  maintenance  of  that  friendly  intercourse  becom- 
ing the  relations  that  the  two  nations  mutually  bear  to  each  other. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  inform  you  that  the  Danish  Government 
has  recently  issued  an  ordinance  by  which  the  commerce  with 
the  Island  of  St.  Croix  is  placed  on  a  more  liberal  footing  than 
heretofore.  This  change  can  not  fail  to  prove  beneficial  to  the 
trade  between  the  United  States  and  that  Colony;  and  the  ad- 
vantages likely  to  flow  from  it  may  lead  to  greater  relaxations  in 
the  Colonial  systems  of  other  nations. 

The  ratifications  of  the  convention  with  the  king  of  the  two 
Sicilies  have  been  duly  exchanged,  and  the  commissioners  ap- 
pointed for  examining  the  claims  under  it  have  entei'ed  upon  the 
duties  assigned  to  them  by  law.  The  friendship  that  the  inter- 
ests of  the  two  nations  require  of  them  being  now  established,  it 
may  be  hoped  that  each  will  enjoy  the  benefits  which  a  liberal 
commerce  should  yield  to  both. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  United  States 
and  Belgium  was  concluded  during  the  last  winter,  and  received 
the  sanction  of  the  Senate ;  but  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications 
has  been  hitherto  delayed,  in  consequence,  in  the  first  instance, 
of  some  delay  in  the  reception  of  the  treaty  at  Brussels,  and, 
subsequently,  of  the  absence  of  the  Belgian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  at  the  important  conference  in  which  his  Government  is 
engaged  at  London.  That  treaty  does  but  embody  those  enlarged 
principles  of  friendly  policy  which,  it  is  sincerely  hoped,    will 


662  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

always  regulate  the  conduct  of  the  two  nations,  having  such  mo- 
tives to  maintain  amicable  relations  toward  each  other,  and  so 
sincerely  desirous  to  cherish  them. 

With  all  the  other  European  powers  with  whom  the  United 
States  have  formed  diplomatic  relations,  and  with  the  Sublime 
Porte,  the  best  understanding  prevails.  From  all  I  continue  to 
receive  assurances  of  good-will  toward  the  United  States,  assur- 
ances which  Jit  gives  me  no  less  pleasure  to  reciprocate  than 
to  receive.  With  all,  the  engagements  which  have  been  en- 
tered into  are  fulfilled  with  good  faith  on  both  sides.  Measures 
have  also  been  taken  to  enlarge  our  friendly  relations  and  ex- 
tend our  commercial  intercourse  with  other  States.  The  system 
we  have  pursued  of  aiming  at  no  exclusive  advantages,  of  deal- 
ing with  all  on  terms  of  fair  and  equal  reciprocity,  and  of  adher- 
ing scrupulously  to  all  our  engagements,  is  well  calculated  to  give 
success  to  efforts  intended  to  be  mutually  beneficial. 

The  wars  of  which  the  southern  part  of  this  Continent  was 
so  long  the  theater,  and  which  were  carried  on  either  by  the 
mother  country  against  the  States  which  had  formerly  been  her 
Colonies,  or  by  the  States  against  each  other,  having  terminated, 
and  their  civil  dissensions  having  so  far  subsided  as,  with  few 
exceptions,  no  longer  to  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  it  is  "ear- 
nestly hoped  that  those  States  will  be  able  to  employ  themselves 
without  interruption  in  perfecting  their  institutions,  cultivating 
the  arts  of  peace,  and  promoting,  by  wise  councils  and  able  exer- 
tions, the  public  and  private  prosperity  which  their  patriotic 
struggles  so  well  entitle  them  to  enjoy. 

With  those  States  our  relations  have  undergone  but  little 
change  during  the  present  year.  No  reunion  having  yet  taken 
place  between  the  States  which  compose  the  Republic  of  Colom- 
bia, our  charge  d'afllaires  at  Bogota  has  been  accredited  to  the 
Government  of  New  Grenada,  and  we  have,  therefore,  no  diplo- 
matic relations  with  Venezuela  and  Ecuador,  except  as  they  may 
be  included  in  those  heretofore  formed  with  the  Colombian 
Republic. 

It  is  understood  that  representatives  from  three  States  were 
about  to  assemble  at  Bogota,  to  confer  on  the  subject  of  their 
mutual  interests,  particularly  that  of  their  union ;  and,  if  the 
result  should  render  it  necessary,  measures  will  be  taken  on  our 
part  to  preserve  with  each  that  friendship  and  those  liberal  com- 
mercial connections  which  it  has  been  the  constant  desire  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  663 

United  States  to  cultivate  with  their  sister  Republics  of  this  hem- 
isphere. Until  the  important  question  of  reunion  shall  be  set- 
tled, however,  the  different  matters  which  have  been  under  dis- 
cussion between  the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Colombia, 
or  either  of  the  States  which  composed  it,  are  not  likely  to  be 
brought  to  a  satisfactory  issue. 

In  consequence  of  the  illness  of  the  charge  d'affaires  ap- 
pointed to  Central  America  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  he 
was  prevented  from  proceeding  on  his  mission  until  the  month 
of  October,  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  he  is,  by  this  time,  at  his 
post,  and  that  the  official  intercourse,  unfortunately  so  long  inter- 
rupted, has  been  thus  renewed  on  the  part  of  the  two  nations, 
so  amicably  and  advantageously  connected  by  engagements 
founded  on  the  most  enlarged  principles  of  commercial  reciprocity. 

It  is  gratifying  to  state  that,  since  my  last  annual  message, 
some  of  the  most  important  claims  of  our  fellow-citizens  upon  the 
Government  of  Brazil  have  been  satisfactorily  adjusted,  and  a 
reliance  is  placed  on  the  friendly  dispositions  manifested  by  it, 
that  justice  will  also  be  done  in  others.  No  new  causes  of  com- 
plaint have  arisen ;  and  the  trade  between  the  two  countries 
flourishes  under  the  encouragement  secured  to  it  by  the  liberal 
provisions  of  the  treaty. 

It  is  cause  of  regret  that,  owing  probably  to  the  civil  dissen- 
sions which  have  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment, the  time  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  limits  with  the  United 
States  for  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  to  define  the  bounda- 
ries between  the  two  nations,  has  been  suffered  to  .expire  without 
the  appointment  of  any  commissioners  on  the  part  of  that  Gov- 
ernment. While  the  true  boundary  remains  in  doubt  by  either 
party  it  is  difficult  to  give  ..effect  to  those  measures  which  are 
necessary  to  the  protection  and  quiet  of  our  numerous  citizens 
residing  near  that  frontier.  The  subject  is  one  of  great  solicitude 
to  the  United  States,  and  will  not  fail  to  receive  my  earnest 
attention. 

The  treaty  concluded  with  Chili,  and  approved  by  the  Senate 
at  its  last  session,  was  also  ratified  by  the  Chilian  Government, 
but  with  certain  additional  and  explanatory  articles  of  a  nature  to 
have  required  it  to  be  again  submitted  to  the  Senate.  The  time 
limited  for  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications,  however,  having 
since  expired,  the  action  of  both  Governments  on  the  treaty  will 
again  become  necessary. 


664  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  negotiations  commenced  with  the  Argentine  Republic, 
relative  to  the  outrages  committed  on  our  vessels  engaged  in  the 
fisheries  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  by  persons  acting  under  the 
color  of  its  authority,  as  well  as  the  other  matters  in  controversy  be- 
tween the  two  governments  have  been  suspended  by  the  depart- 
ure of  the  charge  d'affaires  of  the  United  States  from  Buenos 
Ayres.  It  is  understood,  however,  that  a  minister  was  subse- 
quently appointed  by  that  government  to  renew  the  negotiation 
in  the  United  States,  but,  though  daily  expected,  he  has  not  yet 
arrived  in  this  country. 

"With  Peru  no  treaty  has  yet  been  formed,  and  with  Bolivia 
no  diplomatic  intercourse  has  yet  been  established.  It  will  be  my 
endeavor  to  encourage  those  sentiments  of  amity,  and  that  liberal 
commerce  which  belong  to  the  relations  in  which  all  the  inde- 
pendent States  of  this  Continent  stand  toward  each  other. 

I  deem  it  proper  to  recommend  to  your  notice  the  revision  of 
our  consular  system.  This  has  become  an  important  branch 
of  the  public  service,  inasmuch  as  it  is  intimately  connected  with 
the  preservation  of  our  national  character  abroad,  with  the  inter- 
est of  our  citizens  in  foreign  countries,  with  the  regulation  and' 
care  of  our  commerce,  and  with  the  protection  of  our  seamen. 
At  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress,  I  communicated  a  re- 
port from  the  Secretary  of  State  upon  the  subject,  to  which  I 
now  refer,  as  containing  information  which  may  be  useful  in  any 
inquiries  that  Congress  may  see  fit  to  institute,  with  a  view  to  a 
salutary  reform  of  the  system. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  pros- 
perous condition  of  the  finances  of  the  country,  as  will  appear 
from  the  report  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  in  due  time 
lay  before  you.  The  receipts  into  the  Treasury  during  the  present 
year  will  amount  to  more  than  thirty-two  millions  of  dollars.  The 
revenue  derived  from  customs  will,  it  is  believed,  be  more  than 
twenty-eight  millions,  and  the  public  land  will  yield  about  three 
millions  of  dollars.  The  expenditures  within  the  year,  for  all  ob- 
jects, including  two  million  five  hundred  and  seventy-two  thou 
sand  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars,  ninety-nine  cents,  on  account 
of  the  public  debt,  will  not  amount  to  twenty-five  millions  of 
dollars,  and  a  large  balance  will  remain  in  the  Treasury,  after 
satisfying  all  the  appropriations  chargeable  on  the  revenue  for  the 
present  year. 

The  measures  taken   by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  665 

probably  enable  him  to  pay  off,  in  the  course  of  the  present  year, 
the  residue  of  the  exchanged  four  and  a  half  per  cent  stock,  re- 
deemable on  the  first  day  of  January  next ;  it  has,  therefore, 
been  included  in  the  estimated  expenditures  of  this  year,  and 
forms  a  part  of  the  sum  above  stated  to  have  been  paid  on  account 
of  the  public  debt;  the  payment  of  this  stock  will  reduce  the 
whole  debt  of  the  United  States,  funded  and  unfunded,  to  the 
sum  of  four  millions  seven  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  eighty- 
two  dollars,  eight  cents  ;  and,  as  provision  has  already  been  made 
for  the  four  and  a  half  per  cent  above  mentioned,  and  charged 
in  the  expenses  of  the  present  year,  the  sum  last  stated  is  all  that 
now  remains  of  the  national  debt ;  and  the  revenue  of  the  coming 
year,  together  with  the  balance  now  in  the  Treasury,  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  discharge  it,  after  meeting  the  current  expenses  of  the 
Government.  Under  the  power  given  to  the  commissioners  of 
the  sinking  fund,  it  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  purchased  on  favor- 
able terms  within  the  year. 

From  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  finances,  and  the  public 
engagements  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  you  will  perceive  that,  if  Provi- 
dence permits  me  to  meet  you  at  another  session,  I  shall  have  the 
high  gratification  of  announcing  to  you  that  the  national  debt  is 
extinguished.  I  can  not  refrain  from  expressing  the  pleasure  I 
feel  at  the  near  approach  of  that  desirable  event.  The  short 
period  of  time  within  which  the  public  debt  will  have  been  dis- 
charged, is  strong  evidence  of  the  abundant  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, and  of  the  prudence  and  economy  with  which  the  Govern- 
ment has  heretofore  been  administered.  We  have  waged  two  wars 
since  we  became  a  nation,  Avith  one  of  the  most  powerful  king- 
doms in  the  world ;  both  of  them  undertaken  in  defense  of  our 
dearest  rights — both  successfully  prosecuted  and  honorably  termi- 
nated ;  and  many  of  those  who  partook  in  the  first  struggle,  as 
well  as  the  second,  will  have  lived  to  see  the  last  item  of  the  debt 
incurred  in  these  necessary  but  expensive  conflicts,  faithfully  and 
honestly  discharged  ;  and  we  shall  have  the  proud  satisfaction  of 
bequeathing  to  the  public  servants  who  follow  us  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government,  the  rare  blessings  of  a  revenue  suffi- 
ciently abundant,  raised  without  injustice  or  oppression  to  our 
citizens,  and  uninqumbered  with  any  burdens  but  what  they 
themselves  shall  think  proper  to  impose  upon  it. 

The  flourishing  state  of  the  finances  ought  not,  however,  to 
encourage  us  to  indulge  in  a  lavish  expenditure  of  the  public 


666  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

treasure.  The  receipts  of  the  present  year  do  not  furnish  the  test 
by  which  we  are  to  estimate  the  income  of  the  next.  The  changes 
made  in  our  revenue  system  by  the  acts  of  Congress  of  1832  and 
1833,  and  more  especially  by  the  former,  have  swelled  the  receipts 
of  the  present  year  far  beyond  the  amount  to  be  expected  in 
future  years  upon  the  reduced  tariff  of  duties.  The  shortened 
credits  on  revenue  bonds,  and  the  cash  duties  on  woolens,  which 
were  introduced  by  the  act  of  1832,  and  took  effect  on  the  4th  of 
March  last,  have  brought  large  sums  into  the  Treasury  in  1833, 
which,  according  to  the  credits  formerly  given,  would  not  have 
been  payable  until  1834,  and  would  have  formed  a  part  of  the 
income  of  that  year.  These  causes  would  of  themselves  produce 
a  great  diminution  of  the  receipts  in  the  year  1834,  as  compared 
with  the  present  one,  and  they  will  be  still  more  diminished  by 
the  reduced  rates  of  duties  which  take  place  on  the  1st  of  January 
next,  on  some  of  the  most  important  and  productive  articles. 
Upon  the  best  estimates  that  can  be  made,  the  receipts  of  the 
next  year,  with  the  aid  of  the  unappropriated  amount  now  in  the 
Treasury,  will  not  be  much  more  than  sufficient  to  meet  the  ex- 
penses of  the  year,  and  pay  the  small  remnant  of  the  national 
debt  which  yet  remains  unsatisfied.  I  can  not,  therefore,  recom- 
mend to  you  any  alteration  in  the  present  tariff  of  duties.  The 
rate  as  now  fixed  by  law,  on  the  various  articles,  was  adopted  at 
the  last  session  of  Congress  as  a  matter  of  compromise,  with  un- 
usual unanimity ;  and  unless  it  is  found  to  produce  more  than 
the  necessities  of  the  Government  call  for,  there  would  seem  to 
be  no  reason  at  this  time  to  justify  a  change. 

But  while  I  forbear  to  recommend  any  further  reductions  of 
the  duties,  beyond  that  already  provided  for  by  the  existing  laws, 
I  must  earnestly  and  respectfully  press  upon  Congress  the  im- 
portance of  abstaining  from  all  appropriations  which  are  not  ab- 
solutely required  for  the  public  interests,  and  authorized  by  the 
powers  clearly  delegated  to  the  United  States.  We  are  beginning 
a  new  era  in  our  Government.  The  national  debt,  which  has  so 
long  been  a  burden  on  the  Treasury,  will  be  finally  discharged  in 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  year.  No  more  money  will  afterward 
be  needed  than  what  may  be  necessary  to  meet  the  ordinary  ex- 
penses of  the  Government.  Now,  then,  is  the  proper  moment  to 
fix  our  system  of  expenditure  on  firm  and  durable  principles; 
and  I  can  not  too  strongly  urge  the  necessity  of  a  rigid  economy, 
and  an  inflexible  determination  not  to  enlarge  the  income  beyond 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  667 

the  real  necessities  of  the  Government,  and  not  to  increase  the 
wants  of  the  Government  by  unnecessary  and  profuse  expendi- 
tures. If  a  contrary  course  should  be  pursued,  it  may  happen 
that  the  revenue  of  1834  will  fall  short  of  the  demands  upou  it, 
and  after  reducing  the  tariff  in  order  to  lighten  the  burdens  of 
the  people,  and  providing  for  a  still  further  reduction  to  take  ef- 
fect hereafter,  it  would  be  much  to  be  deplored  if,  at  the  end  of 
another  year,  we  should  find  ourselves  obliged  to  retrace  our  steps, 
and  impose  additional  taxes  to  meet  unnecessary  expenditures. 

It  is  my  duty,  on  this  occasion,  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
destruction  of  the  public  building  occupied  by  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, which  happened  since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress. 
A  thorough  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  this  loss  was  directed  and 
made  at  the  time,  the  result  of  which  will  be  duly  communicated 
to  you.  I  take  pleasure,  however,  in  stating  here,  that  by  the 
laudable  exertions  of  the  officers  of  the  Department,  and  many 
of  the  citizens  of  the  district,  but  few  papers  were  lost,  and  none 
that  will  materially  affect  the  public  interest. 

The  public  convenience  requires  that  another  building  should 
be  erected  as  soon  as  practicable ;  and  in  providing  for  it,  it  will 
be  advisable  to  enlarge  in  some  manner  the  accommodations  for 
the  public  officers  of  the  several  departments,  and  to  authorize 
the  erection  of  suitable  depositories  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the 
public  documents  and  records. 

Since  the  last  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  has  directed  the  money  of  the  United  States  to  be  de- 
posited in  certain  State  banks,  designated  by  him,  and  he  will 
immediately  lay  before  you  his  reasons  for  this  direction.  I  con- 
cur with  him  entirely  in  the  view  he  has  taken  of  the  subject ; 
and  some  months  before  the  removal,  I  urged  upon  the  Depart- 
ment the  propriety  of  taking  that  step.  The  near  approach  of  the 
day  on  which  the  charter  will  expire,  as  well  as  the  conduct  of 
the  Bank,  appeared  to  me  to  .call  for  this  measure,  upon  the  high 
considerations  of  publip  interest  and  public  duty.  The  extent  of 
its  misconduct,  however,  although  known  to  be  great,  was  not  at 
the  time  fully  developed  by  proof.  It  was  not  until  late  in  the 
month  of  August,  that  I  received  from  the  Government  directora 
an  official  report,  establishing  beyond  question  that  this  great  and 
powerful  institution  had  been  actively  engaged  in  attempting  to 
influence  the  elections  of  the  public  officers  by  means  of  its 
money ;   and  that,   in  violation  of  the  express  provisions  of  its 


668  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

charter,  it  had  by  a  formal  resolution  placed  its  funds  at  the  dis- 
position of  its  president,  to  be  employed  in  sustaining  the  political 
power  of  the  Bank.  A  copy  of  this  resolution  is  contained  in  the 
report  of  the  Government  directors  before  referred  to ;  and  how- 
ever the  objects  may  be  disguised  by  cautious  language,  no  one 
can  doubt  that  this  money  was  in  truth  intended  for  electioneer- 
ing purposes,  and  the  particular  uses  to  which  it  was  proved  to 
have  been  applied,  abundantly  show  that  it  was  so  understood. 
Not  only  was  the  evidence  complete,  as  to  the  past  application 
of  the  money  and  power  of  the  Bank  to  electioneering  purposes, 
but  that  the  resolution  of  the  board  of  directors  authorized  the 
same  course  to  be  pursued  in  future. 

It  being  thus  established  by  unquestionable  proof  that  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States  was  converted  into  a  permanent  elec- 
tioneering engine,  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  path  of  duty  which 
the  Executive  Department  of  the  Government  ought  to  pursue 
was  not  doubtful.  As  by  the  terms  of  the  Bank  charter,  no  of- 
ficer but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  remove  the  deposits, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  this  authority  ought  to  be  at  once  exerted  to 
deprive  that  great  corporation  of  the  support  and  countenance  of 
the  Government,  in  such  a  use  of  its  funds  and  such  an  exertion 
of  its  power.  In  this  point  of  the  case  the  question  is  distinctly 
presented  whether  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  to  govern 
through  representatives  chosen  by  their  unbiased  suffrages,  or 
.whether  the  power  and  money  of  a  great  corporation  are  to  be 
secretly  exerted  to  influence  their  judgment  and  control  their  de- 
cisions. It  must  now  be  determined  whether  the  Bank  is  to  have 
its  candidates  for  all  officers  in  the  country,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  or  whether  candidates  on  both  sides  of  political  questions 
shall  be  brought  forward  as  heretofore,  and  supported  by  the 
usual  means. 

At  this  time  the  efforts  of  the  Bank  to  control  public  opinion 
through  the  distresses  of  some  and  the  fears  of  others,  are  equally 
apparent,  and  if  possible  more  objectionable.  By  a  curtailment 
of  its  accommodations,  more  rapid  than  any  emergency  requires, 
and  even  while  it  retains  specie  to  an  almost  unprecedented  amount 
in  its  vaults,  it  is  attempting  to  produce  great  embarrassment  in 
one  portion  of  the  community,  while  through  presses  known  to 
have  been  sustained  by  its  money,  it  attempts  by  unfounded 
alarms  to  create  a  panic  in  all. 

These  are  the  means  by  which  it  seems  to  expect  that  it  can 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  669 

force  a  restoration  of  the  deposits,  and,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, extort  from  Congress  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  I  am 
happy  to  know  that,  through  the  good  sense  of  our  people,  tlie 
effort  to  get  up  a  panic  has  hitherto  failed,  and  that  through  the 
increased  accommodations  which  the  State  banks  have  been  en- 
abled to  afford,  no  public  distress  has  followed  the  exertions  of 
the  Bank  ;  and  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  exercise  of  its  power 
and  the  expenditure  of  its  money,  as  well  as  its  efforts  to  spread 
groundless  alarm,  will  be  met  aud  rebuked  as  they  deserve.  In 
my  own  sphere  of  duty,  I  should  feel  myself  called  on  by  the  facts 
disclosed,  to  order  a  scire  facias  against  the  Bank,  with  a  view  to 
put  an  end  to  the  chartered  rights  it  has  so  palpably  violated, 
were  it  not  that  the  charter  itself  will  expire  as  soon  as  a  decision 
would  probably  be  obtained  from  the  court  of  last  resort. 

I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  subject  in  my  last 
annual  message,  aud  informed  them  that  such  measures  as  were 
within  the  reach  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  been  taken 
to  enable  him  to  judge  whether  the  public  deposits  in  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  were  entirely  safe ;  but  that,  as  his  single 
powers  might  be  inadequate  to  the  object,  I  recommended  the 
subject  to  Congress,  as  worthy  of  their  serious  investigation;  de- 
claring it  as  my  opinion  that  an  inquiry  into  the  transactions  of 
that  institution,  embracing  the  branches  as  well  as  the  principal 
bank,  was  called  for  by  the  credit  which  was  given  throughout 
the  country  to  many  serious  charges  impeaching  their  character, 
and  which,  if  true,  might  justly  excite  the  apprehension  that  they 
were  no  longer  a  safe  depository  for  the  public  money.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  the  examination,  thus  recommended,  was  gone  into, 
is  spread  upon  your  journals,  and  is  too  well  known  to  require  to 
be  stated.  Such  as  was  made  resulted  in  a  report  from  a  majority 
of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  touching  certain  specified 
points  only,  concluding  with  a  resolution  that  the  Government  de- 
posits might  safely  be  continued  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
This  resolution  was  adopted  at  the  close  of  the  session,  by  the 
vote  of  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Although  I  may  not  always  be  able  to  concur  in  the  views  of 
the  public  interest  or  the  duties  of  its  agents,  which  may  be  taken 
by  the  other  departments  of  the  Government,  or  either  of  its 
branches,  I  am,  notwithstanding,  wholly  incapable  of  receiving, 
otherwise  than  with  the  most  sincere  respect,  all  opinions  or  sug- 
gestions proceeding  from   such  a  source;  and  in  respect  to  none 


670  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

am  I  more  inclined  to  do  so  than  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. But  it  will  be  seen  from  the  brief  views  at  this  time  taken 
of  *the  subject  by  myself,  as  well  as  the  more  ample  ones  presented 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that  the  change  in  the  deposits 
which  has  been  ordei'ed,  has  been  deemed  to  be  called  for  by  con- 
siderations which  are  not  affected  by  the  proceedings  referred  to, 
and  which,  if  correctly  viewed  by  that  Department,  rendered  its 
act  a  matter  of  imperious  duty. 

Coming,  as  you  do,  for  the  most  part,  immediately  from  the 
people  and  the  States,  by  election,  and  possessing  the  fullest  op- 
portunity to  know  their  sentiments,  the  present  Congress  will  be 
sincerely  solicitous  to  carry  into  full  and  fair  effect  the  will  of 
their  constituents  in  regard  to  this  institution.  It  will  be  for  those 
in  whose  behalf  we  all  act,  to  decide  whether  the  Executive  De- 
partment of  the  Government,  in  the  steps  which  it  has  taken  on 
this  subject,  has  been  found  in  the  line  of  its  duty. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  with  the 
documents  annexed  to  it,  exhibits  the  operations  of  the  War 
Department  for  the  past  year,  and  the  condition  of  the  various 
subjects  intrusted  to  its  administration. 

It  will  be  seen  from  them  that  the  army  maintains  the  char- 
acter it  has  heretofore  acquired  for  efficiency  and  military  knowl- 
edge. Nothing  has  occurred  since  your  last  session  to  require  its 
services  beyond  the  ordinary  routine  of  duties,  which  upon  the 
sea-board  and  the  inland  frontier  devolve  upon  it  in  a  time  of 
peace.  The  system,  so  wisely  adopted  and  so  long  pursued,  of 
constructing  fortifications  at  exposed  points,  and  of  preparing 
and  collecting  the  supplies  necessary  for  the  military  defense  of 
the  country,  and  thus  providently  furnishing  in  peace  the  means 
of  defense  in  war,  has  been  continued  with  the  usual  results.  I 
recommend  to  your  consideration  the  various  subjects  suggested 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  Their  adoption  would  pro- 
mote the  public  service,  and  meliorate  the  condition  of  the  army. 

Our  relations  with  the  various  Indian  tribes  have  been  undis- 
turbed since  the  termination  of  the  difficulties  growing  out  of  the 
hostile  aggressions  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians.  Several  treaties 
have  been  formed  for  the  relinquishment  of  territory  to  the 
United  States,  and  for  the  migration  of  the  occupants  to  the 
regions  assigned  for  their  residence  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
Should  these  treaties  be  ratified  by  the  Senate,  provision  will 
have  been  made  for   the  removal  of  almost  all  the  tribes  now 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  671 

remaining  east  of  that  river,  and  for  the  termination  of  many  dif- 
ficult and  embarrassing  questions  arising  out  of  their  anomalous 
political  condition.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  those  portions  of  two 
of  the  southern  tribes,  which  in  that  event  will  present  the  only 
remaining  difficulties,  will  realize  the  necessity  of  emigration,  and 
will  speedily  resort  to  it.  My  original  convictions  upon  this  sub- 
ject have  been  confirmed  by  the  course  of  events  for  several 
years,  and  experience  is  every  day  adding  to  their  strength. 
That  those  tribes  can  not  exist,  surrounded  by  our  settlements, 
and  in  continual  contact  with  our  citizens,  is  certain.  They  have 
neither  the  intelligence,  the  industry,  the  moral  habits,  nor  the 
desire  of  improvement,  which  are  essential  to  any  favorable  change 
in  their  condition.  Established  in  the  midst  of  another^and  a 
superior  race,  and  without  appreciating  the  causes  of  their  infe- 
riority, or  seeking  to  control  them,  they  must  necessarily  yield  to 
the  force  of  circumstances,  and  erelong  disappear.  Such  has 
been  their  fate  heretofore,  and  if  it  is  to  be  averted,  and  it  is,  it 
can  only  be  done  by  a  general  removal  beyond  our  boundary, 
and  by  the  reorganization  of  their  political  system  upon  princi- 
ples adapted  to  the  new  relations  in  which  they  will  be  placed. 
The  experiment  which  has  been  recently  made,  has  so  far  proved 
successful.  The  emigrants  are  generally  represented  to  be  pros- 
perous and  contented,  the  country  suitable  to  their  wants  and 
habits,  and  the  essential  articles  of  subsistence  easily  procured. 
When  the  report  of  the  commissioners  now  engaged  in  investi- 
gating the  condition  and  prospects  of  these  Indians,  and  in  de- 
vising a  plan  for  their  intercourse  and  government,  is  received, 
I  trust  ample  means  of  information  will  be  in  possession  of  the 
Government  for  adjusting  all  the  unsettled  questions  connected 
with  this  interesting  subject. 

The  operations  of  the  navy  during  the  year,  and  its  present 
condition,  are  fully  exhibited  in  the  annual  report  from  the 
Navy  Department. 

Suggestions  are  made  by  the  Secretary,  of  various  improve- 
ments, which  deserve  careful  consideration,  and  most  of  which, 
if  adopted,  bid  fair  to  promote  the  efficiency  of  this  important 
branch  of  the  public  service.  Among  these  are  the  new  organi- 
zation of  the  navy  board,  the  revision  of  the  pay  to  officers,  and 
a  change  in  the  period  of  time,  or  in  the  manner  of  making  the 
annual  appropriations,  to  which  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  particu- 
lar attention. 


672  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  views  which  are  presented  on  almost  every  portion  of  our 
naval  concerns,  and  especially  on  the  amount  of  force  and  the 
number  of  officers,  and  the  general  course  of  policy  appropriate 
in  the  present  state  of  our  country,  for  securing  the  great  and 
useful  purposes  of  naval  protection  in  peace,  and  due  prepara- 
tion for  the  contingencies  of  war,  meet  with  my  entire  approbation. 

It  will  be  perceived,  from  the  report  referred  to,  that  the  fiscal 
concerns  of  the  establishment  are  in  an  excellent  condition;  and 
it  is  hoped  that  Congress  may  feel  disposed  to  make  promptly 
every  suitable  provision  desired,  either  for  preserving  or  improv- 
ing the  system. 

The  General  Post-office  Department  has.  continued,  upon  the 
strength  of  its  own  resources,  to  facilitate  the  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  various  portions  of  the  Union  with 
increased  activity.  The  method,  however,  in  Vv'hich  the  accounts 
of  the  transportation  of  the  mail  have  always  been  kept,  appears 
to  have  presented  an  imperfect  view  of  its  expenses.  It  has  re- 
cently been  discovered  that,  from  the  earliest  records  of  the 
Department,  the  annual  statements  have  been  calculated  to 
exhibit  an  amount  coHsiderably  short  of  the  actual  expenses 
incurred  for  that  service.  These  illusory  statements,  together 
with  the  expense  of  carrying  into  effect  the  law  of  the  last 
session  of  Congress,  establishing  new  mail-routes,  and  a  dispo- 
sition on  the  part  of  the  head  of  the  Department  to  gratify  the 
wishes  of  the  public  in  the  extension  of  mail  facilities,  have 
induced  him  to  incur  responsibilities  for  their  improvement, 
beyond  what  the  current  resources  of  the  Department  would  sus- 
tain. As  soon  as  he  had  discovered  the  imperfection  of  the 
method,  he  caused  an  investigation  to  be  made  of  its  results,  and 
applied  the  proper  remedy  to  correct  the  evil.  It  became  neces- 
sary for  him  to  withdraw  some  of  the  improvements  which  he 
had  made,  to  bring  the  expenses  of  the  Department  Avithin  its 
own  resources.  These  expenses  were  incurred  for  the  public 
good,  and  the  public  have  enjoyed  their  benefit.  They  are  now 
but  partially  suspended,  and  that  where  they  may  be  discon- 
tinued with  the  least  inconvenience  to  the  country. 

The  progressive  increase  in  the  income  from  postages  has 
equaled  the  highest  expectations,  and  it  affords  demonstrative 
evidence  of  the  growing  importance  and  great  utility  of  this 
Department.  The  details  are  exhibited  in  the  accompanying  re- 
port of  the  Postmaster-General. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  673 

The  many  distressing  accidents  which  have,  of  late,  occurred 
in  that  portion  of  our  navigation  carried  on  by  the  use  of  steam 
power,  deserve  the  immediate  and  unremitting  attention  of  the 
constituted  authorities  of  the  country.  The  fact  that  the  number 
of  these  fatal  disasters  is  constantly  increasing,  notwithstanding 
the  great  improvements  which  are  everywhere  made  in  the 
machinery  employed,  and  in  the  rapid  advances  which  have  been 
made  in  that  branch  of  science,  show  very  clearly  that  they  are,  in 
a  great  degree,  the  result  of  criminal  negligence  on  the  part  of 
those  by  whom  the  vessels  are  navigated,  and  to  whose  care  and 
attention  the  lives  and  property  of  our  citizens  are  so  extensively 
intrusted. 

That  these  evils  may  be  greatly  lessened,  if  not  substantially 
removed,  by  means  of  precautionary  and  penal  legislation,  seems 
to  be  highly  probable ;  so  far,  therefore,  as  the  subject  can  be 
regarded  as  within  the  Constitutional  purview  of  Congress,  I  ear- 
nestly recommend  it  to  your  prompt  and  serious  consideration. 

I  would  also  call  your  attention  to  the  views  I  have  hereto- 
fore expressed  of  the  propriety  of  amending  the  Constitution,  in 
relation  to  the  mode  of  electing  the  President  and  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States.  Regarding  it  as  all-important  to  the 
future  quiet  and  harmony  of  the  people,  that  every  intermediate 
agency  in  the  election  of  these  officers  should  be  removed,  and 
that  their  eligibility  should  be  limited  to  one  term  of  either  four 
or  six  years,  I  can  not  too  earnestly  invite  your  consideration  of 
the  subject. 

Trusting  that  your  deliberations  on  all  the  topics  of  general 
interest  to  which  I  have  adverted,  and  such  others  as  your  more 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  our  beloved  country  may 
suggest,  may  be  crowned  with  success,  I  tender  you,  in  con- 
clusion, the  co-operation  which  it  may  be  in  my  power  to  afford 
them. 

The  President  here  presents  his  views  of  the 
Bank,  and  no  power  on  earth  could  have  changed 
him,  no  matter  what  had  been  the  facts.  His  war  on 
the  Bank  had  been  fierce  and  unyielding,  both  from 
personal  and  public  considerations,  and  his  only  regret 
now  was  that  there  was  no  more  he  could  do  against 
it.     The  usual  recommendation  as  to  the  amendment 

43— G 


674  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  the  Constitution  to  do  away  with  the  Electoral  Col- 
lege is  made ;  nor  is  the  single  term  of  four  or  six  years 
for  a  President  neglected.  This  was  called  the  "  Panic 
Session,"  and  was  largely  taken  up  in  quarrels  and 
speeches  that  led  to  quarrels,  and  when  the  end  came 
on  the  last  day  of  June,  1834,  little  had  been  done 
which  was  beneficial  to  the  country.  On  the  4th  of 
December,  the  President  returned  to  Congress  Mr- 
Clay's  land  bill,  which  had  been  retained  at  the  close 
of  the  last  session.  The  practice  of  retaining  bills 
until  the  adjournment  of  Congress  was  peculiar  to 
General  Jackson,  and  this  was  called  his  "pocket 
veto."  The  President  now  fully  displayed  his  reasons 
for  retaining  this  bill,  and  his  objections  to  it.  His 
views  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  public  lands  were 
correct,  and  on  them  the  lands  have  since  been  turned, 
with  satisfaction,  to  actual  settlement. 

Early  in  this  session  the  Senate  passed  a  resolution 
calling  on  the  President  for  a  copy  of  his  18th  of 
September  paper,  read  before  his  Cabinet,  but  he  de- 
clined to  comply  with  this  demand,  or  any  other  giv- 
ing information  as  to  what  occurred  in  his  Cabinet. 
This  resolution  sprang  from  Mr.  Clay,  and  two  things 
should  have  prevented  his  introducing  it;  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  character  of  President  Jackson,  and  the 
privilege  formerly  exerted  by  the  Executive  on  this 
point. 

The  President  sent  to  the  Senate  the  names  of  five 
men  for  confirmation  as  the  Government  directors  of 
the  Bank,  but  they  were  immediately  rejected.  They 
were  again  sent  in,  and  again  rejected.  Andrew  Jack- 
son then  yielded !  and  sent  to  the  Senate  such  names 
as  that  body  saw  fit  to  confirm.     Early  in  the  session 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  675 

a  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  to  censure 
the  President  for  the  removal  of  William  J.  Duane, 
and  the  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  original  form  there  were  two  resolutions,  one 
relating  to  the  case  of  Mr.  Duane  and  the  powers 
assumed  by  the  President  in  dealing  with  the  Bank, 
and  the  other  to  the  reasons  given  for  the  removal  of 
the  deposits,  but  these  were  finally  passed  and  entered 
on  the  Senate  record  in  the  following  form : — 

^'Resolved,  That  the  President,  in  the  late  executive  proceed- 
ings, in  relation  to  the  public  revenue,  has  assumed  upon  himself 
authority  and  power  not  conferred  by  the  Constitution  and  laws, 
but  in  derogation  of  both." 


676  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

THE  BANK  CONFLICT  GOES  ON— FIERCE  STRUGGLE  BE- 
TWEEN THE  PRESIDENT  AND  THE  SENATE- 
SIXTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— QUARREL 
WITH  FRANCE— PUBLIC  DEBT 
LIQUIDATED. 

IN  speaking  of  the  dismissal  of  Mr.  Duane,  and  the 
report  of  the  new  Secretary,  Mr.  Taney,  Mr.  Cal- 
houn said : — 

"The  Senator  from  Kentucky,  in  connection  with  this  part 
of  his  argument,  read  a  striking  passage  from  one  of  the  most 
pleasing  and  instructive  writers  in  any  language  (Plutarch),  the 
description  of  Csesar  forcing  himself,  sword  in  hand,  into  the 
Treasury  of  the  Roman  Commonwealth.  We  are  at  the  same 
stage  of  our  political  revolution,  and  the  analogy  between  the 
two  cases  is  complete,  varied  only  by  the  character  of  the  actors 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  That  was  the  case  of  an  in- 
trepid and  bold  warrior,  as  an  open  plunderer,  seizing  forcibly  the 
Treasury  of  the  country,  which,  in  that  Republic,  as  well  as 
ours,  was  confined  to  the  custody  of  the  legislative  department 
of  the  government.  The  actors  in  our  case  are  of  a  different 
character,  artful,  cunning,  and  corrupt  politicians,  and  not  fear- 
less warriors.  They  have  entered  the  Treasury,  not  sword  in  hand, 
as  public  plunderers,  but,  with  the  false  keys  of  sophistry,  as  pil- 
ferers, under  the  silence  of  midnight.  The  motive  and  the  object 
are  the  same,  varied  in  like  manner  by  circumstances  and  char- 
acter. 'With  money  I  will  get  men,  and  with  men  money,'  was 
the  maxim  of  the  Roman  plunderer.  With  money  we  will  get 
partisans,  with  partisans  votes,  and  with  votes  money,  is  the 
maxim  of  our  public  pilferers.  With  men  and  money  Csesar 
struck  down   Roman   liberty,   at   the   fatal   battle   of  Pharsalia, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  677 

never  to  rise  again;  from  which  disastrous  hour  all  the  powers 
of  the  Roman  Republic  were  consolidated  in  the  person  of  Csesar, 
and  perpetuated  in  his  line.  With  money  and  corrupt  partisans 
a  great  effort  is  now  making  to  choke  and  stifle  the  voice  of 
American  liberty,  through  all  its  natural  organs;  by  corrupting 
the  press;  by  overawing  the  other  departments;  and,  finally,  by 
setting  up  a  new  and  polluted  organ,  composed  of  office-holders 
and  corrupt  partisans,  under  the  name  of  a  National  Convention, 
which,  counterfeiting  the  voice  of  the  people,  will,  if  not  re- 
sisted, in  their  name  dictate  the  succession ;  when  the  deed  will 
be  done,  the  revolution  be  completed,  and  all  the  powers  of  our 
Republic,  in  like  manner,  be  consolidated  in  the  President,  and 
perpetuated  by  his  dictation." 

No  man  who  reads  the  life  of  General  Jackson 
could  think  that  it  was  in  his  nature  not  to  be  exas- 
perated, furious,  over  these  terrible  assaults,  and  in  an 
especial  manner  was  he  incensed  at  Mr.  Clay.  It  is 
said  that  at  this  time  he  raged  with  fury,  and  wished 
to  be  free  from  official  restraint  that  he  might  resort  to 
the  old  beloved  "code"  in  Mr.  Clay's  case.  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  the  Constitutional  defender  of  General 
Jackson,  made  an  able  and  untiring  defense  of  the 
whole  course  of  the  President,  fought  manfully  against 
the  resolution  of  censure,  and  when  it  was  passed,  an- 
nounced his  determination  to  pursue  it  until  it  should 
be  erased  from  the  record  of  the  Senate. 

Hundreds  of  petitions  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
now  were  flowing  into  Congress,  and  letters  of  every 
description  to  the  President  concerning  the  removal 
of  the  deposits.  Three-fourths  of  these  called  for  a 
restoration  of  the  deposits.  Many  of  the  petitions 
were  brought  by  large  and  influential  committees,  and 
the  greatest  excitement  and  consternation  reigned 
everywhere.  Influential  committees  visited  the  Presi- 
dent, whose  petitions  he  commonly  treated  with  perfect 


678  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

contempt,  and  most  generally  in  their  presence  often 
flew  into  a  great  rage,  and  furiously  berated  them. 
His  universal  panacea  offered  for  all  proposed  evils, 
was,  "Go  to  Nicholas  Biddle;  he  has  all  the  money." 
A  childish  whim.  Of  the  petitions  he  was  accustomed 
to  say :  "  If  they  send  ten  thousand  of  them  signed 
by  all  the  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  land,  and 
bearing  the  names  of  all  on  the  grave-stones,  I  will 
not  relax  a  particle  from  my  position."  And  this 
after  all  his  talk  about  the  will  of  the  people !  He 
was  teaching  the  whole  country  the  lesson  that  small 
communities  and  bodies  of  men  had  been  compelled 
to  learn  at  different  times  in  his  life.  It  was  the 
most  noted  case  of  the  will  of  one  man  that  the 
Republic  has  ever  felt.  The  General  was  accustomed 
to  say :  "  I  told  them,  and  I  now  tell  you,  I  never 
will  restore  the  deposits;  I  never  will  re-charter  the 
United  States  Bank,  or  sign  a  charter  for  any  bank  so 
long  as  my  name  is  Andrew  Jackson." 

The  House  appointed  a  committee  to  go  to  Phila- 
delphia, to  investigate  the  books  and  affairs  of  the 
Bank  to  ascertain  if  the  charges  preferred  by  the 
President  were  true.  But  the  Bank  directors  had  had 
enough  of  this  business,  and  resisted  the  course  of  the 
committee.  However,  five  members  of  the  committee 
made  a  report  to  Congress,  in  every  way  unfavorable 
to  the  Bank,  and  asked  the  arrest  of  all  its  directors, 
to  be  brought  before  the  House.  Edward  Everett  and 
W.  W.  Ellsworth,  of  the  committee,  made  a  minority 
report,  in  every  way  justifying  the  course  of  the  Bank 
directors.     Nothing  came  of  this  affair. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1834,  the  President  sent  to 
the  Senate  a  long  protest  against  the  resolution  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  679 

other  acts  of  that  body,  a  proceeding  on  the  part  of 

the  Executive,  hitherto  unknown  in  the  history  of  the 

country.     This  long  message  came  into  the  Senate  as 

a  bomb-shell.     The   annual   message  had  insulted  the 

Senators,  this  protest  enraged  them.     Of  it,  Mr.  George 

Poindexter,  of  Mississippi,  one  of  the  most  respectable 

members  of  the  Senate,  rose  in  his  place,  and  in  great 

excitement,  said  : —  , 

"I  will  not  dignify  this  paper  by  considering  it  in  the  light  of 
an  Executive  message  ;  it  is  no  such  thing.  I  regard  it  simply  as 
a  paper,  with  the  signature  of  Andrew  Jackson ;  and  should  the 
Senate  refuse  to  receive  it,  it  will  not  be  the  first  paper  with  the 
same  signature  which  has  been  refused  a  hearing  in  this  body,  on 
the  ground  of  the  abusive  and  vituperative  language  which  it 
contained.  This  effort  to  denounce  and  overawe  the  deliberations 
of  the  Senate  may  properly  be  regarded  as  capping  the  climax  of 
that  systematic  plan  of  operations  which  had  for  several  years  been 
in  progress,  designed  to  bring  this  body  into  disrepute  among  the 
people,  and  thereby  remove  the  only  existing  barrier  to  the  arbi- 
trary encroachments  and  usurpations  of  Executive  power." 

Mr.  Poindexter  then  moved  that  this  counter-blast 
from  the  Executive  should  not  be  received.  And  the 
Senate  acted  according  to  his  motion  by  the  usual 
majority  of  27  to  20.  So  it  was  not,  as  the  President 
requested,  placed  among  the  records  of  that  body. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  authorship  of  the 
"  Protest,"  perhaps,  an  ill-advised,  but  certainly  a 
wonderful  paper.  But  according  to  the  assertion  of 
Mr.  Benton,  "  the  Senate  had  no  privilege  to  vote  on 
impeachment ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  no  breach  of 
privilege  to  impugn  the  act  which  they  had  no  priv- 
ilege to  commit." 

Not  until  towards  the  end  of  the  session  did  the 
President  send  to  the  Senate  the  names  of  Cabinet 
ministers,   under   his   new   arrangement.     Mr.    Taney 


680  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

was  rejected,  as  has  been  mentioned,  and  Mr.  Forsyth, 
Senator  from  Georgia,  Mahlon  Dickerson,  of  New  Jer- 
sey, and  Mr.  Woodbury  were  confirmed. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  Andrew  Stevenson  resigned  his 
place  as  Speaker  of  the  House,  to  accept  the  nomina- 
tion as  Minister  to  England  ;  but  the  Senate  rejected 
him.  Strangely  enough  after  the  rejection  of  Martin 
Van  Buren,  in  1832,  no  minister  was  sent  to  England, 
Aaron  Vail,  former  Secretary  of  Legation,  having  had 
charge  of  affairs  in  London.  Nor  was  a  minister  ap- 
pointed until  1836,  when  Andrew  Stevenson  was  again 
reappointed  and  confirmed.  The  Senate  had  based  his 
rejection  on  the  belief  that  his  naming  of  committees 
in  the  House,  wholly  favorable  to  the  President,  had 
been  done  with  this  mission  in  view. 

"  An  important  act  respecting  the  coinage  of  the  United  States 
■was  passed  at  this  session.  By  this  law  the  weight  of  the  gold 
eagle  of  the  United  States  was  reduced  twelve  grains,  being  equal 
to  Q6h  cents  less  in  value  than  the  old  coin  of  that  denomination. 
Two  other  acts  were  passed,  regulating  the  value  of  certain  for- 
eign gold  and  silver  coins.  The  object  of  these  several  acts  was 
to  infuse  a  larger  proportion  of  gold  and  silver  into  the  currency 
of  the  United  States  than  had  been  used ;  and  this  became  a 
favorite  project  of  the  President  and  his  supporters  in  the  Cabinet 
and  in  Congress.  Increased  activity  was  given  to  the  mint,  and 
the  display  of  the  new  gold  coin  among  the  people  had  an  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  elections  in  the  different  States,  and  oper- 
ated favorably  to  the  Administration. 

"  Among  the  other  acts  passed  at  this  long  and  arduous  ses- 
sion, those  of  most  general  interest  were  as  follows:  Making  ap- 
propriations for  certain  harbors  and  rivers ;  for  completing  a  road 
from  Memphis  to  Little  Rock,  in  Arkansas;  authorizing  certain 
roads  in  Arkansas ;  aiding  roads  in  Michigan  ;  continuing  the 
Cumberland  Road  ;  appropriations  for  light-houses ;  for  improve- 
ment of  the  Hudson  River  ;  authorizing  the  purchase  of  the  papers 
and  books  of  General  Washington. 

"The  course  of  the  President  with  regard  to  the  Bank  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  681 

United  States,  although  it  was  popular  with  the  mass  of  the  people 
in  some  sections  of  the  country,  caused  a  considerable  diminution 
of  the  strength  of  the  Administration  in  the  commercial  States,  as 
evinced  by  the  elections  in  183-4." 

And  although  for  a  time  General  Jackson's  star 
seemed  to  decline,  and  many  did  actually  leave  the 
Jacksonian  ranks  to  which  they  never  returned,  this 
was  of  but  short  duration.  His  name  had  lost  noth- 
ing by  his  Bank  conflict  among  the  masses  who  could 
appreciate  the  specious  cry  of  "monopoly"  and 
"  money  monster,"  and  soon  it  acquired  its  old  luster. 
Before  the  next  session  of  Congress  the  excitement 
and  the  public  opposition  had  mainly  died  away.  A 
new  sort  of  prosperity,  short-lived  indeed,  took  the 
country  by  storm. 

At  first  hardly  enough  State  banks  could  be  in- 
duced to  take  the  money  to  enable  the  Government  to 
carry  on  the  public  business.  But  an  era  of  inflation 
soon  sprang  up.  The  "pet  banks,"  as  the  deposit 
banks  were  termed,  enlarged  their  business.  Hun- 
dreds of  new  institutions,  on  foundations  of  sand  and 
wind,  sprang  up.  Inflation  was  the  rage  in  every- 
thing. General  Jackson  would  not  charter  any  bank. 
No,  never !  He  was  opposed  to  paper  money  as  he 
was  to  Henry  Clay,  as  he  was  to  anything  op- 
posed to  him.  He  was  unalterably  a  hard-money 
man.  Yet  in  the  next  few  years,  as  the  result  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and 
General  Jackson's  financial  policy,  the  country  was 
flooded  with  worthless  paper  currency.  The  like  had 
never  been  before.  The  calamity  was  yet  to  come. 
And  to  his  unfortunate  financial  meddlings  must  that 
calamity  be  charged,  with  all  the  demoralizing  moral 


682  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

conditions  to  the  country.  The  Bank  never  had  been 
a  power  for  political  corruption,  and  was  only  a  force 
in  politics  when  driven  into  the  struggle  for  life. 

Although  the  destruction  of  the  Bank  was  one  of 
Jackson's  Herculean  feats,  the  history  of  the  whole 
affair  is  not  conducive  to  quietness  of  mind,  nor  in 
the  main,  to  admiration  for  the  hero,  nor  is  it  a  clear 
source  from  which  to  draw  precedents  for  the  admin- 
istration of  republican  government.  Much  of  Presi- 
dent Jackson's  conduct  throughout  this  Bank  conflict 
was  that  of  a  madman.  Among  the  many  delegations 
that  visited  him  on  the  subject  most  distressing  the 
country,  was  one  from  New  York,  headed  by  James 
G.  King.  When  Mr.  King  had  barely  started  in  his 
address,  the  President  stopped  him  and  said: — 

"  Mr.  King,  you  are  the  son  of  Rufus  King,  I 
believe?" 

When  answered  in  the  affirmative  he  broke  out : — 

"  Well,  sir,  Rufus  King  was  always  a  Federalist, 
and  I  suppose  you  take  after  him.  Insolvent!  What 
do  you  come  to  me  for,  then  ?  Go  to  Nicholas  Biddle. 
We  have  no  money  here.  He  has  millions  in  his 
vaults,  and  yet  you  come  to  me  to  save  you  from 
breaking." 

The  Bank  had  a  new  advocate  in  the  person  of 
Henry  A.  Wise,  who  now  first  appeared  in  Congress 
as  the  successor  of  a  still  more  remarkable  and  ec- 
centric character,  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  who 
had  died  the  previous  summer. 

During  this  summer,  as  usual,  General  Jackson 
made  a  visit  to  the  Hermitage,  and  was  received 
everywhere  on  his  journey  with  great  respect.  The 
old  "  hurrah  for  Jackson "  sentiment  was  as  vigorous 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  683 

as  ever.  On  the  first  Monday,  happening  this  time  to 
be  the  first  day  of  December,  1834,  Congress  again 
met  for  the  short  session  ending  March  3d,  1835,  and 
on  the  next  day  the  President  sent  in  his 

SIXTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

December  2,  1S34- 
Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepresentatives  : — 

In  performing  my  duty  at  the  opening  of  your  present  ses- 
sion, it  gives  me  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  again  upon  the 
prosperous  condition  of  our  beloved  country.  Divine  Providence 
has  favored  us  with  general  health,  with  rich  rewards  in  the 
fields  of  agriculture  and  in  every  branch  of  labor,  and  with  peace 
to  cultivate  and  extend  the  various  resources  which  employ  the 
virtue  and  enterprise  of  our  citizens.  Let  us  trust  that  in  sur- 
veying a  scene  so  flattering  to  our  free  institutions,  our  joint 
deliberations  to  preserve  them  may  be  crowned  with  success. 

Our  foreign  relations  continue,  with  but  few  exceptions,  to 
maintain  the  favorable  aspect  which  they  bore  in  my  last  annual 
message,  and  promise  to  extend  those  advantages  which  the  prin- 
ciples that  regulate  our  intercourse  with  other  nations  are  so  well 
calculated  to  secure. 

The  question  of  the  north-eastern  boundary  is  still  pending 
with  Great  Britain,  and  the  proposition  made  in  accordance  with 
the  resolution  of  the  Senate  for  the  establishment  of  a  line  ac- 
cording to  the  treaty  of  1783,  has  not  been  accepted  by  that 
government.  Believing  that  every  disposition  is  felt  on  both 
sides  to  adjust  this  perplexing  question  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
the  parties  interested  in  it,  the  hope  is  yet  indulged  that  it  may 
be  effected  on  the  basis  of  that  proposition. 

"With  the  Governments  of  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  Holland, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark,  the  best  understanding  exists.  Com- 
merce with  all  is  fostered  and  protected  by  reciprocal  good-will, 
under  the  sanction  of  liberal  conventional  or  legal  provisions. 

In  the  midst  of  her  internal  difficulties,  the  queen  of  Spain 
has  ratified  the  convention  for  the  payment  of  the  claims  of  our 
citizens  arising  since  1819.  It  is  in  the  course  of  execution  on 
her  part,  and  a  copy  of  it  is  now  laid  before  you  for  such  legis- 
lation as  may  be  found  necessary  to  enable  those  interested  to 
derive  the  benefits  of  it. 


684  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Yielding  to  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  to  the  wise  coun- 
sels of  time  and  experience,  that  power  has  finally  resolved  no 
longer  to  occupy  the  unnatural  position  in  which  she  stood  to  the 
new  governments  established  in  this  hemisphere.  I  have  the 
great  satisfaction  of  stating  to  you  that,  in  preparing  the  way  for 
the  restoration  of  harmony  between  those  who  have  sprung  from 
the  same  ancestors,  who  are  allied  by  common  interests,  profess 
the  same  religion,  and  speak  the  same  language,  the  United 
States  have  been  actively  instrumental.  Our  efforts  to  effect  this 
good  work  will  be  persevered  in  while  they  are  deemed  useful  to 
the  parties,  and  our  entire  disinterestedness  continues  to  be  felt 
and  understood.  The  act  of  Congress  to  countervail  the  discrim- 
inating duties  levied  to  the  prejudice  of  our  navigation,  in  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico,  has  been  transmitted  to  the  Minister  of  the 
United  States  at  Madrid,  to  be  communicated  to  the  government 
of  the  queen.  No  intelligence  of  its  receipt  has  yet  reached  the 
Department  of  State.  If  the  present  condition  of  the  country 
permits  the  government  to  make  a  careful  and  enlarged  exami- 
nation of  the  true  interests  of  these  important  portions  of  its  domin- 
ions, no  doubt  is  entertained  that  their  future  intercourse  with  the 
United  States  will  be  placed  upon  a  more  just  and  liberal  basis. 

The  Florida  archives  have  not  yet  been  selected  and  delivered. 
Recent  orders  have  been  sent  to  the  agent  of  the  United  States 
at  Havana,  to  return  with  all  that  he  can  obtain,  so  that  they 
may  be  in  Washington  before  the  session  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
to  be  used  in  the  legal  questions  there  pending,  to  which  the 
Government  is  a  party. 

Internal  tranquillity  is  happily  restored  to  Portugal.  The  dis- 
tracted state  of  the  country  rendered  unavoidable  the  postpone- 
ment of  a  final  payment  of  the  just  claims  of  our  citizens.  Our 
diplomatic  relation  will  be  soon  resumed,  and  the  long  subsisting 
friendship  with  that  power  affords  the  strongest  guarantee  that 
the  balance  due  will  receive  prompt  attention. 

The  first  installment  due  under  the  convention '  of  indemnity 
with  the  king  of  the  Two  Sicilies  has  been  duly  received,  and  an 
offer  has  been  made  to  extinguish  the  whole  by  a  prompt  pay- 
ment; an  offer  I  did  not  consider  myself  authorized  to  accept,  as 
the  indemnification  provided  is  the  exclusive  property  of  individ- 
ual citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  original  adjustment  of 
our  claims,  and  the  anxiety  displayed  to  fulfill  at  once  the  stipu- 
lations made  for  the  payment  of  them,  are  highly  honorable  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  685 

the  Government  of  the  Two  Sicilies.  When  it  is  recollected  that 
they  were  the  result  of  the  injustice  of  an  intrusive  power,  tem- 
porarily dominant  in  its  territory,  a  repugnance  to  acknowledge 
and  to  pay  which  would  have  been  neither  unnatural  nor  unex- 
pected, the  circumstances  can  not  fail  to  exalt  its  character  for 
justice  and  good  faith  in  the  eyes  of  all  nations. 

The  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  United  States 
and  Belgium,  brought  to  your  notice  in  my  last  annual  message, 
as  sanctioned  by  the  Senate,  but  the  ratifications  of  which  had  not 
been  exchanged,  owing  to  a  delay  in  its  reception  at  Brussels, 
and  a  subsequent  absence  of  the  Belgian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  has  been,  after  mature  deliberation,  finally  disavowed  by 
that  government  as  inconsistent  with  the  powers  and  instructions 
given  to  their  minister  who  negotiated  it.  This  disavowal  was 
entirely  unexpected,  as  the  liberal  principles  embodied  in  the 
convention,  and  which  form  the  groundwork  of  the  objections  to 
it,  were  perfectly  satisfactory  to  the  Belgian  representative,  and 
were  supposed  to  be  not  only  within  the  powers  granted,  but 
expressly  com  form  able  to  the  instructions  given  to  him.  An 
ofier,  not  yet  accepted,  has  been  made  by  Belgium  to  renew  ne- 
gotiations for  a  treaty  less  liberal  in  its  provisions,  on  questions 
of  general  maritime  law. 

Our  newly  established  relations  with  the  Sublime  Porte  prom- 
ise to  be  useful  to  our  commerce,  and  satisfactory  in  every  respect 
to  this  Government.  Our  intercourse  with  the  Barbary  powers 
continues  without  important  change,  except  that  the  present 
political  state  of  Algiers  has  induced  me  to  terminate  the  resi- 
dence there  of  a  salaried  consul,  and  to  substitute  an  ordinary 
consulate,  to  remain  so  long  as  the  place  continues  in  the  posses- 
sion of  France.  Our  first  treaty  with  one  of  these  powers,  the 
Emperor  of  Morocco,  was  formed  in  1786,  and  was  limited  to  fifty 
years.  That  period  has  almost  expired.  I  shall  take  measures 
to  renew  it  with  the  greater  satisfaction  as  its  stipulations  are 
just  and  liberal,  and  have  been,  with  mutual  fidelity  and  recip- 
rocal advantage,  scrupulously  fulfilled. 

Intestine  dissensions  have  too  freqently  occurred  to  mar  the 
prosperity,  interrupt  the  commerce,  and  distract  the  governments 
of  most  of  the  nations  of  this  hemisphere,  which  have  separated 
themselves  from  Spain.  When  a  firm  and  permanent  under- 
standing with  the  parent  country  shall  have  produced  a  formal 
acknowledgment  of  their  independence,  and  the  idea  of  danger 


686  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

from  that  quarter  can  be  no  longer  entertained,  the  friends  of 
freedom  expect  that  those  countries,  so  favored  by  nature,  will 
be  distinguished  for  their  love  of  justice  and  their  devotion  to 
those  peaceful  arts,  the  assiduous  cultivation  of  which  confers 
honor  upon  nations,  and  gives  value  to  human  life.  In  the 
meantime,  I  confidently  hope  that  the  apprehensions  entertained 
that  some  of  the  people  of  these  luxuriant  regions  may  be 
tempted,  in  a  moment  of  unworthy  distrust  of  their  own  capacity 
for  enjoyment  of  liberty,  to  commit  the  too  common  error  of 
purchasing  present  repose  by  bestowing  on  some  favorite  leaders 
the  fatal  gift  of  irresponsible  power,  will  not  be  realized.  With 
all  these  governments,  and  with  that  of  Brazil,  no  unexpected 
changes  in  our  relations  have  occurred  during  the  present  year. 
Frequent  causes  of  just  complaint  have  arisen  upon  the  part  of 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  sometimes  from  the  irregular 
action  of  the  constituted  subordinate  authorities  of  the  maritime 
regions,  and  sometimes  from  the  leaders  or  partisans  of  those 
in  arms  against  the  established  governments.  In  all  cases, 
representations  have  been  or  will  be  made;  and  as  soon 
as  their  political  affairs  are  in  a  settled  position,  it  is  expected 
that  our  friendly  remonstrances  will  be  followed  by  adequate 
redress. 

The  Government  of  Mexico  made  known,  in  December  last, 
the  appointment  of  commissioners  and  surveyors  on  its  part,  to 
run,  in  conjunction  with  ours,  the  boundary-line  between  its  ter- 
ritories and  the  United  States,  and  excused  the  delay  for  the 
reasons  anticipated — the  prevalence  of  civil  war.  The  commis- 
sioners and  surveyors  not  having  met  within  the  time  stipulated 
by  the  treaty,  a  new  arrangement  became  necessary,  and  our 
charge  d'affaires  was  instructed  in  January  last,  to  negotiate  in 
Mexico  an  article  additional  to  the  pre-existing  treaty.  This  in- 
struction was  acknowledged,  and  no  difficulty  was  apprehended  in 
the  accomplishment  of  that  object.  By  information  just  received, 
that  additional  article  to  the  treaty  will  be  obtained  and  trans- 
mitted to  this  country,  as  soon  as  it  can  receive  the  ratification 
of  the  Mexican  Congress. 

The  reunion  of  the  three  States  of  New  Grenada,  Venezuela, 
and  Ecuador,  forming  the  republic  of  Colombia,  seems  every  day 
to  become  more  improbable.  The  commissioners  of  the  first  two 
are  understood  to  be  now  negotiating  a  just  division  of  the  obli- 
gations contracted  by  them  -when  united  under  one  government. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  687 

The  civil  war  in  Ecuador,  it  is  believed,  has  prevented  even  the 
appointment  of  a  commissioner  on  its  part. 

I  propose,  at  an  early  day,  to  submit,  in  the  proper  form,  the 
appointment  of  a  diplomatic  agent  to  Venezuela;  the  importance 
of  the  commerce  of  that  country  to  the  United  States,-  and  the 
large  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  Government,  arising  before 
and  since  the  division  of  Colombia,  rendering  it,  in  my  judgment, 
improper  longer  to  delay  the  step. 

Our  representatives  to  Central  America,  Peru,  and  Brazil,  are 
either  at,  or  on  their  way,  to  their  respective  posts. 

From  the  Argentine  Republic,  from  which  a  minister  was  ex- 
pected to  this  Government,  nothing  further  has  been  heard. 
Occasion  has  been  taken,  on  the  departure  of  a  new  consul  to 
Buenos  Ayres,  to  remind  that  government  that  its  long-delayed 
minister,  whose  appointment  has  laeen  made  known  to  us,  had 
not  arrived. 

It  becomes  my  unpleasant  duty  to  inform  you  that  this  specific 
and  highly  gratifying  picture  of  our  foreign  relations  does  not  in- 
clude those  with  France  at  this  time.  It  is  not  possible  that  any 
government  and  people  could  be  more  sincerely  desirous  of  con-, 
ciliating  a  just  and  friendly  intercourse  with  another  nation  than 
are  those  of  the  United  States  with  their  ancient  ally  and  friend. 
This  disposition  is  founded,  as  well  on  the  most  grateful  and  hon- 
orable recollections  associated  with  our  struggle  for  independence, 
as  upon  a  well-grounded  conviction  that  it  is  consonant  with  the 
true  policy  of  both.  The  people  of  the  United  States  could  not, 
therefore,  see,  without  the  deepest  regret,  even  a  temporary  inter- 
ruption of  the  friendly  relations  between  the  two  countries — a  re- 
gret which  would,  I  am  sure,  be  greatly  aggravated,  if  there 
should  turn  out  to  be  any  reasonable  ground  foi*  attributing  such 
a  result  to  any  act  of  omission  or  commission  on  our  part.  I  de- 
rive, therefore,  the  highest  satisfaction  from  being  able  to  assure 
you  that  the  whole  course  of  this  Government  has  been  charac- 
terized by  a  spirit  so  conciliatory  and  forbearing,  as  to  make  it 
impossible  that  our  justice  and  moderation  should  be  questioned, 
whatever  may  be  the  consequences  of  a  longer  perseverance,  on 
the  part  of  the  French  Government,  in  her  omission  to  satisfy  the 
conceded  claims  of  our  citizens. 

The  history  of  the  accumulated  and  unprovoked  aggressions 
upon  our  commerce,  committed  by  authority  of  the  existing  gov- 
ernments of  France,  between  the  years  1800  and  1817,  has  been 


688  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

rendered  too  painfully  familiar  to  Americans  to  make  its  repeti- 
tion either  necessary  or  desirable.  It  will  be  sufficient  here  to 
remark  that  there  has  for  many  years  been  scarcely  a  single  Ad- 
ministration of  the  French  Government  by  whom  the  justice  and 
legality  of  the  claims  of  our  citizens  to  indemnity  were  not,  to  a 
very  considerable  extent,  admitted  ;  and  yet  near  a  quarter  of  a 
century  has  been  wasted  in  ineffectual  negotiations  to  secure  it. 

Deeply  sensible  of  the  injurious  effects  resulting  from  this  state 
of  things  upon  the  interests  and  character  of  both  nations,  I  re- 
garded it  as  among  my  first  duties  to  cause  one  more  effort  to  be 
made  to  satisfy  France  that  a  just  and  liberal  settlement  of  our 
'claims  was  as  well  due  to  her  own  honor  as  to  their  incontestable 
validity.  The  negotiation  for  this  purpose  was  commenced  with 
the  late  government  of  France,  and  was  prosecuted  Avith  such 
success  as  to  leave  no  reasonable  ground  to  doubt  that  a  settlement 
of  a  character  quite  as  liberal  as  that  which  was  subsequently 
made,  would  have  been  effected,  had  not  the  revolution,  by  which 
the  negotiation  was  cut  off,  taken  place.  The  discussions  were  re- 
sumed with  the  present  government,  and  the  result  showed  that 
.we  were  not  wrong  in  supposing  that  an  event  by  which  the  two 
governments  were  made  to  approach  each  other  so  much  nearer 
in  their  political  principles,  and  by  which  the  motives  for  the 
most  liberal  and  friendly  intercourse  were  so  greatly  multiplied, 
could  exercise  no  other  than  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  nego- 
tiation. After  the  most  deliberate  and  thorough  examination  of 
the  whole  subject,  a  treaty  between  the  two  governments  was  con- 
cluded and  signed  at  Paris  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  by  which  it 
was  stipulated  that  "  the  French  Government,  in  order  to  liberate 
itself  from  all  the  reclamations  preferred  against  it  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States  for  unlawful  seizures,  captures,  sequestrations, 
confiscations,  or  destruction  of  their  vessels,  cargoes,  or  other 
property,  engages  to  pay  a  sum  of  twenty-five  millions  of  francs 
to  the  United  States,  who  shall  distribute  it  among  those  entitled, 
in  the  manner  and  according  to  the  rules  it  shall  determine ;"  and 
it  Was  also  stipulated,  on  the  part  of  the  French  Government,  that 
this  twenty -five  millions  of  francs  should  *'  be  paid  at  Paris  in  six 
annual  installments  of  four  millions  one  hundred  and  sixty-six 
thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  francs  and  sixty-six  centimes 
each,  into  the  hands  of  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  be  author- 
ized by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  receive  it ;"  the 
first  installment  to  be  paid  "at  the  expiration  of  one  year  next 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  689 

following  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  this  convention,  and 
the  others  at  successive  intervals  of  a  year,  one  after  another,  till 
the  whole  shall  be  paid.  To  the  amount  of  each  of  the  said  in- 
stallments shall  be  added  interest  at  four  per  cent  thereupon,  as 
upon  the  other  installments  then  remaining  unpaid,  the  said  in- 
terest to  be  computed  from  the  day  of  the  exchange  of  the  pres- 
ent convention." 

It  was  also  stipulated,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  purpose  of  being  completely  liberated  from  all  the  reclama- 
tions presented  by  France  on  behalf  of  its  citizens,  that  the  sum 
of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  francs  should  be  paid  to  the 
government  of  France,  in  six  annual  installments,  to  be  deducted 
out  of  the  annual  sums  which  France  had  agreed  to  pay,  interest 
thereupon  being  in  like  manner  computed  from  the  day  of  the 
exchange  of  the  ratifications.  In  addition  to  this  stipulation,  im- 
portant advantages  were  secured  to  France  by  the  following 
articles,  viz.:  "The  wines  of  France,  from  and  after  the  ex- 
change of  the  ratifications  of  the  present  convention,  shall  be  ad- 
mitted to  consumption  in  the  States  of  the  Union,  at  duties  which 
shall  not  exceed  the  following  rates  by  the  gallon  (such  as  is  used 
at  present  for  wines  in  the  United  States) ,  to  wit :  six  cents  for 
red  wines  in  casks ;  ten  cents  for  white  wines  in  casks ;  and 
twenty-two  cents  for  wines  of  all  sorts  in  bottles.  The  propor- 
tions existing  between  the  duties  on  French  wines  thus  reduced, 
and  the  general  rates  of  the  tariff*  which  went  into  operation  the 
first  of  January,  1829,  shall  be  maintained  in  case  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  should  think  proper  to  diminish  those 
general  rates  in  a  new  tariff! 

"In  consideration  of  this  stipulation,  which  shall  be  binding 
on  the  United  States  for  ten  years,  the  French  Government 
abandons  the  reclamations  which  it  had  formed  in  relation  to  the 
eighth  article  of  the  treaty  of  cession  of  Louisiana.  It  en- 
gages, moreover,  to  establish  on  the  long  staple  cottons  of  the 
United  States,  which,  after  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of 
the  present  convention,  shall  be  brought  directly  thence  to  France 
by  the  vessels  of  the  United  States,  or  by  French  vessels,  the 
same  duties  as  on  short  staple  cottons." 

This  treaty  was  duly  ratified  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  the 
constitutions  of  both  countries,  and  the  ratifications  were  ex- 
changed at  the  city  of  Washington  on  the  2d  of  February,  1832. 
On  account  of  its  commercial  stipulations,  it  was,  within  five  days 

44— G 


690  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

thereafter,  laid  before  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which 
proceeded  to  enact  such  laws  favorable  to  the  commerce  of  France 
as  were  necessary  to  carry  it  into  full  execution  ;  and  France  has, 
from  that  period  to  the  present,  been  in  the  unrestricted  enjoy- 
ment of  the  valuable  privileges  that  were  thus  secured  to  her. 
The  faith  of  the  French  nation  having  been  thus  solemnly  pledged, 
through  its  constitutional  organ,  for  the  liquidation  and  ultimate 
payment  of  the  long-deferred  claims  of  our  citizens,  as  also  for 
the  adjustment  of  other  points  of  great  and  reciprocal  benefits  to 
both  countries,  and  the  United  States  having,  with  a  fidelity  and 
promptitude  by  which  their  conduct  will,  I  trust,  be  always  char- 
acterized, done  everything  that  was  necessary  to  carry  the  treaty 
into  full  and  fair  eflfect  on  their  part,  counted,  with  the  most  per- 
fect confidence,  on  equal  fidelity  and  promptitude  on  the  part  of 
the  French  Government.  In  this  reasonable  expectation  we  have 
been,  I  regret  to  inform  you,  wholly  disappointed.  No  legislative 
provision  has  been  made  by  France  for  the  execution  of  the 
treaty,  either  as  it  respects  the  indemnities  to  be  paid,  or  the 
commercial  benefits  to  be  secured  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  that  power,  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  are  placed  in  a  situation  threatening  to  interrupt 
the  good  understanding  which  has  so  long  and  so  happily  existed 
between  the  two  nations. 

Not  only  has  the  French  Government  been  thus  wanting  in 
the  performance  of  the  stipulations  it  has  so  solemnly  entered 
into  with  the  United  States,  but  its  omissions  have  been  marked 
by  circumstances  which  would  seem  to  leave  us  without  satisfac- 
tory evidences  that  such  performance  will  certainly  take  place  at 
a  future  period.  Advice  of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  reached 
Paris  prior  to  the  8th  of  April,  1832.  The  French  Chambers 
were  then  sitting,  and  continued  in  session  until  the  21st  of  that 
month ;  and  although  one  installment  of  the  indemnity  was  pay- 
able on  the  2d  of  February,  1833,  one  year  after  the  exchange 
of  ratifications,  no  application  was  made  to  the  chambers  for  the 
required  appropriation,  and,  in  consequence  of  no  api)ropriation 
having  then  been  made,  the  draft  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment for  that  installment  was  dishonored  by  the  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, and  the  United  States  thereby  involved  in  much  contro- 
versy. The  next  session  of  the  Chambers  commenced  on  the  19th 
of  November,  1832,  and  continued  until  the  25th  of  April,  1833. 
Notwithstanding  the  omission  to  pay  the  first  installment  had  been 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  691 

made  the  subject  of  earnest  remonstrance  on  our  part,  the  treaty 
with  the  United  States,  and  a  bill  making  the  necessary  appro- 
priations to  execute  it,  were  not  laid  before  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  until  the  6th  of  April,  nearly  five  months  after  its 
meeting,  and  only  nineteen  days  before  the  close  of  the  session. 
The  bill  was  read  and  referred  to  a  committee,  but  there  was  no 
further  action  upon  it.  The  next  session  of  the  Chambers  com- 
menced on  the  26th  of  April,  1833,  and  continued  until  the  25th 
of  June  following.  A  new  bill  was  introduced  on  the  11th  of 
June,  but  nothing  important  was  done  in  relation  to  it  during  the 
session.  In  the  month  of  April,  1834,  nearly  three  years  after 
the  signature  of  the  treaty,  the  final  action  of  the  French  Cham- 
bers upon  the  bill  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect  was  obtained, 
and  resulted  in  a  refusal  of  the  necessary  appropriations.  The 
avowed  grounds  upon  which  the  bill  was  rejected,  are  to  be  found 
in  the  published  debates  of  that  body,  and  no  observations  of 
mine  can  be  necessary  to  satisfy  Congress  of  their  utter  insuffi- 
ciency. Although  the  gross  amount  of  the  claims  of  our  citizens 
is  probably  greater  than  will  be  ultimately  allowed  by  the  com- 
missioners, sufiicient  is,  nevertheless,  shown,  to  render  it  absolutely 
certain  that  the  indemnity  falls  far  short  of  the  actual  amount 
of  our  just  claims,  independently  of  the  question  of  damages  and 
interest  for  the  detention.  That  the  settlement  involved  a  sacri- 
fice in  this  respect,  was  well  known  at  the  time — a  sacrifice  which 
was  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  by  the  diflferent  branches  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  whose  action  upon  the  treaty  was  required, 
from  a  sincere  desire  to  avoid  further  collision  upon  tjiis  old  and 
disturbed  subject,  and  in  the  confident  expectation  that  the  gen- 
eral relations  between  the  two  countries  would  be  improved 
thereby. 

The  refusal  to  vote  the  appropriation,  the  news  of  which  was 
received  from  our  Minister  in  Paris,  about  the  15th  day  of  May 
last,  might  have  been  considered  the  final  determination  of  the 
French  Government  not  to  execute  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty, 
and  would  have  justified  an  immediate  communication  of  the  facts 
to  Congress,  with  a  recommendation  of  such  ultimate  measures  as 
the  interest  and  honor  of  the  United  States  might  seem  to  require. 
But  with  the  news  of  the  refusal  of  the  Chambers  to  make  the 
appropriation,  were  conveyed  the  regrets  of  the  king,  and  a  dec- 
laration that  a  national  vessel  should  be  forthwith  sent  out,  with 
instructions  to  the  French  Minister  to  give  the  most  ample  expla- 


692  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

nations  of  the  past,  and  the  strongest  assurances  for  the  future. 
After  a  long  passage,  the  promised  dispatch  vessel  arrived.  The 
pledges  given  by  the  French  Minister,  upon  receipt  of  his  instruc- 
tions, were,  that  as  soon  after  the  election  of  the  new  members  as 
the  charter  would  permit,  the  Legislative  Chambers  of  France 
should  be  called  together,  and  the  proposition  for  an  appropriation 
laid  before  them ;  that  all  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  king  and 
his  cabinet  should  be  exerted  to  accomplish  the  object ;  and  that 
the  result  should  be  made  known  early  enough  to  be  communicated 
to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session.  Kelying 
upon  these  pledges,  and  not  doubting  that  the  acknowledged  jus- 
tice of  our  claims,  the  promised  exertions  of  the  king  and  his 
cabinet,  and  above  all,  that  sacred  regard  for  the  national  faith 
and  honor  for  Which  the  French  character  has  been  so  distin- 
guished, would  secure  an  early  execution  of  the  treaty  in  all  its 
parts,  I  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  call  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress tp  the  subject  at  the  last  session. 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  pledges  made  through  the  Minister  of 
France  have  not  been  redeemed.  The  new  Chambers  met  on 
the  31st  of  July  last,  and  although  the  subject  of  fulfilling  treaties 
was  alluded  to  in  the  speech  from  the  throne,  no  attempt  was 
made  by  the  king  or  his  cabinet  to  procure  an  appropriation  to 
carry  it  into  execution.  The  reasons  given  for  this  omission, 
although  they  might  be  considered  sufficient  in  an  ordinary  case, 
are  not  consistent  with  the  expectations  founded  upon  the  assur- 
ances given  here,  for  there  is  no  constitutional  obstacle  to  enter- 
ing into  legislative  business  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Chambers. 
This  point,  however,  might  have  been  overlooked,  had  not  the 
Chambers,  instead  of  being  called  to  meet  at  so  early  a  day  that 
the  result  of  their  deliberations  might  be  communicated  to  me 
before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  been  prorogued  to  the  29th  of 
the  present  month — a  period  so  late  that  their  decision  can  scarcely 
be  made  known  to  the  present  Congress  prior  to  its  dissolution. 
To  avoid  this  delay,  our  Minister  in  Paris,  in  virtue  of  the  assur- 
ance given  by  the  French  Minister  in  the  United  States,  strongly 
urged  the  convocation  of  the  Chambers  at  an,  earlier  day,  but 
without  success.  It  is  proper  to  remark,  however,  that  this  re- 
fusal has  been  accompanied  with  the  most  positive  assurances,  on 
the  part  of  the  Executive  Government  of  France,  of  their  inten- 
tion to  press  the  appropriation  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the 
Chambers. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  693 

The  Executive  branch  of  this  Government  has,  as  matters 
stand,  exhausted  all  the  authority  upon  the  subject  with  which  it 
is  invested,  and  which  it  had  any  reason  to  believe  could  be 
beneficially  employed. 

The  idea  of  acquiescing  in  the  refusal  to  execute  the  treaty 
will  not,  I  am  confident,  be  for  a  moment  entertained  by  any 
branch  of  this  Government ;  and  further  negotiation  upon  the 
subject  is  equally  out  of  the  question. 

-  If  it  shall  be  the  pleasure  of  Congress  to  await  the  further  ac- 
tion of  the  French  Chambers,  no  further  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject will,  at  this  session,  probably  be  required  at  your  hands. 
But  if,  from  the  original  delay  in  asking  for  an  appropriation; 
from  the  refusal  of  the  Chambers  to  grant  it  when  asked  ;  from 
the  omission  to  bring  the  subject  before  the  Chambers  at  their 
last  session ;  from  the  fact  that,  including  that  session,  there  have 
been  five  diflTerent  occasions  when  the  appropriation  might  have 
been  made ;  and  from  the  delay  in  convoking  the  Chambers  until 
some  weeks  after  the  meeting  of  Congress,  when  it  was  well  known 
that  a  communication  of  the  whole  subject  to  Congress  at  the  last 
session  was  prevented  by  assurances  that  it  should  be  disposed  of 
before  its  present  meeting,  you  should  feel  yourselves  constrained 
to  doubt  whether  it  be  the  intention  of  the  French  Government 
in  all  its  branches,  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect,  and  think  that 
such  measures  as  the  occasion  may  be  deemed  to  call  for  should 
be  now  adopted,  the  important  question  arises,  what  those  meas- 
ures shall  be. 

Our  institutions  are  essentially  pacific.  Peace  and  friendly 
intercourse  with  all  nations  are  as  much  the  desire  of  our  Govern- 
ment as  they  are  the  interest  of  our  people.  But  these  objects 
are  not  to  be  permanently  secured,  by  surrendering  the  rights  ot 
our  citizens,  or  permitting  solemn  treaties  for  their  indemnity,  in 
cases  of  flagrant  wrong,  to  be  abrogated  or  set  aside. 

It  is  undoubtedly  in  the  power  of  Congress  seriously  to  affect 
the  agricultural  and  manufacturing  interests  of  France,  by  the 
passage  of  laws  relating  to  her  trade  with  the  United  States. 
Her  products,  manufactures,  and  tonnage  may  be  subjected  to 
heavy  duties  in  our  ports,  or  all  commercial  intercourse  with  her 
may  be  suspended.  But  there  are  powerful,  and  to  my  mind 
conclusive  objections  to  this  mode  of  proceeding.  We  can  not 
embarrass  or  cut  off  the  trade  of  France,  without  at  the  same 
time,  in  some  degree,  embarrassing  or  cutting  off  our  own  trade. 


694  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  injury  of  such  a  warfare  must  fall,  though  unequally,  upon 
our  own  citizens,  and  could  not  but  impair  the  means  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  weaken  that  united  sentiment  in  support  of  the 
rights  and  honor  of  the  Nation  which  must  now  pervade  every 
bosom.  Nor  is  it  impossible  that  such  a  course  of  legislation 
would  introduce  once  more  into  our  national  councils  those  dis- 
turbing questions  in  relation  to  the  tariff  of  duties  which  have 
been  so  recently  put  to  rest.  Besides,  by  every  measure  adopted 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  with  the  view  of  injur- 
ing France,  the  clear  perception  of  right  which  will  induce  our 
own  people,  and  the  rulers  and  people  of  all  other  nations,  even 
of  France  herself,  to  pronounce  our  quarrel  just,  will  be  obscured, 
and  the  support  rendered  to  us,  in  a  final  resort  to  more  decisive 
measures,  will  be  more  limited  and  equivocal.  There  is  but  one 
point  in  the  controversy,  and  upon  that  the  whole  civilized  world 
must  pronounce  France  to  be  in  the  wrong.  We  insist  that  she 
shall  pay  us  a  sum  of  money,  which  she  has  acknowledged  to  be 
due  ;  and  of  the  justice  of  this  demand  there  can  be  but  one 
opinion  among  mankind.  True  policy  would  seem  to  dictate  that 
the  question  at  issue  should  be  kept  thus  disencumbered,  and  that 
not  the  slightest  pretense  should  be  given  to  France  to  persist  in 
her  refusal  to  make  payment,  by  any  act  on  our  part  affecting 
the  interests  of  her  people.  The  question  should  be  left  as  it  is 
now,  in  such  an  attitude  that,  when  France  fulfills  her  treaty 
stipulations,  all  controversy  will  be  at  an  end. 

It  is  my  conviction  that  the  United  States  ought  to  insist  on  a 
prompt  execution  of  the  treaty,  and  in  case  it  be  refused,  or  longer 
delayed,  take  redress  into  their  own  hands.  After  the  delay  on 
the  part  of  France,  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  in  acknowledging 
these  claims  by  treaty,  it  is  not  to  be  tolerated  that  another  quarter 
of  a  century  is  to  be  wasted  in  negotiating  about  the  payment. 
The  laws  of  nations  provide  a  remedy  for  such  occasions.  It  is  a 
well-settled  principle  of  the  international  code,  that  where  one 
nation  owes  another  a  liquidated  debt,  which  it  refuses  or  neglects 
to  pay,  the  aggrieved  party  may  seize  on  the  property  belonging 
to  the  other,  its  citizens  or  subjects,  sufficient  to  pay  the  debt, 
without  giving  just  cause  of  war.  This  remedy  has  been  repeat- 
edly resorted  to,  and  recently  by  France  herself  toward  Portugal, 
under  circumstances  less  unquestionable. 

The  time  at  which  resort  should  be  had  to  this,  or  any  other 
mode  of  redress,  is  a  point  to  be  decided  by  Congress.     If  an 


ANDKEW  JACKSON.  G95 

appropriation  shall  not  be  made  by  the  French  Chambers  at  their 
next  session,  it  may  justly  be  concluded  that  the  Government  of 
France  has  finally  determined  to  disregard  its  own  solemn  under- 
taking, and  refuse  to  pay  an  acknowledged  debt.  In  that  event, 
every  day's  delay  on  our  part  will  be  a  stain  upon  our  national 
honor,  as  well  as  a  denial  of  justice  to  our  injured  citizens. 
Prompt  measures,  when  the  refusal  of  France  shall  be  complete, 
will  not  only  be  most  honorable  and  just,  but  will  have  the  best 
effect  upon  our  national  character. 

Since  France,  in  violation  of  the  pledges  given  through  her 
minister  here,  has  delayed  her  final  action  so  long  that  her  de- 
cision will  not  probably  be  known  in  time  to  be  communicated  to 
this  Congress,  I  recommend  that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing  re- 
prisals upon  French  property,  in  case  provision  shall  not  be  made 
for  the  payment  of  the  debt  at  the  approaching  session  of  the 
French  Chambers.  Such  a  measure  ought  not  to  be  considered 
by  France  as  a  menace.  Her  pride  and  power  are  too  well  known 
to  expect  anything  from  her  fears,  and  preclude  the  necessity  of 
a  declaration  that  nothing  partaking  of  the  character  of  intimida- 
tion is  intended  by  us.  She  ought  to  look  upon  it  only  as  the 
evidence  of  an  inflexible  determination  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  to  insist  on  their  rights.  That  government,  by  doing  only 
what  it  has  itself  acknowledged  to  be  just,  will  be  able  to  spare 
the  United  States  the  necessity  of  taking  redress  into  their  own 
hands,  and  save  the  property  of  French  citizens  from  that  seizure 
and  sequestration  which  American  citizens  so  long  endured  with- 
out retaliation  or  redress.  If  she  should  continue  to  refuse  that 
act  of  acknowledged  justice,  and,  in  violation  of  the  law  of  na- 
tions, make  reprisals  on  our  part  the  occasion  of  hostilities  against 
the  United  States,  she  would  but  add  violence  to  injustice,  and 
could  not  fail  to  expose  herself  to  the  just  censure  of  civilized 
nations,  and  to  the  retributive  judgments  of  Heaven. 

Collision  with  France  is  the  more  to  be  regretted,  on  account 
of  the  position  she  occupies  in  Europe  in  relation  to  liberal  insti- 
tutions. But,  in  maintaining  our  national  rights  and  honor,  all 
governments  are  alike  to  us.  If,  by  a  collision  with  France,  in  a 
case  where  she  is  clearly  in  the  wrong,  the  march  of  liberal  prin- 
ciples shall  be  impeded,  the  responsibility  for  that  result,  as  well 
as  every  other,  will  rest  on  her  own  head. 

Having  submitted  these  considerations,  it  belongs  to  Congress 
to  decide  whether,  after  what  has  taken  plaee,  it  will  still  await 


696  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  further  action  of  the  French  Chambers,  or  now  adopt  such 
provisional  measures  as  it  may  deem  necessary,  and  best  adapted 
to  protect  the  rights  and  maintain  the  honor  of  the  country. 
Whatever  that  decision  may  be,  it  will  be  faithfully  enforced  by 
the  Executive,  as  far  as  he  is  authorized  so  to  do. 

According  to  the  estimates  of  the  Treasury  Department,  the 
revenue  accruing  from  all  sources,  during  the  present  year,  will 
amount  to  twenty  millions  six  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars,  which,  with  the  balance  re- 
maining in  the  Treasury  on  the  1st  of  January  last,  eleven  millions 
seven  hundred  and  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  five  dollars, 
produces  an  aggregate  of  thirty-two  millions  three  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars.  The 
total  expenditure  during  the  year  for  all  objects,  including  the 
public  debt,  is  estimated  at  twenty-five  millions  five  hundred  and 
ninety-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety  dollars,  which  will 
leave  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  on  the  1st  of  January,  1835,  of 
six  millions  seven  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  two  hundred 
and  thirty-two  dollars.  In  this  balance,  however,  will  be  included 
about  one  million  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  what 
was  heretofore  reported  by  the  Department  as  not  effective. 

Of  former  appropriations  it  is  estimated  that  there  will  remain 
unexpended  at  the  close  of  the  year,  eight  millions  and  two  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  and  that  of  this  sum 
there  will  not  be  required  more  than  five  millions  one  hundred 
and  forty-one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-four  dollars,  to  ac- 
complish the  objects  of  all  the  current  appropriations.  Thus  it 
appears  that,  after  satisfying  all  those  appropriations,  and  after 
discharging  the  last  item  of  our  public  debt,  which  will  be  done 
on  the  1st  of  January  next,  there  will  remain  unexpended  in  the 
Treasury  an  effective  balance  of  about  four  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  dollars.  That  such  should  be  the  aspect  of  our  finances, 
is  highly  flattering  to  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  our  popula- 
tion, and  auspicious  of  the  wealth  and  prosperity  which  await  the 
future  cultivation  of  their  growing  resources.  It  is  not  deemed 
prudent,  however,  to  recommend  any  change  for  the  present  in 
our  impost  rates,  the  effect  of  the  gradual  reduction  now  in  pro- 
gress in  many  of  them  not  being  sufficiently  tested  to  guide  us 
in  determining  the  precise  amount  of  revenue  which  they  will 
produce. 

Free  from  public  debt,  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  with 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  697 

no  complicated  interest  to  consult  in  our  intercourse  with  foreign 
powers,  the  present  may  be  hailed  as  that  epoch  in  our  history 
the  most  favorable  for  the  settlement  of  those  principles  in  our 
domestic  policy  which  shall  be  best  calculated  to  give  stability  to 
our  republic,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  freedom  to  our  citizens. 
Among  these  principles,  from  our  past  experience  it  can  not  be 
doubted  that  simplicity  in  the  character  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, and  a  rigid  economy  in  its  administration,  should  be  re- 
garded as  fundamental  and  sacred.  All  must  be  sensible  that  the 
existence  of  the  public  debt,  by  rendering  taxation  necessary  for 
its  extinguishment,  has  increased  the  difficulties  which  are  insepa- 
rable from  every  exercise  of  the  taxing  power ;  and  that  it  was,  in 
this  respect,  a  remote  agent  in  producing  those  disturbing  ques- 
tions which  grew  out  of  the  discussions  relating  to  the  tariff.  If 
such  has  been  the  tendency  of  a  debt  incurred  in  the  acquisition 
and  maintenance  of  our  national  rights  and  liberties,  the  obliga- 
tions of  which  all  portions  of  the  Union  cheerfully  acknowledged, 
it  must  be  obvious  that  whatever  is  calculated  to  increase  the 
burdens  of  Government  without  necessity,  must  be  fatal  to  all  our 
hopes  of  preserving  its  true  character.  While  we  are  felicitating 
ourselves,  therefore,  upon  the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt, 
and  the  prosperous  state  of  our  finances,  let  us  not  be  tempted  to 
depart  from  those  sound  maxims  of  public  policy  which  enjoin  a 
just  adaptation  of  the  revenue  to  the  expenditures  that  are  con- 
sistent with  a  rigid  economy,  and  an  entire  abstinence  from  all  topics 
of  legislation  that  are  not  clearly  within  the  Constitutional  powers 
of  the  Government,  and  suggested  by  the  wants  of  the  country. 
Properly  regarded  under  such  a  policy,  every  diminution  of  the 
public  burdens,  arising  from  taxation,  gives  to  individual  enter- 
prise increased  power,  and  furnishes  to  all  the  members  of  our 
happy  confederacy  new  motives  for  patriotic  affection  and  sup- 
port. But,  above  all,  its  most  important  effect  will  be  found  in 
its  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  Government,  by  coufiuiug 
its  action  to  those  objects  which  will  be  sure  to  secure  to  it  the 
attachment  and  support  of  our  fellow-citizeus. 

Circumstances  make  it  my  duty  to  call  the  attention  of  Con- 
gress to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Created  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  Government,  that  institution  has  become  the 
scourge  of  the  people.  Its  interference  to  postpone  the  payment 
of  a  portion  of  the  national  debt,  that  it  might  retain  the  public 
money  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  to  strengthen  it  in  a  polit- 


698  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

ical  contest;  the  extraordinary  extension  and  contraction  of  its 
accommodations  to  the  community  ;  its  corrupt  and  partisan  loans; 
its  exclusion  of  the  public  directors  from  a  knowledge  of  its  most 
important  proceedings;  the  unlimited  authority  conferred  on  the 
president  to  expend  its  funds  in  hiring  writers,  and  procuring  the 
execution  of  printing,  and  the  use  made  of  that  authority ;  the 
retention  of  the  pension  money  and  books  after  the  selection  of 
new  agents;  the  groundless  claim  to  heavy  damages,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  protest  of  the  bill  drawn  on  the  French  Govern- 
ment, have,  through  various  channels,  been  laid  before  Congress. 
Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  last  session,  the  Bank,  through 
its  president,  announced  its  ability  and  readiness  to  abandon  the 
system  of  unparalleled  curtailment,  and  the  interruption  of  do- 
mestic exchanges,  which  it  had  practiced  upon  from  the  1st  of 
August,  1833,  to  the  30th  of  June,  1834,  and  to  extend  its  ac- 
commodations to  the  community.  The  grounds  assumed  in  this 
renunciation  amounted  to  an  acknowledgment  that  the  curtail- 
ment, in  the  extent  to  which  it  had  been  carried,  was  not  neces- 
sary to  the  safety  of  the  Bank,  and  had  been  persisted  in  merely 
to  induce  Congress  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the  Bank  in  its  memo- 
rial relative  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  and  to  give  it  a  new 
charter.  They  were  substantially  a  confession  that  all  the  real 
distresses  which  individuals  and  the  country  had  endured  for  the 
preceding  six  or  eight  months  had  been  needlessly  produced  by 
it,  with  the  view  of  affecting,  through  the  sufferings  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  legislative  action  of  Congress.  It  is  a  subject  of  con- 
gratulation that  Congress  and  the  country  had  the  virtue  and 
firmness  to  bear  the  affliction;  that  the  energies  of  our  people 
soon  found  relief  from  this  wanton  tyranny,  in  vast  importations 
of  the  precious  metals  from  almost  every  part  of  the  world ;  aud 
that,  at  the  close  of  this  tremendous  effort  to  control  our  Gov- 
ernment, the  Bank  found  itself  powerless,  and  no  longer  able  to 
loan  out  its  surplus  means.  The  community  had  learned  to 
manage  its  affairs  without  its  assistance,  and  trade  had  already 
found  new  auxiliaries;  so  that,  on  the  1st  of  October  last,  the 
extraordinary  spectacle  was  presented  of  a  national  bank,  more 
than  one-half  of  whose  capital  was  either  lying  unproductive  in 
its  vaults,  or  in  the  hands  of  foreign  bankers. 

To  the  needless  distresses  brought  on  the  country  during  the 
last  session  of  Congress  has  since  been  added  the  open  seizure  of 
the  dividends  on  the  public  stock,  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  699 

and  seventy  thousand  and  forty-one  dollars,  under  pretense  of 
paying  damages,  cost,  and  interest,  upon  the  protested  French 
bill.  This  sum  constituted  a  portion  of  the  estimated  revenues  for 
the  year  1834,  upon  which  the  appropriations  made  by  Congress 
were  based.  It  would  as  soon  have  been  expected  that  our  -col- 
lectors would  seize  on  the  customs,  or  the  receivers  of  our  land 
offices  on  the  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  under 
pretenses  of  claims  against  the  United  States,  as  that  the  Bank 
would  have  retained  the  dividends.  Indeed,  if  the  principle  be 
established  that  any  one  who  chooses  to  set  up  a  claim  against 
the  United  States  may,  without  authority  of  law,  seize  on  the 
public  property  or  money  wherever  he  can  find  it,  to  pay  the 
claim,  there  will  remain  no  assurance  that  our  revenue  will  reach 
the  Treasury,  or  that  it  will  be  applied  after  the  appropriation  to 
the  purposes  designated  in  the  law.  The  paymasters  of  our 
army  and  the  pursers  of  our  navy  may,  under  like  pretenses, 
apply  to  their  own  use  moneys  appropriated  to  set  in  motion  the 
public  force,  and  in  time  of  war  leave  the  country  without  de- 
fense. This  measure  resorted  to  by  the  Bank  is  disorganizing 
and  revolutionary,  and,  if  generally  resorted  to  by  private  citi- 
zens in  like  cases,  would  fill  the  land  with  anarchy  and  violence. 
It  is  a  Constitutional  provision,  that  "no  money  shall  be 
drawn  from  the  Treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations 
made  by  law."  The  palpable  object  of  this  provision  is  to  pre- 
vent the  expenditure  of  the  public  money  for  any  purpose  what- 
soever, which  shall  not  have  been  first  approved  by  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people  and  the  States  in  Congress  assembled.  It 
vests  the  power  of  declaring  for  what  purpose  the  public  money 
shall  be  expended  in  the  Legislative  Department  of  the  Govern- 
ment, to  the  exclusion  of  the  Executive  and  Judicial,  and  it  is 
not  within  the  Constitutional  authority  of  either  of  those  de- 
partments to  pay  it  away  without  law,  or  to  sanction  its  pay- 
ment. According  to  this  plain  Constitutional  provision,  the 
claim  of  the  Bank  can  never  be  paid  without  an  appropriation 
by  act  of  Congress.  But  the  Bank  has  never  asked  for  an  ap- 
propriation. It  attempts  to  defeat  the  provisions  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  obtain  payment  without  an  act  of  Congress.  Instead 
of  awaiting  an  appropriation  passed  by  both  Houses,  and  ap- 
proved by  the  President,  it  makes  an  appropriation  for  itself,  and 
invites  an  appeal  to  the  Judiciary  to  sanction  it.  That  the 
money  has  not  technically  been  paid  into  the  Treasury,  does  not 


700  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

affect  the  principle  intended  to  be  established  by  the  Constitution. 
The  Exective  and  Judiciary  have  as  little  right  to  appropriate 
and  expend  the  public  money  without  authority  or  law,  before  it 
is  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  Treasurer,  as  to  take  it  from  the 
Treasury.  In  the  annual  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, and  in  his  correspondence  with  the  president  of  the  Bank, 
and  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  accompanying  it,  you 
will  find  a  further  examination  of  the  claim  of  the  Bank,  and  the 
course  it  has  pursued. 

It  seems  due  to  the  safety  of  the  public  funds  remaining  in 
that  Bank,  and  to  the  honor  of  the  American  people,  that  meas- 
ures be  taken  to  separate  the  Government  entirely  from  an  in- 
stitution so  mischievous  to  the  public  prosperity,  and  so  regard- 
less of  the  Constitution  and  laws.  By  transferring  the  public 
deposits,  by  appointing  other  pension  agents,  as  far  as  it  had  the 
power,  by  ordering  the  discontinuance  of  the  receipt  of  Bank 
checks  in  payment  of  the  public  dues  after  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
nuary  next,  the  Executive  has  exerted  all  its  lawful  authority  to 
sever  the  connection  between  the  Government  and  this  faithless 
corporation. 

The  high-handed  career  of  this  institution  imposes  upon  the 
Constitutional  functionaries  of  this  Government,  duties  of  the 
gravest  and  most  imperative  character,  duties  which  they  can  not 
avoid,  and  from  which  I  trust  there  will  be  no  inclination  on  the 
part  of  any  of  them  to  shrink.  My  own  sense  of  them  is  most 
clear,  as  is  also  my  readiness  to  discharge  those  which  may  right- 
fully fall  on  me.  To  continue  any  business  relations  with  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  that  may  be  avoided  without  a  vio- 
lation of  the  national  faith,  after  that  institution  has  set  at  open 
defiance  the  conceded  right  of  the  Government  to  examine  its 
affairs;  after  it  has  done  all  in  its  power  to  deride  the  public 
authority  in  other  respects,  and  to  bring  it  into  disrepute  at  home 
and  abroad ;  after  it  has  attempted  to  defeat  the  clearly  expressed 
will  of  the  people,  by  turning  against  them  the  immense  power 
intrusted  to  its  hands,  and  by  involving  a  country  otherwise 
peaceful,  flourishing,  and  happy,  in  dissension,  embarrassment, 
and  distress;  would  make  the  Nation  itself  a  party  to  the  degra- 
dation so  sedulously  prepared  for  its  public  agents,  and  do  much 
to  destroy  the  confidence  of  mankind  in  popular  governments, 
and  to  bring  into  contempt  their  authority  and  eflSciency.  In 
guarding  against  an  evil  of  such   magnitude,  considerations   of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  701 

temporary  convenience  should  be  thrown  out  of  the  question,  and 
•we  should  be  influenced  by  such  motives  only  as  look  to  the  honor 
and  preservation  of  the  republican  system.  Deeply  and  solemnly 
impressed  with  the  justice  of  these  views,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  recommend  to  you  that  a  law  be  passed  authorizing  the  sale 
of  the  public  stocK ;  that  the  provisions  of  the  charter  requiring 
the  receipt  of  notes  of  the  Bank  in  payment  of  public  dues, 
shall,  in  accordance  with  the  power  reserved  to  Congress  in  the 
fourteenth  section  of  the  charter,  be  suspended  until  the  Bank 
pays  to  the  Treasury  the  dividends  withheld ;  and  that  all  laws 
connecting  the  Government  or  its  ofiicers  with  the  Bank,  directly 
or  indirectly,  be  repealed  ;  and  that  the  institution  be  left  here- 
after to  its  own  resources  and  means. 

Events  have  satisfied  my  mind,  and  I  think  the  minds  of  the 
American  people,  that  the  mischiefs  and  dangers  which  flow  from 
a  national  bank  far  overbalance  all  its  advantages.  The  bold 
effort  the  present  Bank  has  made  to  control  the  Government, 
the  distresses  it  has  wantonly  produced,  the  violence  of  which  it 
has  been  the  occasion  in  one  of  our  cities  famed  for  its  observ- 
ance of  law  and  order,  are  but  premonitions  of  the  fate  which 
awaits  the  American  people,  should  they  be  deluded  into  a  per- 
petuation of  this  institution,  or  the  establishment  of  another  like 
it.  It  is  fervently  hoped  that,  thus  admonished,  those  who  have 
heretofore  favored  the  establishment  of  a  substitute  for  the  pres- 
ent Bank,  will  be  induced  to  abandon  it,  as  it  is  evidently 
better  to  incur  any  inconvenience  that  may  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected, than  to  concentrate  the  whole  moneyed  power  of  the 
Eepublic,  in  any  form  whatsoever,  under  any  restrictions. 

Happily,  it  is  already  illustrated  that  the  agency  of  such  an 
institution  is  not  necessary  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  State  banks  are  found  fully  adequate  to  the  per- 
formance of  all  services  which  were  required  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  quite  as  promptly  and  with  the  same  cheapness. 
They  have  maintained  themselves,  and  discharged  all  these 
duties,  while  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  still  powerful, 
and  in  the  field  as  an  open  enemy ;  and  it  is  not  possible  to  con- 
ceive that  they  will  find  greater  diflftculties  in  their  operations 
when  that  enemy  shall  cease  to  exist. 

The  attention  of  Congress  is  earnestly  invited  to  the  regulation 
of  the  deposits  in  the  State  banks  by  law.  Although  the  power 
now  exercised  by  the  Executive  Department  in  this  behalf,  is 


702  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

only  such  as  was  uniformly  exerted  through  every  Adminis- 
tration, from  the  origin  of  the  Government  up  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  present  Bank,  yet  it  is  one  which  is  susceptible 
of  regulation  by  law,  and  therefore  ought  so  to  be  regulated. 
The  power  of  Congress  to  direct  in  what  places  the  Treasurer 
shall  keep  the  moneys  in  the  Treasury,  and  to  impose  restric- 
tions upon  the  Executive  authority  in  relation  to  their  custody 
and  removal,  is  unlimited,  and  its  exercise  will  rather  be  courted 
than  discouraged  by  those  public  officers  and  agents  on  whom 
rests  the  responsibility  for  their  safety.  It  is  desirable  that  as 
little  power  as  possible  should  be  left  to  the  President  or  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  over  those  institutions  which,  being  thus 
freed  from  Executive  influence,  and  without  a  common  head  to 
direct  their  operations,  would  have  neither  the  temptation  nor  the 
ability  to  interfere  in  the  political  conflicts  of  the  country.  Not 
deriving  their  charters  from  the  national  authorities,  they  would 
never  have  those  inducements  to  meddle  in  general  elections 
which  have  led  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  agitate  and 
convulse  the  country  for  upward  of  two  years. 

The  progress  of  our  gold  coinage  is  creditable  to  the  officers 
of  the  mint,  and  promises  in  a  short  period  to  furnish  the  coun- 
try with  a  sound  and  portable  currency,  which  will  much  diminish 
the  inconvenience  to  travelers  of  the  want  of  a  general  paper 
currency,  should  the  State  banks  be  incapable  of  furnishing  it. 
Those  institutions  have  already  shown  themselves  competent  to 
purchase  and  furnish  domestic  exchange  for  the  convenience  of 
trade,  at  reasonable  rates,  and  not  a  doubt  is  entertained  that  in 
a  short  period,  all  the  wants  of  the  country,  in  bank  accommo- 
dations and  in  exchange,  will  be  supplied  as  promptly  and 
cheaply  as  they  have  heretofore  been  by  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  If  the  several  States  shall  be  induced  gradually  to 
reform  their  banking  systems,  and  prohibit  the  issue  of  all  small 
notes,  we  shall,  in  a  few  years,  have  a  currency  as  sound,  and  as 
little  liable  to  fluctuations,  as  any  other  commercial  country. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  together  with  accompa- 
nying documents  from  the  several  bureaus  of  that  Department, 
will  exhibit  the  situation  of  the  various  objects  committed  to  its 
administration. 

No  event  has  occurred  since  your  last  session,  rendering 
necessary  any  movements  of  the  army,  with  the  exception  of  the 
expedition  of  the  regiment  of  dragoons  into  the  territory  of  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  703 

■wandering  and  predatory  tribes  inhabiting  the  western  frontier, 
and  living  adjacent  to  the  Mexican  boundary.  These  tribes  have 
been  heretofore  known  to  us  principally  by  their  attacks  upon 
our  own  citizens,  and  upon  other  Indians  entitled  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  United  States.  It  became  necessary  for  the  peace  of 
the  frontiers,  to  check  these  habitual  inroads,  and  I  am  happy  to 
inform  you  that  the  object  has  been  effected  without  the  commis- 
sion of  any  act  of  hostility.  Colonel  Dodge  and  the  troops 
under  his  command  have  acted  with  equal  firmness  and  human- 
ity, and  an  arrangement  has  been  made  with  those  Indians, 
which  it  is  hoped  will  insure  their  permanent  pacific  relations 
with  the  United  States,  and, the  other  tribes  of  Indians  upon 
that  border. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  prevalence  of  sickness  in  that 
quarter  has  deprived  the  country  of  a  number  of  valuable  lives, 
and  particularly  that  of  General  Leavenworth,  an  officer  well 
known  and  esteemed  for  his  gallant  services  during  the  late  war, 
and  for  subsequent  good  conduct,  who  has  fallen  a  victim  to  his 
zeal  and  exertions  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

The  army  is  in  a  high  state  of  discipline.  Its  moral  condi- 
tion, so  far  as  that  is  known  here,  is  good,  and  the  various 
branches  of  the  public  service  are  carefully  attended  to.  It  is 
amply  sufficient,  under  its  present  organization,  for  providing  the 
necessary  garrisons  for  the  sea-board,  and  for  the  defense  of  the 
internal  frontier,  and  also  for  preserving  the  elements  of  military 
knowledge,  and  for  keeping  pace  with  those  improvements  which 
modern  experience  is  continually  making.  And  these  objects 
appear  to  me  to  embrace  all  the  legitimate  purposes  for  which  a 
permanent  military  force  should  be  maintained  in  our  country. 
The  lessons  of  history  teach  us  its  danger,  and  the  tendency 
which  exists  to  an  increase.  This  can  be  best  met  and  averted 
by  a  just  caution  on  the  part  of  the  public  itself,  and  of  those 
who  represent  them  in  Congress. 

From  the  duties  which  devolve  on  the  Engineer  Department, 
and  upon  the  topographical  engineers,  a  different  organization 
seems  to  be  demanded  by  the  public  interest,  and  I  recommend 
the  subject  to  your  consideration. 

No  important  change  has,  during  this  season,  taken  place  in 
the  condition  of  the  Indians.  Arrangements  are  in  progress  for 
the  removal  of  the  Creeks,  and  will  soon  be  for  the  removal  of 
the  Seminoles.     I  regret  that  the  Cherokees  east  of  the  Mississippi 


704  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

have  not  yet  determined  as  a  community  to  remove.  How  long 
the  personal  causes  which  have  hitherto  retarded  that  ultimately 
inevitable  measure  will  continue  to  operate,  I  am  unable  to  con- 
jecture. It  is  certain,  however,  that  delay  will  bring  with  it  ac- 
cumulated evils,  which  will  render  their  condition  more  and  more 
unpleasant.  The  experience  of  every  year  adds  to  the  conviction 
that  emigration,  and  that  alone,  can  preserve  from  destruction 
the  remnant  of  tribes  yet  living  among  us.  The  facility  with 
which  the  necessaries  of  life  are  procured,  and  the  treaty  stipula- 
tions providing  aid  for  the  emigrant  Indians  in  their  agricultural 
pursuits  and  in  the  important  concern  of  education,  and  their  re- 
moval from  those  causes  which  havg  heretofore  depressed  all,  and 
destroyed  many  of  the  tribes,  can  not  fail  to  stimulate  their  exer- 
tions, and  to  reward  their  industry. 

The  two  laws  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  Indian  affairs,  have  been  carried  into  effect,  and  de- 
tailed instructions  for  their  administration  have  been  given.  It 
will  be  seen  by  the  estimates  for  the  present  session,  that  a  great 
reduction  will  take  place  in  the  expenditures  of  the  Department 
in  consequence  of  these  laws.  And  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  their  operation  will  be  salutary,  and  that  the  colonization  of 
the  Indian  on  the  western  frontier,  together  with  a  judicious  sys- 
tem of  administration,  will  stiU  further  reduce  the  expenses  of 
this  branch  of  the  public  service,  and  at  the  same  time  promote 
its  usefulness  and  efficiency. 

Circumstances  have  been  recently  developed,  showing  the  ex- 
istence of  extensive  frauds  under  the  various  laws  granting  pen- 
sions and  gi'atuities  for  Revolutionary  services.  It  is  impossible  to 
estimate  the  amount  which  may  have  been  thus  fraudulently  ob- 
tained from  the  National  Treasury.  I  am  satisfied,  however,  that 
it  has  been  such  as  to  justify  a  re-examination  of  the  system,  and 
the  adoption  of  the  necessary  checks  in  its  administration.  All 
will  agree  that  the  services  and  sufferings  of  the  remnant  of  our 
Revolutionary  baud  should  be  fully  compensated;  but  while  this 
is  done,  every  proper  precaution  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the 
admission  of  fabricated  and  fraudulent  claims.  In  the  present 
mode  of  proceeding,  the  attestations  and  certificates  of  judicial 
officers  of  the  various  States  form  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
checks  which  are  interposed  against  the  commission  of  frauds. 
These,  however,  have  been  and  may  be  fabricated,  and  in  such  a 
way  as  to  elude  detection  at  the  examining  offices ;  and  iudepend- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  705 

ently  of  this  practical  difficulty,  it  is  ascertained  that  these 
documents  are  often  loosely  granted ;  sometimes  even  blank  cer- 
tificates have  been  issued ;  sometimes  prepared  papers  have  been 
signed  without  inquiry ;  and  in  one  instance,  at  least,  the  seal  of 
the  court  has  been  within  reach  of  a  person  most  interested  in  its 
improper  application.  It  is  obvious  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, no  severity  of  administration  can  check  the  abuse  of  the 
law ;  and  information  has  from  time  to  time  been  communicated 
to  the  pension  office,  questioning  or  denying  the  right  of  persons 
placed  upon  the  pension  list  to  the  bounty  of  the  country.  Such 
cautions  are  always  attended  to,  and  examined,  but  a  far  more 
general  investigation  is  called  for ;  and  I  therefore  recommend,  in 
conformity  with  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  that  an 
actual  inspection  should  be  made  in  each  State,  into  the  circum- 
stances and  claims  of  every  person  now  drawing  a  pension.  The 
honest  veteran  has  nothing  to  fear  from  such  a  scrutiny,  while  the 
fraudulent  claimant  will  be  detected,  and  the  public  treasury  re- 
lieved to  an  amount,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  far  greater  than 
has  heretofore  been  suspected.  The  details  of  such  a  plan  could 
be  so  regulated  as  to  interpose  the  necessary  checks  without  any 
burdensome  operation  upon  the  pensioners.  The  object  should  be 
twofold : — 

1.  To  look  into  the  original  justice  of  the  claims,  so  far  as  this 
can  be  done  under  a  proper  system  of  regulations,  by  an  exami- 
nation of  the  claimants  themselves,  and  by  inquiring  in  the  vicinity 
of  their  residence  into  their  history,  and  into  the  opinion  enter- 
tained of  their  Kevolutionary  services. 

2.  To  ascertain,  in  all  cases,  whether  the  original  claimant  is 
living,  and  this  by  actual  personal  inspection. 

This  measure  will,  if  adopted,  be  productive,  I  think,  of  the 
desired  results,  and  I  therefore  recommend  it  to  your  consideration, 
with  the  further  suggestion,  that  all  payments  should  be  suspended 
till  the  necessary  reports  are  received. 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  tabular  statement  annexed  to  the  docu- 
ments transmitted  to  Congress,  that  the  appropriations  for  objects 
connected  with  the  War  Department,  made  at  the  last  session, 
for  the  service  of  the  year  1834,  excluding  the  permanent  appro- 
priation for  the  payment  of  military  gratuities  under  the  act  of 
June  7,  1832,  the  appropriation  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  arming  and  equipping  the  militia,  and  the  appropriation  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians,  which  are  not 

45— H 


706  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

annually  renewed,  amounted  to  the  sum  of  nine  millions  three 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars,  and  that  the  estimates 
of  appropriations  necessary  for  the  same  branches  of  service  for 
the  year  1835,  amount  to  the  sum  of  five  millions  seven  hundred 
and  seventj'-eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-four  dollars, 
making  a  difference  in  the  appropriations  of  the  current  year  over 
the  estimates  of  the  appropriations  for  the  next,  of  three  millions 
two  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  dollars. 

The  principal  causes  which  have  operated  at  this  time  to  pro- 
duce this  great  difference,  are  shown  in  the  reports  and  documents 
and  in  the  detailed  estimates.  Some  of  these  causes  are  accidental 
and  temporary,  while  others  are  permanent,  and,  aided  by  a  just 
course  of  administration,  may  continue  to  operate  beneficially 
upon  the  public  expenditures. 

A  just  economy,  expending  where  the  public  service  requires, 
and  withholding  where  it  does  not,  is  among  the  indispensable 
duties  of  the  Government. 

I  refer  you  to  the  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  to  the  documents  Avith  it,  for  a  full  view  of  the  opera- 
tions of  that  important  branch  of  our  service  during  the  present 
year.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  wisdom  and  liberality  with  which 
Congress  have  provided  for  the  gradual  increase  of  our  navy  ma- 
terial, have  been  seconded  by  a  corresponding  zeal  and  fidelity  on 
the  part  of  those  to  whom  has  been  confided  the  execution  of  the 
laws  on  the  subject ;  and  that  but  a  short  period  would  be  now  re- 
quired to  put  in  commission  a  force  large  enough  for  any  exigency 
into  which  the  country  may  be  thrown. 

When  we  reflect  upon  our  position  in  relation  to  other  nations, 
it  must  be  apparent  that,  in  the  event  of  conflicts  with  them,  we 
must  look  chiefly  to  our  navy  for  the  protection  of  our  national 
rights.  The  wide  seas  which  separate  us  from  other  governments, 
must  of  necessity  be  the  theater  on  which  an  enemy  will  aim  to 
assail  us,  and  unless  we  are  prepared  to  meet  him  on  his  element, 
we  can  not  be  said  to  possess  the  power  requisite  to  repel  or  pre- 
vent aggressions.  We  can  not,  therefore,  watch  with  too  much 
attention  this  arm  of  our  defense,  or  cherish  with  too  much  care 
the  means  by  which  it  can  possess  the  necessary  efficiency  and 
extension.  To  this  end  our  policy  has  been  heretofore  wisely 
directed  to  the  constant  employment  of  a  force  suflficient  to  guard 
our  commerce,  and  to  the  rapid  accumulation    of  the   materials 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  •  707 

which  are  necessary  to  repair  our  vessels,  and  construct  with  ease 
such  new  ones  as  may  be  required  in  a  state  of  war. 

In  accordance  with  this  policy,  I  recommend  to  your  consid- 
eration the  erection  of  the  additional  dry-dock  described  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  also  the  construction  of  the  steam 
batteries  to  which  he  has  referred,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  their 
efficiency  as  auxiliaries  to  the  system  of  defense  now  in  use. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General,  herewith  submitted, 
exhibits  the  condition  and  prospects  of  that  Department.  From 
that  document  it  appears  that  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  funds  of 
the  Department,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  year,  be- 
yond its  available  means,  of  three  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  ninety-nine  dollars  and  ninety-eight  cents, 
which,  on  the  1st  of  July  last,  had  been  reduced  to  two  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  thousand  and  ninety-two  dollars  and  seventy-four 
cents.  It  appears,  also,  that  the  revenues  for  the  coming  year 
will  exceed  the  expenditures  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  thou- 
sand dollars,  which,  with  the  excess  of  the  revenue  which  will  re- 
sult from  the  operations  of  the  current  half-year,  may  be  expected, 
independently  of  any  increase  in  the  gross  amount  of  postages,  to 
supply  the  entire  deficit  before  the  end  of  1835.  But  as  this  cal- 
culation is  based  on  the  gross  amount  of  postages  which  have 
accrued  within  the  period  embraced  by  the  times  of  striking  the 
balances,  it  is  obvious  that,  without  a  progressive  increase  in  the 
amount  of  postages,  the  existing  retrenchments  must  be  perse- 
vered in  through  the  year  1836,  that  the  Department  may  ac- 
cumulate a  surplus  fund  sufficient  to  place  it  in  a  condition  of 
perfect  ease. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  revenues  of  the  Post-office  Depart- 
ment, though  they  have  increased,  and  their  amount  is  above  that 
of  any  former  year,  have  yet  fallen  short  of  the  estimates  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  is  attributed,  in  a  great 
degree,  to  the  increase  of  free  letters  growing  out  of  the  exten- 
sion and  abuse  of  the  franking  privilege.  There  has  been  a 
gradual  increase  in  the  number  of  executive  officers  to  which  it 
has  been  granted;  and  by  an  act  passed  in  March,  1833,  it  was 
extended  to  members  of  Congress  throughout  the  whole  year.  It 
is  believed  that  a  revision  of  the  laws  relative  to  the  franking 
privilege,  with  some  enactments  to  enforce  more  rigidly  the  re- 
strictions under  which  it  is  granted,  would  operate  beneficially  to 
the  country,  by  enabling  the  Department  at  an  early  period  to 


708  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

restore  the  mail  facilities  which  have  been  withdrawn,  and  to  ex- 
tend them  more  widely,  as  the  growing  settlement  of  the  country- 
may  require. 

To  a  measure  so  important  to  the  Government,  and  so  just  to 
our  constituents,  who  ask  no  exclusive  privileges  for  themselves, 
and  are  not  willing  to  concede  them  to  others,  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend the  serious  attention  of  Congress. 

The  importance  of  the  Post-office  Department,  and  the  magni- 
tude to  which  it  has  grown,  both  in  its  revenues  and  in  its  opera- 
tions, seem  to  demand  its  reorganisation  by  law.  The  whole  of 
its  receipts  and  disbursements  have  hitherto  been  left  entirely  to 
executive  control  and  individual  discretion.  The  principle  is  as 
sound  in  relation  to  this  as  to  any  other  Department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, that  as  little  discretion  should  be  confided  to  the  execu- 
tive officer  who  controls  it  as  is  compatible  with  its  efficiency. 
It  is  therefore  earnestly  recommended  that  it  be  organized  with 
an  auditor  and  treasury  of  its  own,  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate,  who  shall  be  branches  of  the  Treasury  Department. 

Your  attention  is  again  respectfully  invited  to  the  defect  which 
exists  in  the  judicial  system  of  the  United  States.  Nothing  can 
be  more  desirable  than  the  uniform  operation  of  the  Federal 
judiciary  throughout  the  several  States,  all  of  which,  standing  on 
the  same  footing  as  members  of  the  Union,  have  equal  rights  to 
the  advantages  and  benefits  resulting  from  its  laws.  This  object 
is  not  attained  by  the  judicial  acts  now  in  force,  because  they 
leave  one-fourth  of  the  States  without  circuit  courts. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  duty  of  Congress  to  place  all  the  States 
on  the  same  footing  in  this  respect,  either  by  the  creation  of  an 
additional  number  of  associate  judges,  or  by  an  enlargement  of 
the  circuits  assigned  to  those  already  appointed,  so  as  to  include 
the  new  States.  Whatever  may  be  the  difficulty  in  a  proper  or- 
ganization of  the  judicial  system,  so  as  to  secure  its  efficiency  and 
uniformity  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  at  the  same  time  to  avoid 
such  an  increase  of  judges  as  would  encumber  the  supreme  appel- 
late tribunal,  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  weigh  against  the  great 
injustice  which  the  present  operation  of  the  system  produces. 

I  trust  that  I  may  be  also  pardoned  for  renewing  the  recom- 
mendations I  have  so  often  submitted  to  your  attention,  in  regard 
to  the  mode  of  electing  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States.  All  the  reflection  I  have  been  able  to  bestow 
upon  the  subject  increases  my   conviction  that  the  best  interests 


ANDREW  JACKSON,  709 

of  the  country  will  be  promoted  by  the  adoption  of  some  plan 
which  will  secure,  in  all  contingencies,  that  important  right  of 
sovereignty  to  the  direct  control  of  the  people.  Could  this  be  at- 
tained, and  the  terras  of  those  officers  be  limited  to  a  single  period 
of  either  four  or  six  years,  I  think  our  liberties  would  possess  an 
additional  safeguard. 

At  your  last  session  I  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
destruction  of  the  public  building  occupied  by  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. As  the  public  interest  requires  that  another  building 
should  be  erected  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  it  is  hoped  that 
the  means  will  be  seasonably  provided,  and  that  they  will  be  ample 
enough  to  authorize  such  an  enlargement  and  improvement  in  the 
plan  of  the  building  as  will  more  effectually  accommodate  the 
public  officers,  and  secure  the  public  documents  deposited  in  it 
■  from  the  casualties  of  fire. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  that  the  bill  entitled 
"An  act  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Wabash  River,"  which 
was  sent  to  me  at  the  close  of  your  last  session,  ought  to  pass,  and 
I  have  therefore  withheld  from  it  my  approval,  and  now  return 
it  to  the  Senate,  the  body  in  which  it  originated. 

There  can  be  no  question  connected  with  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  more  important,  or  more  difficult  to  be  satisfac- 
torily dealt  with,  than  that  which  relates  to  the  rightful  author- 
ity and  proper  action  of  the  Federal  Government  upon  the 
subject  of  internal  improvements.  To  inherent  embarrassments 
have  been  added  others  resulting  from  the  course  of  our  legisla- 
tion concerning  it. 

I  have  heretofore  communicated  freely  with  Congress  upon 
this  subject,  and,  in  adverting  to  it  again,  I  can  not  refrain  from 
expressing  my  increased  conviction  of  its  extreme  importance,  as 
well  in  regard  to  its  bearing  upon  the  maintenance  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  the  prudent  management  of  the  public  revenue, 
as  on  account  of  its  disturbing  effect  upon  the  harmony  of  the 
Union. 

We  are  in  no  danger  from  violations  of  the  Constitution,  by 
which  encroachments  are  made  upon  the  personal  rights  of  the 
citizens.  The  sentence  of  condemnation  long  since  pronounced 
by  the  American  people  upon  acts  of  that  character,  will,  I 
doubt  not,  continue  to  prove  as  salutary  in  its  effects  as  it  is  irre- 
versible in  its  nature.  But  against  the  dangers  of  unconstitu- 
tional acts  which,  instead  of  menacing  the  vengeance  of  offended 


710  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

authority,  proffer  local  advantages,  and  bring  in  their  train  the 
patronage  of  the  Government,  we  are,  I  fear,  not  so  safe.  To 
suppose  that,  because  our  Government  has  been  instituted  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people,  it  must  therefore  have  the  power  to  do 
whatever  may  seem  to  conduce  to  the  public  good,  is  an  error 
into  which  even  honest  minds  are  loo  apt  to  fall.  In  yielding 
themselves  to  this  fallacy,  they  overlook  the  great  considerations 
in  which  the  Federal  Constitution  was  founded.  They  forget  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  conceded  diversities  in  the  interest  and 
condition  of  the  different  States,  it  was  foreseen,  at  the  period  of 
its  adoption,  that,  although  a  particular  measure  of  the  Govern- 
ment might  be  beneficial  and  proper  in  one  State,  it  might  be 
the  reverse  in  another;  that  it  was  for  this  reason  the  States 
would  not  consent  to  make  a  grant  to  the  Federal  Government 
of  the  general  and  usual  powers  of  government,  but  of  such  only 
as  were,  specifically  enumerated,  and  the  probable  effects  of  which 
they  could,  as  they  thought,  safely  anticipate;  and  they  forget 
also  the  paramount  obligation  upon  all  to  abide  by  the  compact, 
then  so  solemnly,  and,  as  it  was  hoped,  so  firmly  established.  In 
addition  to  the  dangers  to  the  Constitution  springing  from  the 
sources  I  have  stated,  there  has  been  one  which  was  perhaps 
greater  than  all.  I  allude  to  the  materials  which  this  subject  has 
afforded  for  sinister  appeals  to  selfish  feelings,  and  the  opinion 
heretofore  so  extensively  entertained  of  its  adaptation  to  the  pur- 
poses of  personal  ambition.  With  such  stimulants,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  acts  and  pretensions  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, in  this  behalf,  should  sometimes  have  been  carried  to  an 
alarming  extent.  The  questions  which  have  arisen  upon  this 
subject  have  related: — 

1.  To  the  power  of  making  internal  improvements  within  the 
limits  of  a  State,  with  the  right  of  territorial  jurisdiction,  suffi- 
cient at  least  for  their  preservation  and  use; 

2.  To  the  right  of  appropriating  money  in  aid  of  such  works 
when  carried  on  by  a  State,  or  by  a  company  in  virtue  of  State 
authority,  surrendering  the  claim  of  jurisdiction ;  and, 

3.  To  the  propriety  of  appropriations  for  improvements  of  a 
particular  class;  viz.,  for  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  public 
piers,  and  for  the  removal  of  sand-bars,  sawyers,  and  other  tem- 
porary and  partial  impediments  in  our  navigable  rivers  and 
harbors. 

The  claims  of  power  for  the  General  Government  upon  each 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  711 

of  these  points  certainly  present  matter  of  the  deepest  interest. 
The  first  is,  however,  of  much  the  greatest  importance,  inasmuch 
as,  in  addition  to  the  dangers  of  unequal  and  improvident  expen- 
ditures of  public  moneys,  common  to  all,  there  is  superadded 
to  that  the  conflicting  jurisdictions  of  the  respective  govern- 
ments. Federal  jurisdiction,  at  least  to  the  extent  I  have  stated, 
has  been  justly  regarded  by  its  advocates  as  necessarily  appurte- 
nant to  the  power  in  question,  if  that  exists  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. That  the  most  injurious  conflicts  would  unavoidably  arise 
between  the  respective  jurisdictions  of  the  State  and  Federal 
Governments,  in  the  absence  of  a  Constitutional  provision  mark- 
ing out  their  respective  boundaries,  can  not  be  doubted.  The 
local  advantages  to  be  obtained  would  induce  the  States  to  over- 
look in  the  beginning  the  dangers  and  difficulties  to  which  they 
might  ultimately  be  exposed.  The  powers  exercised  by  the  Fed- 
eral Government  would  soon  be  regarded  with  jealousy  by  the 
State  authorities,  and  originating,  as  they  must,  from  implication 
or  assumption,  it  would  be  impossible  to  affix  to  them  certain 
and  safe  limits.  Opportunities  and  temptations  to  the  assumption 
of  power  incompatible  with  State  sovereignty,  would  be  increased, 
and  those  barriers  which  resist  the  tendency  of  our  system  toward 
consolidation,  greatly  weakened.  The  officers  and  agents  of  the 
General  Government  might  not  always  have  the  discretion  to 
abstain  from  intermeddling  with  State  concerns ;  and  if  they  did, 
they  would  not  ahvays  escape  the  suspicion  of  having  done  so. 
Collisions  and  consequent  irritations  would  spring  up;  that  har- 
mony which  should  ever  exist  between  the  General  Government 
and  each  member  of  the  Confederacy,  would  be  frequently  inter- 
rupted; a  spirit  of  contention  would  be  engendered;  and  the 
dangers  of  division  greatly  multiplied. 

Yet  we  all  know  that,  notwithstanding  these  grave  objections, 
this  dangerous  doctrine  was  at  one  time,  apparently,  proceeding 
to  its  final  establishment  with  fearful  rapidity.  The  desire  to 
embark  the  Federal  Government  in  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment prevailed,  in  the  highest  degree,  dujing  the  first  session  of 
the  first  Congress  that  I  had  the  honor  to  meet  in  my  present 
situation.  When  the  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States  for  stock  in  the  Maysville  and  Lexington 
Turnpike  Company,  passed  the  two  Houses,  there  had  been 
reported  by  the  Committees  on  Internal  Improvements,  bills  con- 
taining appropriations  for  such  objects,  exclusive  of  those  for  the 


712  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Cnmberland  Road,  and  for  harbors  and  light-houses,  to  the 
amount  of  about  one  hundred  and  six  millions  of  dollars.  In 
this  amount  was  included  authority  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  subscribe  for  the  stock  of  different  companies  to  a 
great  extent,  and  the  residue  was  principally  for  the  direct  con- 
struction of  roads  by  this  Government.  In  addition  to  these 
projects,  which  have  been  presented  to  the  two  Houses  under  the 
sanction  and  recommendation  of  their  respective  Committees  on 
Internal  Improvements,  there  were  then  still  pending  before  the 
committees,  and  in  memorials  to  Congress,  presented  but  not 
referred,  different  projects  for  works  of  a  similar  character,  the 
expense  of  which  can  not  be  estimated  with  certainty,  but  must 
have  exceeded  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

Regarding  the  bill  authorizing  a  subscription  to  the  stock  of 
the  Maysville  and  Lexington  Turnpike  Company  as  the  entering 
wedge  of  a  system  which,  however  weak  at  first,  might  soon 
become  strong  enough  to  rive  the  bands  of  the  Union  asunder; 
and  believing  that,  if  its  passage  was  acquiesced  in  by  the  Exec- 
utive and  the  people,  there  Avould  no  longer  be  any  limitation 
upon  the  authority  of  the  General  Government  in  respect  to  the 
appropriation  of  money  for  such  objects,  I  deemed  it  an  impera- 
tive duty  to  withhold  from  it  the  Executive  approval.  Although, 
from  the  obviously  local  character  of  that  work,  I  might  well 
have  contented  myself  with  a  refusal  to  approve  the  bill  upon 
that  ground,  yet,  sensible  of  the  vital  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  anxious  that  my  views  and  opinions  in  regard  to  the  whole 
matter  should  be  fully  understood  by  Congress,  and  by  my  con- 
stituents, I  felt  it  my  duty  to  go  further.  I  therefore  embraced 
that  early  occasion  to  apprise  Congress  that,  in  my  opinion,  the 
Constitution  did  not  confer  upon  it  the  power  to  authorize  the 
construction  of  ordinary  roads  and  canals  within  the  limits  of  a 
State,  and  to  say,  respectfully,  that  no  bill  admitting  such  a 
poAver  could  receive  my  official  sanction.  I  did  so  in  the  confi- 
dent expectation  that  the  speedy  settlement  of  the  public  mind 
upon  the  whole  subject  would  be  greatly  facilitated  by  the  differ- 
ence between  the  two  Houses  and  myself,  and  that  the  harmo- 
nious action  of  the  several  departments  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  regai'd  to  it  would  be  ultimately  secured. 

So  far,  at  least,  as  it  regards  this  branch  of  the  subject,  my 
best  hopes  have  been  realized.  Nearly  four  years  have  elapsed, 
and  several  sessions  of  Congress  have  intervened,  and  no  attempt 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  713 

•within  niT  recollection  has  been  made  to  induce  Congress  to  ex- 
ercise this  power.  The  applications  for  the  Construction  of  roads 
and  canals,  which  were  formerly  multiplied  upon  your  files,  are 
no  longer  presented;  and  we  have  good  reason  to  infer  that 
the  current  of  public  sentiment  has  become  so  decided  against 
the  pretension  as  effectually  to  discourage  its  reassertion.  So 
thinking,  I  derive  the  greatest  satisfaction  from  the  conviction 
that  thus  much  at  least  has  been  secured  upon  this  important 
and  embarrassing  subject. 

From  attempts  to  appropriate  the  national  funds  to  objects 
which  are  confessedly  of  a  local  character,  we  can  not,  I  trust, 
have  anything  further  to  apprehend.  My  views  in  regard  to  the 
expediency  of  making  appropriations  for  works  which  are  claimed 
to  be  of  a  national  character,  and  prosecuted  under  State  au- 
thority, assuming  that  Congress  have  the  right  to  do  so,  were 
stated  in  my  annual  message  to  Congress  in  1830,  and  also  in 
that  containing  my  objections  to  the  Maysville  Road  Bill. 

So  thoroughly  convinced  am  I  that  no  such  appropriations 
ought  to  be  made  by  Congress,  until  a  suitable  Constitutional  pro- 
vision is  made  upon  the  subject,  and  so  essential  do  I  regard  the 
point  to  the  highest  interests  of  our  country,  that  I  could  not 
consider  myself  as  discharging  my  duty  to  my  constituents  in  giv- 
ing the  executive  sanction  to  any  bill  containing  such  an  appro- 
priation. If  the  people  of  the  United  States  desire  that  the  pub- 
lic treasury  shall  be  resorted  to  for  the  means  to  prosecute  such 
works,  they  will  concur  in  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
prescribing  a  rule  by  which  the  national  character  of  the  works  is 
to  be  tested,  and  by  which  the  greatest  practicable  equality  of 
benefits  may  be  secured  to  each  member  of  the  confederacy.  The 
eflPects  of  such  a  regulation  would  be  most  salutary  in  preventing 
unprofitable  expenditures,  in  securing  our  legislation  from  the 
pernicious  consequences  of  a  scramble  for  the  favors  of  Govern- 
ment, and  in  repressing  the  spirit  of  discontent  which  must  in- 
evitably arise  from  an  unequal  distribution  of  treasures  which 
belong  alike  to  all. 

There  is  another  class  of  appropriations  for  what  may  be  called, 
without  impropriety,  internal  improvements,  which  have  always 
been  regarded  as  standing  upon  different  grounds  from  those  to 
which  I  have  referred.  I  allude  to  such  as  have  for  their  object 
the  improvement  of  our  harbors,  the  removal  of  partial  and  tem- 
porary obstructions  in  our  navigable  rivers,  for  the  facility  and 


714  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

security  of  our  foreign  commerce.  The  grounds  upon  which  I 
distinguished  appropriations  of  this  character  from  others  have 
already  been  stated  to  Congress.  I  will  now  only  add  that,  at 
the  first  session  of  Congress  under  the  new  Constitution,  it  was 
provided  by  law,  that  all  expenses  which  should  accrue  from  and 
after  the  15th  day  of  August,  1789,  in  the  necessary  support  and 
maintenance  and  repairs  of  all  light-houses,  beacons,  buoys,  and 
public  piers,  erected,  placed,  or  sunk,  before  the  passage  of  the 
act,  within  any  bay,  inlet,  harbor,  or  port  of  the  United  States, 
for  rendering  the  navigation  thereof  easy  and  safe,  should  be  de- 
frayed out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  further, 
that  it  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  provide 
by  contracts,  with  the  approbation  of  the  President,  for  rebuilding 
when  necessary  and  keeping  in  good  repair  the  light-houses,  bea- 
cons, buoys,  and  public  piers,  in  the  several  States,  and  for  fur- 
nishing them  with  supplies.  Appropriations  for  similar  objects 
have  been  continued  from  that  time  to  the  present  without  inter- 
ruption or  dispute.  As  a  natural  consequence  of  the  increase  and 
extension  of  our  foreign  commerce,  ports  of  entry  and  delivery 
have  been  multiplied  and  established,  not  only  upon  our  sea-board, 
but  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  upon  our  lakes  and  navigable 
rivers.  The  convenience  and  safety  of  this  commerce  have  led  to 
the  gradual  extension  of  these  expenditures ;  to  the  erection  of 
light-houses,  the  placing,  planting,  and  sinking  of  buoys,  beacons, 
and  piers,  and  to  the  removal  of  partial  and  temporary  obstruc- 
tions in  our  navigable  rivers,  and  the  harbors  upon  our  great 
lakes,  as  well  as  on  the  sea-board.  Although  I  expressed  to  Con- 
gress my  apprehension  that  these  expenditures  have  sometimes 
been  extravagant  and  disproportionate  to  the  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  them,  I  have  not  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  refuse  my 
assent  to  bills  containing  them,  and  have  contented  myself  to  fol- 
low, in  this  respect,  in  the  footsteps  of  all  my  predecessors.  Sen- 
sible, however,  from  experience  and  observation,  of  the  great 
abuses  to  which  the  unrestricted  exercise  of  this  authority  by 
Congress  was  exposed,  I  have  prescribed  a  limitation  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  my  own  conduct,  by  which  expenditures  of  this 
character  are  confined  to  places  below  the  ports  of  entry  or  deliv- 
ery established  by  law.  I  am  very  sensible  that  this  restriction 
is  not  as  satisfactory  as  could  be  desired,  and  that  much  embar- 
rassment may  be  caused  to  the  Executive  Department  in  its 
execution,  by  appropriations  for  remote  and  not  well-understoud 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  715 

objects.  But  as  neither  my  own  reflections,  nor  the  lights  which 
I  may  properly  derive  from  other  sources,  have  supplied  me  with 
a  better,  I  shall  continue  to  apply  my  best  exertions  to  a  faitliful 
application  of  the  rule  upon  which  it  is  founded.  I  sincerely  re- 
gret that  I  could  not  give  my  assent  to  the  bill  entitled  "An  act 
to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Tf'abash  River ;"  but  I  could  not 
have  done  so  without  receding  from  the  ground  which  I  have,  upon 
the  fullest  consideration,  taken  upon  this  subject,  and  of  Avhich 
Congress  has  been  heretofore  apprised,  and  without  throwing  the 
subject  again  open  to  abuses  which  no  good  citizen,  entertaining 
my  opinions,  could  desire. 

I  rely  upon  the  intelligence  and  candor  of  my  fellow-citizens, 
in  whose  liberal  indulgence  I  have  already  so  largely  participated, 
for  a  correct  appreciation  of  my  motives  in  interposing,  as  I  have 
done,  on  this,  and  other  occasions,  checks  to  a  course  of  legisla- 
tion which,  without,  in  the  slightest  degree,  calling  in  question 
the  motives  of  others,  I  consider  as  sanctioning  improper  and  un- 
constitutional expenditures  of  public  treasure. 

I  am  not  hostile  to  internal  improvements,  and  wish  to  see 
them  extended  to  every  part  of  the  country.  But  I  am  fully 
persuaded  if  they  are  not  commenced  iu  a  proper  manner,  con- 
fined to  proper  objects,  and  conducted  under  an  authority  gener- 
ally conceded  to  be  rightful,  that  a  successful  prosecution  of  them 
can  not  be  reasonably  expected.  The  attempt  will  meet  with  re- 
sistance where  it  might  otherwise  receive  support ;  and  instead  of 
strengthening  the  bonds  of  our  confederacy,  it  will  only  multiply 
and  aggravate  the  'causes  of  disunion. 

This  is  a  fine  message,  and  maintains  well  the 
usually  high  standard  of  the  American  executive 
papers.  The  most  important  subject  in  the  message  is 
the  relations  with  France,  which  the  President  fully 
and  clearly  states.  The  main  points  of  the  difficulty 
are  readily  seen  from  this  statement.  The  spoliations 
on  our  commerce  began  under  the  Administration  of 
John  Adams,  and  were  especially  aggravated  and  ex- 
tended under  the  following  Administrations.  In  1806 
and  1807  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan,  by  order 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  to  counteract  the  influence  of 


716  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  equally  prejudicial  British  "  orders  in  Council," 
nearly  paralyzed  the  maritime  trade  of  this  country. 
The  war  of  1812,  and  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  cor- 
rected the  evil  with  England,  but  no  attempt  at  re- 
covery of  damages  had  ever  been  successful  with 
France,  although  negotiations  on  the  subject  had  been 
maintained  through  every  Administration.  At  last  in 
1831,  Wm.  C.  Rives,  Minister  to  France,  effected  an 
arrangement  by  which  the  French  Government  ac- 
knowledged the  debt,  and  obligated  itself  to  pay  five 
million  dollars  to  this  Government  as  stated  in  the 
President's  message.  When  the  first  payment  was 
due  in  the  Spring  of  1833,  no  provision  had  been  made 
for  its  payment.  General  Jackson  had  no  minister  in 
France  to  press  the  claim.  Aroused  by  the  effect  of 
his  culpable  neglect,  Edward  Livingston  was  sent  to 
France,  but  was  not  successful  in  inducing  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  to  make  the  appropriation  to  pay  the 
American  debt.  King  Louis  Philippe  assured  Mr.  Liv- 
ingston from  the  first  that  the  debt  was  just  and 
should  be  paid.  And  had  it  been  in  his  power  his 
promise  would  have  been  made  good.  Louis  Philippe's 
friendly  disposition  towards  the  United  States  induced 
him,  unfortunately  for  himself,  to  tell  Mr.  Livingston 
to  request  General  Jackson  in  his  next  message  to 
Congress  to  use  some  threatening  language  for  the 
purpose  of  stirring  the  indifferent  Deputies  to  pay 
their  debts.  General  Jackson  acted  on  the  suggestion 
with  a  vengeance,  as  appears  in  the  foregoing  message. 
The  King  was  not  only  surprised  and  the  Deputies 
enraged,  but  the  people  of  France  were  furious,  and 
clamorous  for  war.  The  matter  was  greatly  aggra- 
vated by  the  publication  in  America  of  extracts  from 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  717 

Mr.  Livingston's  letters,  showing  the  part  the  king 
had  in  the  matter.  This  was  a  severe  trial  to  the 
friendly  Philippe,  and  was,  indeed,  embarrassing  to 
Mr.  Livingston.  This  piece  of  despicable,  impolitic, 
bad  faith  had  its  origin  in  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  in 
all  probability.  But  it  is  chargeable  to  General  Jack- 
son, and  no  matter  whence  it  originated,  there  is  no 
apology  for  it.  Necessarily  much  of  the  diplomatic  cor- 
respondence between  governments  is  not  matter  for 
public  gaze,  and  must  in  honor  be  inviolable.  Minis- 
terial relations  were  at  once  broken  off  between  the 
two  nations,  and  Mr.  Livingston  retuwned  home,  leav- 
ing affairs  in  the  hands  of  his  Secretary  of  Legation, 
who  was  also  soon  recalled.  War  seemed  to  be  inev- 
itable, and  steps  were  taken  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean 
looking  to  that  result.  The  French  Government  wanted 
President  Jackson  to  apologize  for  the  insulting  mes- 
sage, but  this  he  declined  to  do.  The  world  did  not  yet 
understand  the  man.  He  never  did  a  wrong,  and  never 
apologized.  No  American  would  have  desired  him  to 
do  so  in  this  case.  But  England  stepped  in  at  this 
moment  and  offered  her  friendly  mediation,  which  was 
accepted,  and  the  difficulty  was  amicably  adjusted  in 
1836,  the  French-American  debt  paid,  and  friendly  dip- 
lomatic relations  again  established.  President  Jackson 
received  a  vast  amount  of  adulation  for  this  favorable 
ending  of  a  very  warlike  explosion.  After  years  of 
effort  under  other  Administrations,  the  spoliation  claims 
were  finally  admitted  under  the  peculiar,  persuasive 
methods  of  General  Jackson.  But  his  extravagance 
had  again  brought  the  country  to  the  verge  of  war. 
His  acceptance  of  British  mediation  was  a  praiseworthy 
step,  but  in  this  he  had  precedents  enough.     Much  of 


718  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  praise  bestowed  on  the  General  for  the  outcome  in 
this  case  was  of  doubtful  propriety. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  adoration,  or  even 
gratitude,  is,  in  any  marked  manner,  due  any  man  for 
doing  what  is  both  his  interest  and  his  duty.  Every 
man  owes  to  the  world  and  himself  his  best  efforts. 
If  he  falls  below  his  highest  possibilities,  it  is  a  fault ; 
if  he  rises  to  these  it  is  what  should  be  expected  of 
him,  and  adulation  and  flattery  then  become  unneces- 
sary, if  they  are  not  mean  and  contemptible.  The 
military  chief  has  almost  invariably  come  into  politics 
from  the  grandeur  or  benefit  of  his  exploits  on  the 
field,  and  he  has  been  taught  to  think  and  act  as  if 
the  country  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  it 
must  pay  in  political  preferment,  or  easy  retirement. 
No  falser  doctrine  ever  actuated  human  conduct.  That 
character  is  despicable  that  would  save  a  life,  and  then 
ask  the  life  in  compensation  for  the  deed.  The  nature 
which  exacts  gratitude  for  a  kind  or  good  act  is  selfish 
and  unreliable,  if  not  dangerous.  Great  hearts  can  not 
be  impelled  by  motives  so  unworthy.  But  the  country 
rang  with  the  praise  of  General  Jackson,  and  when  the 
8th  of  January,  1835,  came,  it  was  claimed  that  a 
new  incentive  had  been  added  to  this  phantom  of  the 
breath. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  new  year  arrangements  were 
made  for  paying  the  last  installment  of  the  public  debt. 
This  was,  indeed,  a  rare  and  delightful  spectacle.  A 
nation  out  of  debt !  And  now  the  8th  of  January  was 
to  be  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  Hero  of  New  Or- 
leans, and  the  advancement  of  the  interest  of  a  great 
political  party.  There  was  to  be  a  banquet  of  extraor- 
dinary proportions  and  splendor  at  the  Capital.     The 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  719 

President  did  not  attend.  He  was  too  modest !  He 
sent  a  "  toast :"  "  The  Payment  of  the  Public  Debt. 
Let  us  commemorate  it  as  an  event  which  gives  us 
increased  power  as  a  nation,  and  reflects  luster  on  our 
Federal  Union,  of  whose  justice,  fidelity,  arid  wisdom 
it  is  a  glorious  illustration."  Thomas  H.  Benton  pre- 
sided, and  a  host  of  the  party  leaders  were  vice-presi- 
dents. The  "  Heir  Apparent,"  Mr.  Van  Buren,  was 
the  favored  guest.  A  vast  number  of  "  toasts  "  was 
brought  into  requisition,  and  more  than  one-half  of 
them  were  devoted  to  the  praise  of  General  Jackson. 
The  extravagance,  if  not  decided  insincerity  and  syco- 
phancy, of  most  of  them  may  be  seen  from  this  one 
from  Mr.  Dickerson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  :  "  The 
Eighth  of  January,  1815.  An  important  era  in  the 
history  of  America — second  only  to  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1776." 

It  was  not  Mr.  Dickerson's  ignorance,  it  was  his 
anxiety  to  flatter  General  Jackson.  Can  there  be  found 
an  event  in  American  history  comparable  with  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  ?  No  sentence  or  page 
will  do  it  justice.  The  Battle  of  New  Orleans  unfor- 
tunately came  after  the  end,  after  the  peace  was  signed 
in  England,  and  it  only  served  for  foreign  prestige, 
besides  giving  the  United  States  the  last  and  the  end- 
less hurrah. 

The  burthen  of  Colonel  R.  M.  Johnson's  sentiment 
was  also  "  Andrew  Jackson  who  prevented  booty,  and 
protected  beauty."  Unworthy  of  anybody  but  an  old 
grandam  !  The  British  army  was  not  a  vandal  mob. 
Liverpool  or  Oxford  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  no  less  safe  under  General  Jackson  and  his  citizen 
soldiers,  than  New  Orleans  under  Packenham  or  Lambert. 


720  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

About  the  payment  of  the  public  debt  President 
Jackson  was  persistent  and  determined.  By  his  veto 
he  put  a  stop  to  all  expenditures  for  internal  improve- 
ments, in  part  that  the  surplus  revenue  might  go  to 
the  discharge  of  the  debt.  But  under  Monroe  or  Ad- 
ams or  another  President  the  same  result  would  have 
been  reached  in  a  little  longer  time,  with  the  public 
improvements  added.  Still  it  is  not  what  might  have 
been  that  affects  popular  sentiment.  And  it  was  right 
to  point  to  General  Jackson  as  the  man. 

During  this  session  of  Congress,  on  January  30th, 
while  President  Jackson  was  attending  the  funeral  of 
Congressman  Warren  R.  Davis,  an  insane  wretch  at- 
tempted to  assassinate  him  in  the  vestibule  of  the  ro- 
tunda at  the  Capitol.  After  snapping  two  pistols  the 
would-be  assassin  was  knocked  down  by  Lieutenant 
Gedney,  a  naval  officer.  He  was  taken  to  jail,  but  was 
not  punished,  as  it  was  quite  clear  that  he  was  insane. 
General  Jackson  was  furious  over  this  affair,  and  at- 
tributed the  attempt  upon  his  life  to  his  political 
enemies.  When  a  fancy  of  this  kind  took  possession 
of  him  it  was  no  easy  matter  for  him  to  be  persuaded 
out  of  it,  and  he  seldom,  to  all  appearances,  made  an 
attempt  to  disabuse  his  own  mind.  A  year  or  two 
before,  when  Randolph  had  ridiculously  tweaked  the 
General's  nose,  Mr.  Adams  wrote  in  his  Diary :  *'  A 
President  of  the  United  States  pulled  by  the  nose  is 
a  new  incident  in  the  history  of  the  country,  and  as 
he  himself  has  countenanced  personal  violence  against 
members  of  Congress,  he  will  not  meet  with  much 
sympathy." 

In  his  last  message  the  President,  as  usual,  recom- 
mended an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  to  provide  for 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  721 

the  election  of  President  and  Vice-President  by  the 
direct  vote  of  the  people,  and  for  fixing  four  or  six 
years  as  the  term  of  service.  But,  as  usual,  Congress 
took  no  note  of  this  chronic  recommendation.  In  this 
message,  after  quite  fully  and  fairly  reviewing  the  mat- 
ter of  public  expenditures,  the  President  declares  that 
he  is  in  favor  of  internal  improvements.  Some  appro- 
priations were  made  for  improving  certain  harbors  and 
rivers,  for  the  Cumberland  Road,  and  other  roads  and 
surveys  ;  branch  mints  were  established  at  New  Or- 
leans, and  in  .Georgia  and  North  Carolina ;  an  act  was 
passed  to  regulate  the  deposits  of  the  United  States 
in  the  banks,  and  note  was  taken  of  the  death  of 
Charles  Carroll  of  CarroUton,  John  Randolph  of 
Roanoke,  and  William  Wirt,  who  had  died  in  1834. 
On  the  14th  of  January,  1835,  the  Senate  unanimously 
passed  a  resolution  declaring  it  inexpedient  to  take  any 
note  of  affairs  between  the  United  States  and  France, 
notwithstanding  the  President's  message.  In  May  Mr. 
Barry  resigned  his  position  as  Postmaster-General,  and 
was  sent  as-  Minister  to  Spain.  Amos  Kendall  was 
appointed  as  his  successor,  but  his  nomination  was  not 
confirmed  until  1836. 

During  the  summer  of  1835,  the  candidates  for 
President  and  Vice-President  were  put  in  the  field. 
Edwin  Williams  says  : — 

"There  was  an  impression  at  this  time  that  General  Jackson 
contemplated  retiring  from  the  Presidency,  leaving  the  reins  of 
Government  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  for  the  remainder 
of  his  term ;  but  if  he  had  such  an  intention  it  was  abandoned. 
He  was,  however,  anxious  that  Mr.  Van  Buren  should  be  his 
successor  in  the  Presidency,  and  in  February,  1835,  he  came  out 
with  a  letter  to  a  friend,  in  which  he  expresses  himself  in  favor 
of  a  National  Democratic  Convention,   to  nominate  a  President 

46— G 


722  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  Vice-President.  The  Convention  was  a  favorite  project  of 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  all  the  supporters  of 
the  Administration  who  were  in  favor  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  as  suc- 
cessor to  General  Jackson,  advocated  a  nomination  by  a  conven- 
tion, while  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  in  the  same  ranks, 
denounced  that  mode  of  nomination.  A  large  section  of  the  Jack- 
son party  gave  early  indications  of  an  intention  to  support  Hugh 
L.  White,  one  of  the  Tennessee  Senators,  for  President,  and  in 
January,  1835,  he  was  nominated  by  the  Legislature  of  Alabama, 
and,  about  the  same  time,  by  the  people  of  Tennessee,  and  by 
the  Tennessee  delegation  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  all  of 
whom  signed  a  letter  in  his  favor,  except  James  K.  Polk  and 
Cave  Johnson.  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  already  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  by  a  State  Convention  in  Mississippi.  Three  candi- 
dates had  been  named  by  the  Whig  opposition ;  namely.  General 
AVilliam  H.  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  by  a  meeting  at  Harrisburg ; 
John  McLean,  of  Ohio,  by  a  Legislative  caucus  in  that  State  ;  and 
Daniel  Webster,  by  the  Whigs  in  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
"The  National  Democratic  Convention  for  the  nomination  of 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  met  at  Balti- 
more on  the  20th  of  May,  1835.  More  than  six  hundred  dele- 
gates were  in  attendance,  and  twenty-two  States  were  represented. 
Upon  the  first  ballot,  Martin  Van  Buren  received  the  unanimous 
vote  of  the  Convention  for  President.  This  was  expected,  as  none 
but  the  friends  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  took  part  in  the  Convention. 
Colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  received  the  nomi- 
nation for  Vice-President,  by  178  votes,  to  87  for  William  C. 
Rives,  of  Virginia.  The  delegates  from  Virginia  protested  against 
the  nomination  of  Colonel  Johnson,  declaring  that  he  could  not 
receive  the  vote  of  that  State." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  723 


CHAPTKR  XXXIV. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  SEVENTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— PRESI- 
DENTIAL ELECTION. 

ON  the  7th  of  December,  1835,  Congress  again 
convened,  and  did  not  adjourn  until  the  4th  of 
July,  1836.  This  time  Mr.  Polk  was  successful  in  the 
race  for  Speaker  of  the  House,  receiving  132  votes  to 
84  for  John  Bell,  Speaker  for  the  last  two  sessions  or 
the  "  24th  Congress."  Bell  represented  the  opposition 
and  the  friends  of  Hugh  L.  White.  The  following  is 
President  Jackson's 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 
Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : — 

In  discharge  of  my  official  duty,  the  task  again  devolves  upon 
me  of  communicating  with  a  new  Congress.  The  reflection  that 
the  representation  of  the  Union  has  been  recently  renewed,  and 
that  the  Constitutional  term  of  its  service  will  expire  with  my 
own,  heightens  the  solicitude  with  which il  shall  attempt  to  lay  be- 
fore it  the  state  of  our  national  concerns,  and  the  devout  hope 
which  I  cherish  that  its  labors  to  improve  them  may  be  crowned 
with  success. 

You  are  assembled  at  a  period  of  profound  interest  to  the 
American  patriot.  The  unexampled  growth  and  prosperity  of  our 
country  having  given  us  a  rank  in  the  scale  of  nations  which  re- 
moves all  apprehension  of  danger  to  our  integrity  and  independ- 
ence from  external  foes,  the  career  of  freedom  is  before  us,  with 
an  earnest  of  the  past,  that,  if  true  to  ourselves,  there  can  be  no 
formidable  obstacle  in  the  future  to  its  peaceful  and  uninterrupted 
pursuit.  Yet,  in  proportion  to  the  disappearance  of  those  appre- 
hensions which   attended  our  weakness,  as  once  contrasted  with 


724  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

*tlie  power  of  some  of  the  States  of  the  Old  World,  should  we  now 
be  solicitous  as  to  those  which  belong  to  the  conviction  that  it  is 
to  our  own  conduct  we  must  look  for  the  preservation  of  those 
causes  on  which  depend  the  excellence  and  the  duration  of  our 
happy  system  of  government. 

In  the  example  of  other  systems  founded  on  the  will  of  the 
people,  we  trace  to  internal  dissension  the  influences  which  have 
so  often  blasted  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  freedom.  The  social 
elements,  which  were  strong  and  successful  when  united  against 
external  danger,  failed  in  the  more  difficult  task  of  properly 
adjusting  their  own  internal  organization,  and  thus  gave  way  the 
great  principle  of  self-government.  Let  us  trust  that  this  admo- 
nition will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  Government  or  the  people  of 
the  United  States ;  and  that  the  testimony  which  our  experience 
thus  far  holds  out  to  the  great  human  family,  of  the  practicabil- 
ity and  blessings  of  free  government,  will  be  confirmed  in  aU 
time  to  come. 

We  have  but  to  look  at  the  state  of  our  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, and  commerce,  and  the  unexampled  increase  of  our 
population,  to  feel  the  magnitude  of  the  trust  committed  to  us. 
Never,  in  any  former  period  of  our  history,  have  we  had  greater 
reason  than  we  now  have  to  be  thankful  to  Divine  Providence  for 
the  blessings  of  health  and  general  prosperity.  Every  branch  of 
labor  we  see  crowned  with  the  most  abundant  rewards;  in  every 
element  of  national  resources  and  wealth,  and  of  individual  com- 
fort, we  witness  the  most  rapid  and  solid  improvements.  With 
no  interruptions  of  this  pleasing  prospect  at  home,  which  will  not 
yield  to  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  good-will  that  so  strikingly 
pervade  the  mass  of  the  people  in  every  quarter,  amid  all  the 
diversity  of  interest  and  pursuits  to  which  they  are  attached ;  and 
with  no  cause  of  solicitude  in  regard  to  our  external  affairs, 
which  will  not,  it  is  lioped,  disappear  before  the  principles  of 
simple  justice  and  forbearance  that  mark  our  intercourse  with 
foreign  powers,  we  have  every  reason  to  feel  proud  of  our  be- 
loved country. 

The  general  state  of  our  foreign  relations  has  not  materially 
changed  since  my  last  annual  message. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  question  of  the  north-eastern  bound- 
ary, little  progress  has  been  made.  Great  Britain  has  declined 
acceding  to  the  proposition  of  the  United  States,  presented 
in  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Senate,  unless  certain 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  725 

preliminary  conditions  were  admitted,  which  I  deemed  incompat- 
ible with  a  satisfactory  and  rightful  adjustment  of  the  contro- 
versy. Waiting  for  some  distinct  proposal  from  the  Government 
of  Great  Britain,  which  has  been  invited,  I  can  only  repeat  the 
expression  of  my  confidence  that,  with  the  strong  mutual  dispo- 
sition which  I  believe  exists  to  make  a  just  arrangement,  this 
perplexing  question  can  be  settled  with  a  due  regard  to  the  well- 
founded  pretensions  and  pacific  policy  of  all  the  parties  to  it. 
Events  are  frequently  occurring  on  the  north-eastern  frontier,  of 
a  character  to  impress  upon  all  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  and 
definitive  termination  of  the  dispute.  This  consideration,  added 
to  the  desire  common  to  both,  to  relieve  the  liberal  and  friendly 
relations  so  happily  existing  between  the  two  countries  from  all 
embarrassment,  will,  no  doubt,  have  its  just  influence  upon  both. 

Our  diplomatic  intercourse  with  Portugal  has  been  renewed, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  claims  of  our  citizens,  j)artially  paid, 
will  be  fully  satisfied  as  soon  as  the  condition  of  the  queen's  gov- 
ernment will  permit  the  proper  attention  to  the  subject  of  them. 
That  government  has,  I  am  happy  to  inform  you,  manifested  a 
determination  to  act  upon  the  liberal  principles  which  have 
marked  our  commercial  policy;  the  happiest  effects  upon  the 
future  trade  between  the  United  States  and  Portugal  are  antici- 
pated from  it,  and  the  time  is  not  thought  to  be  remote  when  a 
system  of  perfect  reciprocity  will  be  established. 

The  installments  due  under  the  convention  with  the  king  of 
the  Two  Sicilies,  have  been  paid  with  that  scrupulous  fidelity  by 
which  his  whole  conduct  has  been  characterized,  and  the  hope  is 
indulged  that  the  adjustment  of  the  vexed  question  of  our  claims 
will  be  followed  by  a  more  extended  and  mutually  beneficial  in- 
tercourse between  the  two  countries. 

The  internal  contest  still  continues  in  Spain.  Distinguished 
as  this  struggle  has  unhappily  been,  by*  incidents  of.  the  most 
sanguinary  character,  the  obligations  of  the  late  treaty  of  indem- 
nification with  us  have  been,  nevertheless,  faithfully  executed  by 
the  Spanish  Government. 

No  provision  having  been  made  at  the  last  session  of  Congress 
for  the  ascertainment  of  the  claims  to  be  paid,  and  the  appor- 
tionment of  the  funds,  under  the  convention  made  with  Spain,  I 
invite  your  early  attention  to  the  subject.  The  public  evidences 
of  the  debt  have,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  convention,  and 
in  the  forms  prescribed  by  it,  been  placed  in  the  possession  of 


726  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  United  States,  and  the  interest,  as  it  fell  due,  has  been  regu- 
larly paid  upon  them.  Our  commercial  intercourse  with  Cuba 
Btands  as  regulated  by  the  act  of  Congress.  No  recent  informa- 
tion has  been  received  as  to  the  disposition  of  the  Government 
of  Madrid  on  this  subject,  and  the  lamented  death  of  our  re- 
cently appointed  minister  on  his  way  to  Spain,  with  the  pressure 
of  their  affairs  at  home,  render  it  scarcely  probable  that  any 
change  is  to  be  looked  for  during  the  coming  year.  Further 
portions  of  the  Florida  archives  have  been  sent  to  the  United 
States,  although  the  death  of  one  of  the  commissioners,  at  a 
critical  moment,  embarrassed  the  progress  of  the  delivery  of  them. 
The  higher  officers  of  the  local  government  have  recently  shown 
an  anxious  desire,  in  compliance  with  the  orders  from  the  parent 
government,  to  facilitate  the  selection  and  delivery  of  all  we  have 
a  right  to  claim. 

Negotiations  have  been  opened  at  Madrid,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  lasting  peace  between  Spain  and  such  of  the  Spanish 
American  Governments  of  this  hemisphere  as  have  availed  them- 
selves of  the  intimation  given  to  all  of  them,  of  the  disposition 
of  Spain  to  treat  upon  the  basis  of  their  entire  independence. 
It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  simultaneous  appointments,  by  all,  of 
ministers  to  negotiate  with  Spain,  had  not  been  made;  the  nego- 
tiation itself  would  have  been  simplified,  and  this  long-standing 
dispute,  spreading  over  a  large  portion  of  the  world,  would  have 
been  brought  to  a  more  speedy  conclusion. 

Our  political  and  commercial  relations  with  Austria,  Prussia, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark,  stand  on  the  usual  favorable  basis. 
One  of  the  articles  of  our  treaty  with  Russia,  in  relation  to  the 
trade  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America  having  expired,  in- 
structions have  been  given  to  our  minister  at  St.  Petersburg  to 
negotiate  a  renewal  of  it.  The  long  unbroken  amity  between  the 
two  governments  gives  every  reason  for  supposing  the  article  will 
be  renewed,  if  stronger  motives  do  not  exist  to  prevent  it  than, 
Avith  our  view  of  the  subject,  can  be  anticipated  here. 

I  ask  your  attention  to  the  message  of  my  predecessor  at  the 
opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  Nineteenth  Congress,  relative 
to  our  commercial  intercourse  with  Holland,  and  to  the  docu- 
ments connected  with  that  subject,  communicated  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  the  10th  of  January,  1825,  and  the  18th 
January,  1827.  Coinciding  in  the  opinion  of  my  predecessor, 
that  Holland  is  not,  under  the  regulations  of  her  present  S3^stem, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  727 

entitled  to  have  her  vessels  and  their  cargoes  received  into  the 
United  States  on  the  footing  of  American  vessels  and  cargoes,  as 
regards  duties  of  tonnage  and  impost,  a  respect  for  his  reference 
of  it  to  the  Legislature  has  long  prevented  me  from  acting  on 
the  subject.  I  should  still  have  waited,  without  comment,  for 
the  action  of  Congress,  but  recently  a  claim  has  been  made  by 
Belgian  subjects  to  admission  into  our  ports  for  their  ships  and 
cargoes  on  the  same  footing  as  American,  with  the  allegation  we 
could  not  dispute,  that  our  vessels  received  in  their  ports  the 
identical  treatment  shown  to  them  in  the  ports  of  Holland,  upon 
whose  vessels  no  discrimination  is  made  in  the  ports  of  the 
United  States.  Giving  the  same  privileges,  the  Belgians  ex- 
pect the  same  benefits,  benefits  that  were  in  fact  enjoyed  when 
Belgium  and  Holland  were  united  under  one  government.  Sat- 
isfied with  the  justice  of  their  pretension  to  be  placed  on  the 
same  footing  with  Holland,  I  could  not,  nevertheless,  without 
disregard  to  the  principle  of  our  laws,  admit  their  claim  to  be 
treated  as  Americans ;  and  at  the  same  time  a  respect  for  Con- 
gress, to  whom  the  subject  had  long  since  been  referred,  has  pre- 
vented me  from  producing  a  just  equality,  by  taking  from  the 
vessels  of  Holland  privileges  conditionally  granted  by  acts  of 
Congress,  although  the  condition  upon  which  the  grant  was 
made  has  in  my  judgment  failed  since  1822.  I  recommend, 
therefore,  a  review  of  the  act  of  1824,  on  such  a  modification 
of  it  as  will  produce  an  equality,  on  such  terms  as  Congress 
shall  think  best  comports  with  our  settled  policy,  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  justice  to  two  friendly  powers. 

With  the  Sublime  Porte,  and  all  the  governments  on  the 
coast  of  Barbary,  our  relations  continue  to  be  friendly.  The 
proper  steps  have  been  taken  to  renew  our  treaty  with  Morocco. 

The  Argentine  Republic  has  again  promised  to  send,  within 
the  current  year,  a  minister  to  the  United  States. 

A  convention  with  Mexico  for  extending  the  time  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  commissioners  to  run  the  boundary  line  has  been 
concluded,  and  will  be  submitted  to  the  Senate.  Recent  events 
in  that  country  have  awakened  the  liveliest  solicitude  in  the 
United  States.  Aware  of  the  strong  temptations  existing,  and 
powerful  inducements  held  out  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  to  mingle  in  the  dissensions  of  our  immediate  neighbors, 
instructions  have  been  given  to  the  District  Attorney  of  the 
United  States  where  indications  warranted,  to  prosecute,  without 


728  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

respect  to  persons,  all  who  might  attempt  to  violate  the  obliga- 
tion of  our  neutrality ;  while  at  the  same  time  it  has  been 
thought  necessary  to  apprise  the  Government  of  Mexico  that  we 
should  require  the  integrity  of  our  territory  to  be  scrupulously 
respected  by  both  parties. 

From  our  diplomatic  agents  in  Brazil,  Chili,  Peru,  Central 
America,  Venezuela,  and  New  Grenada,  constant  assurances  are 
received  of  the  continued  good  understanding  with  the  govern- 
ments to  which  they  are  severally  accredited.  With  those  gov- 
ernments upon  which  our  citizens  have  valid  and  accumulating 
claims,  scarcely  an  advance  toward  the  settlement  of  them  is 
made,  owing  mainly  to  their  distracted  state,  or  to  the  pressure 
of  imperative  domestic  questions.  Our  patience  has  been,  and 
will  probably  be  still  further,  severely  tried;  but  our  fellow-citi- 
zens whose  interests  are  involved,  may  confide  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  Government  to  obtain  for  them  eventually  ample 
retribution. 

Unfortunately,  many  of  the  nations  of  this  hemisphere  are 
still  self-tortured  by  domestic  dissensions.  Revolution  succeeds 
revolution,  injuries  are  committed  upon  foreigners  engaged  in 
lawful  pursuits,  much  time  elapses  before  a  government  suffi- 
ciently stable  is  erected  to  justify  expectation  of  redress;  minis- 
ters are  sent  and  received,  and  before  the  discussions  of  past  in- 
juries are  fairly  begun,  fresh  troubles  arise ;  but  too  frequently 
new  injuries  are  added  to  the  old,  to  be  discussed  together  with 
the  existing  government,  after  it  has  proved  its  ability  to  sustain 
the  assaults  made  upon  it,  or  with  its  successor,  if  overthrown. 
If  this  unhappy  condition  of  things  continue  much  longer,  other 
nations  will  be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  deciding  whether 
justice  to  their  suffering  citizens  does  not  require  a  prompt  re- 
dress of  injuries  by  their  own  power,  without  waiting  for  the 
establishment  of  a  government  competent  and  enduring  enough 
to  discuss  and  make  satisfaction  for  them. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  the  validity  of  our  claims 
upon  France,  as  liquidated  by  the  treaty  of  1831,  has  been 
acknowledged  by  both  branches  of  her  Legislature,  and  the 
money  has  been  appropriated  for  their  discharge;  but  the  pay- 
ment is,  I  regret  to  inform  you,  still  withheld. 

A  brief  recapitulation  of  the  most  important  incidents  in  this 
protracted  controversy,  will  show  how  utterly  untenable  are  the 
grounds  upon  which  this  course  is  attempted  to  be  justified. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  729 

On  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  station,  I  found  the 
United  States  an  unsuccessful  applicant  to  the  justice  of  France, 
for  the  satisfaction  of  claims  the  validity  of  which  was  never 
questionable,  and  has  now  been  most  solemnly  admitted  by 
France  herself.  The  antiquity  of  these  claims,  their  high  justice, 
and  the  aggravating  circumstance  out  of  which  they  arose,  are 
too  familiar  to  the  American  people  to  require  description.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say,  that  for  a  period  of  ten  years  and  upward,  our 
commerce  was,  with  but  little  interruption,  the  subject  of  con- 
stant aggressions  on  the  part  of  France  ;  aggressions,  the  ordi- 
nary features  of  which  were  condemnation  of  vessels  a;nd  cargoes, 
under  arbitrary  decrees,  adopted  in  contravention  as  well  of 
the  laws  of  nations  as  of  treaty  stipulations;  burnings  on  the 
high  seas;  and  seizures  and  confiscations,  under  special  imperial 
rescripts,  in  the  ports  of  other  nations  occupied  by  the  armies  or 
under  the  control  of  France.  Such,  it  is  now  conceded,  is  the 
character  of  the  wrongs  Ave  suffered,  wrongs  in  many  cases 
so  flagrant  that  even  their  authors  never  denied  our  right  to 
reparation. 

Of  the  extent  of  these  injuries,  some  conception  may  be 
formed  from  the  fact  that,  after  the  burning  of  a  large  amount 
at  sea,  and  the  necessary  deterioration  in  other  cases  by  long 
detention,  the  American  property  so  seized  and  sacrificed  at 
forced  sales,  excluding  what  was  adjudged  to  privateers,  before 
or  without  condemnation,  brought  into  the  French  treasury  up- 
ward of  twenty-four  millions  of  francs,  besides  large  custom- 
house duties. 

The  subject  has  already  been  an  aflTair  of  twenty  years'  unin- 
terrupted negotiation,  except  for  a  short  time  when  France  was 
overwhelmed  by  the  military  power  of  united  Europe.  During 
this  period,  when  other  nations  were  extorting  from  her  pay- 
ment of  their  claims  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  the  United 
States  intermitted  their  demand  for  justice,  out  of  respect  to  the 
oppressed  condition  of  a  gallant  people,  to  whom  they  felt  under 
obligations  for  fraternal  assistance  in  their  own  days  of  suflfering 
and  of  peril.  The  bad  eflfects  of  these  protracted  and  unavailing 
discussions,  as  well  upon  our  relations  with  France  as  upon  our 
national  character,  were  obvious;  and  the  line  of  duty  was  to 
my  mind  equally  so.  This  was,  either  to  insist  upon  the  adjust- 
ment of  our  claims  within  a  reasonable  period,  or  to  abandon 
them  altogether.     I  could  not  doubt  that,    by  this  course,    the 


730  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

interests  and  honor  of  both  countries  would  be  best  consulted. 
Instructions  were  therefore  given  in  this  spirit  to  the  minister 
who  was  sent  out  once  more  to  demand  reparation.  Upon  the 
meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  1829,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
speak  of  these  claims,  and  the  delays  of  France,  in  terms  calcu- 
lated to  call  the  serious  attention  of  both  countries  to  the  subject. 
The  then  French  Ministry  took  exception  to  the  message,  on  the 
ground  of  its  containing  a  menace,  under"which  it  was  not  agree- 
able to  the  French  Government  to  negotiate.  The  American 
Minister,  of  his  own  accord,  refuted  the  construction  which  was 
attempted  to  be  put  upon  the  message,  and  at  the  same  time 
called  to  the  recollection  of  the  French  Ministry,  that  the  Presi- 
dent's message  was  a  communication  addressed,  not  to  foreign 
governments,  but  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
it  was  enjoined  upon  him  by  the  Constitution,  to  lay  before  that 
bodj^  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  comprehending  its 
foreign  .as  well  as  domestic  relations;  and  that  if,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  this  duty,  he  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  summon 
the  attention  of  Congress,  in  due  time,  to  what  might  be  the 
possible  consequences  of  existing  difficulties  with  any  foreign 
government,  he  might  fairly  be  supposed  to  do  so  under  a  sense 
of  what  was  due  from  him,  in  a  frank  communication  with 
another  branch  of  his  own  government,  and  not  from  any  inten- 
tion of  holding  a  menace  over  a  foreign  power. 

The  views  taken  by  him  received  my  approbation,  the  French 
Government  was  satisfied,  and  the  negotiation  was  continued.  It 
terminated  in  the  treaty  of  July  4,  1831,  recognizing  the  justness 
of  our  claims,  in  part,  and  promising  payment  to  the  amount  of 
tweuty-five  millions  of  francs,  in  six  annual  installments. 

The  ratifications  of  this  treaty  were  exchanged  in  Washington 
on  the  2d  of  February,  1832  ;  and  in  five  days  thereafter  it  was 
laid  before  Congress,  who  immediately  passed  the  acts  necessary, 
on  our  part,  to  secure  to  France  the  commercial  advantages  con- 
ceded to  her  in  the  compact.  The  treaty  had  previously  been 
solemnly  ratified  by  the  king  of  the  French,  in  terms  which  are 
certainly  not  mere  matters  of  form,  and  of  which  the  translation 
is  as  follows:  "We,  approving  the  above  convention,  in  all  and 
each  of  the  dispositions  which  are  contained  in  it,  do  declare,  by 
ourselves,  as  well  as  by  our  heirs  and  successors,  that  it  is  ac- 
cepted, approved,  ratified,  and  confirmed  ;  and  by  these  presents, 
signed  l)y  our  hand,  we  do  accept,  approve,    ratify,  and  confirm 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  731 

it ;  promising,  on  the  faith  and  ^vol•c^  of  a  king,  to  observe  it,  and 
to  cause  it  to  be  observed  inviolably,  without  ever  contravening 
it,  or  suffering  it  to  be  contravened,  directly  or  indirectly,  for 
any  cause  or  under  any  pretense  whatsoever." 

Official  information  of  the  exchange  of  ratifications  in  the 
United  States  reached  Paris  while  the  Chambers  were  in  session. 
The  extraordinary,  and  to  us  injurious,  delays  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment, in  their  action  upon  the  subject  of  its  fulfillment,  have 
been  heretofore  stated  to  Congress,  and  I  have  no  disposition  to 
enlarge  upon  them  here.  It  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  the  then 
pending  session  was  allowed  to  expire  without  even  an  effoi't  to  ob- 
tain the  necessary  appropriations ;  that  the  two  succeeding  ones 
were  also  suffered  to  pass  away  without  anything  like  a  serious 
attempt  to  obtain  a  decision  upon  the  subject ;  and  that  it  was 
not  until  the  fourth  session,  almost  three  years  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  treaty,  and  more  than  two  years  after  the  exchange  of 
ratifications,  that  the  bill  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty  was 
pressed  to  a  vote  and  rejected. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  having 
full  confidence  that  a  treaty  entered  into  and  so  solemnly  ratified 
by  the  French  king,  would  be  executed  in  good  faith,  and  not 
doubting  that  provision  would  be  made  for  the  payment  of  the 
first  installment,  which  was  to  become  due  on  the  second  day  of 
February,  1833,  negotiated  a  draft  for  the  amount  through  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States.  When  this  draft  was  presented  by 
the  holder,  with  the  credentials  required  by  the  treaty  to  authorize 
him  to  receive  the  money,  the  Government  of  France  allowed  it  to 
be  protested.  In  addition  to  the  injury  in  the  non-payment  of  the 
money  by  France,  conformably  to  her  agreement,  the  United 
States  were  exposed  to  a  heavy  claim  on  the  part  of  the  bank, 
under  pretense  of  damages,  in  satisfaction  of  which  that  institu 
tion  seized  upon,  and  still  retains,  an  equal  amount  of  the  public 
moneys.  Congress  was  in  session  when  the  decision  of  the  Cham- 
bers reached  Washington  ;  and  an  immediate  communication  of 
this  apparently  final  decision  of  France  not  to  fulfill  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  treaty,  was  the  course  naturally  to  be  expected  from 
the  President.  The  deep  tone  of  dissatisfaction  which  pervaded 
the  public  mind,  and  the  correspondent  excitement  produced  in 
Congress  by  only  a  general  knowledge  of  the  result,  rendered  it 
more  than  probable  that  a  resort  to  immediate  measures  of  re- 
dress would  be  the  consequence   of  calling  the  attention  of  that 


732  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

body  to  the  subject.  Sincerely  desirous  of  preserving  the  pacific 
relations  which  had  so  long  existed  between  the  two  countries,  I 
was  anxious  to  avoid  this  course  if  I  could  be  satisfied  that,  by  do- 
ing so,  neither  the  interest  nor  the  honor  of  my  country  would  be 
compromitted.  Without  the  fullest  assurances  upon  that  point,  I 
could  not  hope  to  acquit  myself  of  the  responsibility  to  be  incurred 
in  suflferiug  Congress  to  adjourn  without  laying  the  subject  before 
them.  Those  received  by  me  were  believed  to  be  of  that 
character. 

That  the  feelings  produced  in  the  United  States  by  the  news  of 
the  rejection  of  the  appropriation,  would  be  such  as  I  have  desci-ibed 
them  to  have  been,  was  foreseen  by  the  French  Government,  and 
prompt  measures  were  taken  by  it  to  prevent  the  consequences. 
The  king  in  person  expressed,  through  our  ^Minister  in  Paris,  his 
profound  regret  at  the  decision  of  the  Chambers,  and  promised  to 
send,  forthwith,  a  national  ship  with  dispatches  to  his  minister 
here,  authorizing  him  to  give  such  assurances  as  would  satisfy  the 
Government  and  people  of  the  United  States  that  the  treaty 
would  yet  be  faithfully  executed  by  France.  The  national  ship 
arrived,  and  the  minister  received  his  instructions. 

Claiming  to  act  under  the  authority  derived  from  them,  he 
gave  to  this  Government,  in  the  name  of  his,  the  most  solemn 
assurances  that,  as  soon  after  the  "new  elections  as  the  charter 
would  permit,  the  French  Chambers  would  be  convened,  and  the 
attempt  to  procure  the  necessary  appropriations  renewed  ;  that  all 
the  constitutional  powers  of  the  king  and  his  ministers  should  be 
put  in  requisition  to  accomplish  the  object;  and  he  was  under- 
stood, and  so  expressly  informed  by  this  Government  at  the  time, 
to  engage  that  the  question  should  be  pressed  to  a  decision  at  a 
period  sufficiently  early  to  permit  information  of  the  result  to  be 
communicated  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  their  next 
session.  Relying  upon  these  assurances,  I  incurred  the  responsi- 
bility, great  as  I  regarded  it  to  be,  of  suffering  Congress  to  sep- 
arate without  communicating  with  them  upon  the  subject. 

The  expectations  justly  founded  upon  the  promise  thus  sol- 
emnly made  to  this  Government  by  that  of  France,  were  not 
realized.  The  French  Chambers  met  on  the  31st  of  July,  1834, 
soon  after  the  election ;  and  although  our  Minister  in  Paris  urged 
the  French  Ministry  to  bring  the  subject  before  them,  they  de- 
clined doing  so.  He  next  insisted  that  the  Chambers,  if  pro- 
rogued Avithout  acting  on  the  subject,  should  be  reassembled  at  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  733 

period  so  early  that  their  action  on  the  treaty  might  be  known  in 
AVashingtou  prior  to  the  meeting  of  Congress.  This  reasonable 
request  was  not  only  declined,  but  the  Chambers  were  prorogued 
to  the  29th  of  December,  a  day  so  late,  that  their  decision,  how- 
ever urgently  pressed,  could  not,  in  all  probability,  be  obtained 
in  time  to  reach  AVashington  before  the  necessary  adjournment 
of  Congress,  by  the  Constitution.  The  reasons  given  by  the  Min- 
istry for  refusing  to  convoke  the  Chambers  at  an  earlier  period, 
were  afterward  shown  not  to  be  insuperable,  by  their  actual  con- 
vocation on  the  1st  of  December,  under  a  special  call  for  domestic 
purposes;  which  fact,  however,  did  not  become  known  to  this 
Government  until  after  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress. 

Thus  disappointed  in  our  just  expectations,  it  became  my  im- 
perative duty  to  consult  with  Congress  in  regard  to  the  expediency 
of  a  resort  to  retaliatory  measures,  in  case  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  should  not  be  speedily  complied  with ;  and  to  recommend 
such  as,  in  my  judgment,  the  occasion  called  for.  To  this  end  an 
unreserved  communication  of  the  case,  in  all  its  aspects,  became 
indispensable.  To  have  shrunk,  in  making  it,  from  saying  all 
that  was  necessary  to  its  correct  understanding,  and  that  the  truth 
would  justify,  for  fear  of  giving  offense  to  others  would  have  been 
unworthy  of  us.  To  have  gone,  on  the  other  hand,  a  single  step 
further,  for  the  purpose  of  wounding  the  pride  of  a  government 
and  people  with  whom  we  had  so  many  motives  for  cultivating 
relations  of  amity  and  reciprocal  advantage,  would  have  been  un- 
wise and  improper.  Admonished,  by  the  past,  of  the  difficulty 
of  making  even  the  simplest  statement  of  our  wrongs  without  dis- 
turbing the  sensibilities  of  those,  who  had  by  their  position  be- 
come responsible  for  their  redress,  and  earnestly  desirous  of  pre- 
venting further  obstacles  from  that  source,  I  went  out  of  my  way 
to  preclude  a  construction  of  the  message,  by  which  the  recom- 
mendation that  was  made  to  Congress  might  be  regarded  as  a 
menace  to  France,  in  not  only  disavowing  such  a  design,  but  in 
declaring  that  her  pride  and  her  power  were  too  well  known  to 
expect  anything  from  her  fears.  The  message  did  not  reach  Paris 
until  more  than  a  month  after  the  Chambers  had  been  in  session ; 
and  such  was  the  insensibility  of  the  Ministry  to  our^  rightful 
claims  and  just  expectations,  that  our  minister  had  been  infqrmed 
that  the  matter,  when  introduced,  would  not  be  pressed  as  a  cab- 
inet measure. 


734  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Although  the  message  was  not  officially  communicated  to  the 
French  Government,  and  notwithstanding  the  declaration  to  the 
contrary  which  it  contained,  the  French  Ministry  decided  to  con- 
sider the  conditional  recommendation  of  reprisals  a  menace  and 
an  insult,  which  the  honor  of  the  nation  made  it  incumbent  on 
them  to  resent.  The  measures  resorted  to  by  them  to  evince  their 
sense  of  the  supposed  indignity,  were  the  immediate  recall  of  their 
Minister  at  Washington,  the  offer  of  passports  to  the  American 
Minister  at  Paris,  and  a  public  notice  to  the  Legislative  Chambers 
that  all  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the  United  States  had  been 
suspended.  Having  in  this  manner  vindicated  the  dignity  of 
France,  they  next  proceeded  to  illustrate  her  justice.  To  this 
end  a  bill  was  immediately  introduced  into  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  proposing  to  make  the  appropriations  necessary  to  carry 
into  effect  the  treaty.  As  this  bill  subsequently  passed  into  a 
law,  the  provisions  of  which  now  constitute  the  main  subject  of 
difficulty  between  the  two  nations,  it  becomes  my  duty,  in  order 
to  place  the  subject  before  you  in  a  clear  light,  to  trace  the  his- 
tory of  its  passage,  and  to  refer  with  some  particularity  to  the 
proceedings  and  discussions  in  regard  to  it. 

The  Minister  of  Finance,  in  his  opening  speech,  alluded  to 
the  measures  which  had  been  adopted  to  resent  the  supposed  in- 
dignity, and  recommended  the  execution  of  the  treaty  as  a  meas- 
ure required  by  the  honor  and  justice  of  France.  He,  as  the 
organ  of  the  Ministry,  declared  the  message,  so  long  as  it  had  not 
received  the  sanction  of  Congress,  a  mere  expression  of  the  per- 
sonal opinion  of  the  President,  for  which  neither  the  Government 
nor  people  of  the  United  States  were  responsible,  and  that  an  en- 
gagement had  been  entered  into,  for  the  fulfillment  of  which  the 
honor  of  France  was  pledged.  Entertaining  these  views,  the 
single  condition  which  the  French  Ministry  proposed  to  annex  to 
the  payment  of  the  money  was,  that  it  should  not  be  made  until  it 
was  ascertained  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had 
done  nothing  to  injure  the  interests  of  France,  or,  in  other  words, 
that  no  steps  had  been  authorized  by  Congress  of  a  hostile  charac- 
ter toward  France. 

What  the  disposition  or  action  of  Congress  might  be  was  then 
unknown  to  the  French  Cabinet.  But  on  the  14th  of  January, 
the  Senate  resolved  that  it  was  at  that  time  inexpedient  to  adopt 
any  legislative  measures  in  regard  to  the  state  of  affairs  between 
the  United  States  and  France,  and  no  action  on  the  subject  had 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  735 

occurred  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  These  facts  were 
known  in  Paris  prior  to  the  28th  of  March,  1835,  when  the  com- 
mittee to  whom  the  bill  of  indemnification  had  been  referred  re- 
ported it  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  That  committee  substan- 
tially re-echoed  the  sentiments  of  the  Ministry,  declared  that  Con- 
gress had  set  aside  the  proposition  of  the  President,  and  recom- 
mended the  passage  of  the  bill  without  any  other  restriction  than 
that  originally  proposed.  Thus  was  it  known  to  the  French 
Ministry  and  Chambers,  that  if  the  position  assumed  by  them, 
and  which  had  been  so  frequently  and  solemnly  announced  as  the 
only  one  compatible  with  the  honor  of  France,  was  maintained, 
and  the  bill  passed  as  orignally  proposed,  the  money  would  be 
paid  and  there  would  be  an  end  of  this  vmfortunate  controversy. 

But  this  cheering  prospect  was  soon  destroyed  by  an  amend- 
ment introduced  into  the  bill  at  the  moment  of  its  passage,  provid- 
ing that  the  money  should  not  be  paid  until  the  French  Govern- 
ment had  received  satisfactory  explanations  of  the  President's 
message  of  the  2d  of  December,  1834;  and  what  is  still  more  ex- 
traordinary, the  President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  adopted 
this  amendment  and  consented  to  its  incorporation  in  the  bill.  In 
regard  to  a  supposed  insult  which  had  been  formally  resented  by 
the  recall  of  their  minister,  and  the  offer  of  passports  to  ours, 
they  now  for  the  first  time  proposed  to  ask  explanations.  Senti- 
ments and  propositions  which,  they  had  declared,  could  not  justly 
be  imputed  to  the  Government  or  people  of  the  United  States, 
are  set  up  as  obstacles  to  the  performance  of  an  act  of  conceded 
justice  to  that  Government  and  people.  They  had  declared  that 
the  honor  of  France  required  the  fulfillment  of  the  engagement 
into  which  the  king  had  entered,  unless  Congress  adopted  the  rec- 
ommendations of  the  message.  They  ascertained  that  Congress 
did  not  adopt  them,  and  yet  that  fulfillment  is  refused,  unless  they 
first  obtain  from  the  President  explanations  of  an  opinion  charac- 
terized by  themselves  as  personal  and  imperative. 

The  conception  that  it  was  my  intention  to  menace  or  insult 
the  Government  of  France,  is  as  unfounded  as  the  attempt  to  ex- 
tort from  the  fears  of  that  nation  what  her  sense  of  justice  may 
deny,  would  be  vain  and  ridiculous.  But  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  imposes  on  the  President  the  duty  of  laying  before 
Congress  the  condition  of  the  country  in  its  foreign  and  domestic  ' 
relations,  and  of  recommending  such  measures  as  may  in  his 
opinion  be  required  by  its  interests.     From  the  performance  of 


736  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

this  duty  he  can  not  be  deterred  by  the  fear  of  wounding  the  sen- 
sibilities of  the  people  or  government  of  whom  it  may  become 
necessary  to  speak — and  the  American  people  are  incapable  of 
submitting  to  an  interference  by  any  government  on  earth,  how- 
ever powerful,  with  the  free  performance  of  the  domestic  duties 
which  the  Constitution  has  imposed  on  their  public  functionaries. 
The  discussions  which  intervene  between  the  several  Departments 
of  our  Government  belong  to  ourselves,  and  for  anything  said  in 
them,  our  public  servants  are  only  responsible  to  their  own  con- 
stituents and  to  each  other.  If,  in  the  course  of  their  consulta- 
tions, facts  are  erroneously  stated,  or  unjust  deductions  are  made, 
they  require  no  other  inducement  to  correct  them,  however  in- 
formed of  their  error,  than  their  love  of  justice,  and  what  is  due 
to  their  own  character ;  but  they  can  never  submit  to  be  interro- 
gated upon  the  subject,  as  a  matter  of  right,  by  a  foreign  power. 
When  our  discussions  terminate  in  acts,  our  responsibility  to  for- 
eign powers  commences,  not  as  individuals,  but  as  a  nation.  The 
principle  which  calls  in  question  the  President  for  the  language 
of  his  message,  would  equally  justify  a  foreign  power  in  demand- 
ing explanation  of  the  language  used  in  the  report  of  a  commit- 
tee, or  by  a  member  in  debate. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  Government  of  France  has 
taken  exception  to  the  messages  of  American  Presidents.  Presi- 
dent Washington  and  the  first  President  Adams,  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties  to  the  American  people,  fell  under  the  ani- 
madversions of  the  French  Directory.  The  objection  taken  by  the 
Ministry  of  Charles  X,  and  removed  by  the  explanations  made 
by  our  Minister  upon  the  spot,  has  already  been  adverted  to. 
When  it  was  understood  that  the  Ministry  of  the  present  king 
took  exception  to  my  message  of  last  year,  putting  a  construction 
upon  it  which  was  disavowed  on  its  face,  our  late  ]Minister  at 
Paris,  in  answer  to  the  note  which  first  announced  a  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  language  used  in  the  message,  made  a  communica- 
tion to  the  French  Government  under  date  of  the  29th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1835,  calculated  to  remove  all  impressions  which  an  unrea- 
sonable susceptibility  had  created.  He  repeated  and  called  the 
attention  of  the  French  Government  to  the  disavowal  contained 
in  the  message  itself,  of  any  intention  to  intimidate  by  menace ; 
he  truly  declared  that  it  contained,  and  was  intended  to  contain, 
no  charge  of  ill  faith  against  the  king  of  the  French,  and  prop- 
erly distinguished  between  the  right  to  complain,  in  unexception- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  737 

able  terms,  of  the  omission  to  execute  an  agreement,  and  an  ac- 
cusation of  bad  motives  in  withholding  such  execution;  and 
demonstrated  that  the  necessary  use  of  that  right  ought  not  to  be 
considered  as  an  offensive  imputation.  Although  this  communi- 
cation was  made  without  instructions,  and  entirely  on  the  minis- 
ter's own  responsibility,  yet  it  was  afterward  made  the  act  of  this 
Government  by  my  full  approbation,  and  that  approbation  was 
officially  made  known  on  the  25th  of  April,  1835,  to  the  French 
Government.  It,  however,  failed  to  have  any  effect.  The  law, 
after  this  friendly  explanation,  passed  with  the  obnoxious  amend- 
ment, supported  by  the  king's  ministers,  and  was  finally  approved 
by  the  king. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  justly  attached  to  a  pa- 
cific system  in  their  intercourse  with  foreign  nations.  It  is  proper, 
therefore,  that' they  should  know  whether  their  Government  has 
adhered  to  it.  In  the  present  instance  it  has  been  carried  to  the 
utmost  extent  that  was  consistent  with  a  becoming  self-respect. 
The  note  on  the  29th  of  January,  to  which  I  have  before  alluded, 
was  not  the  only  one  which  our  minister  took  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  of  presenting  on  the  same  subject,  and  in  the  same 
spirit.  Finding  that  it  was  intended  to  make  the  payment  of  a 
just  debt  dependent  on  the  performance  of  a  condition  which  he 
knew  could  never  be  complied  with,  he  thought  it  a  duty  to  make 
another  attempt  to  convince  the  French  Government,  that  while 
self-respect  and  regard  to  the  dignity  of  other  nations  would  al- 
ways prevent  us  from  using  any  language  that  ought  to  give  of- 
fense, yet  we  could  never  admit  a  right  in  any  foreign  government 
to  ask  explanations  of  or  interfere  in  any  manner  in  tlie  commu- 
nications which  one  branch  of  our  public  councils  made  with 
another ;  that  in  the  present  case  no  such  language  had  been  used, 
and  that  this  had,  in  a  former  note,  been  fully  and  voluntarily 
stated  before  it  was  contemplated  to  make  the  explanation  a  con- 
dition ;  and  that  there  might  be  no  misapprehension,  he  stated 
the  terms  used  in  that  note,  and  he  officially  informed  them  that 
it  had  been  approved  by  the  President,  and  that  therefore  every 
explanation  which  could  reasonably  be  asked,  or  honorably  given, 
had  been  already  made  ;  that  the  contemplated  measure  had  been 
anticipated  by  a  voluntaiy  and  friendly  declaration,  and  was, 
therefore,  not  only  useless,  but  might  be  deemed  offensive,  and 
certainly  would  not  be  complied  with,  if  annexed  as  a  condition. 

When  this  latter  communication,   to  which  I  specially  invite 


738  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  attention  of  Congress,  was  laid  before  me,  I  entertained  the 
hope  that  the  means  it  was  obviously  intended  to  afford,  of  an 
honorable  and  speedy  adjustment  of  the  difficulties  between  the 
two  nations,  would  have  been  accepted ;  and  I  therefore  did  not 
hesitate  to  give  it  my  sanction  and  full  approbation.  This  was 
due  to  the  minister  who  had  made  himself  responsible  for  the  act ; 
and  it  was  published  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  is 
now  laid  before  their  representatives,  to  show  how  far  their  Exec- 
utive has  gone  in  its  endeavors  to  restore  a  good  understanding  be- 
tween the  two  countries.  It  would  have  been  at  any  time  communi- 
cated to  the  Government  of  France,  had  it  been  officially  requested. 

The  French  Government  having  received  all  the  explanation 
which  honor  and  principle  permitted,  and  which  could  in  reason 
be  asked,  it  was  hoped  it  would  no  longer  hesitate  to  pay  the  in- 
stallments now  due.  The  agent  authorized  to  receive  the  money 
was  instructed  to  inform  the  French  Ministry  of  his  readiness  to 
do  so.  In  reply  to  this  notice,  he  was  told  that  the  money  could 
not  then  be  paid,  because  the  formalities  required  by  the  act  of 
the  Chambers  had  not  been  arranged. 

Not  having  received  any  official  communication  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  French  Government,  and  anxious  to  bring,  as  far  as 
practicable,  this  unpleasant  affair  to  a  close  before  the  meeting  of 
Congress,  that  you  might  have  the  whole  subject  before  you,  I 
caused  our  charge  d'affaires  at  Paris  to  be  instructed  to  ask  for 
the  final  determination  of  the  French  Government;  and,  in  the 
event  of  their  refusal  to  pay  the  installments  now  due,  without 
further  explanations  to  return  to  the  United  States. 

The  result  of  this  last  application  has  not  yet  reached  us,  but 
is  daily  expected.  That  it  may  be  favorable  is  my  sincere  wish. 
France  having  now,  through  all  the  branches  of  her  government, 
acknowledged  the  validity  of  our  claims,  and  the  obligation  of 
the  treaty  of  1831,  and  there  really,  existing  no  adequate  cause 
for  further  delay,  will  at  length,  it  may  be  hoped,  adopt  the 
course  which  the  interests  of  both  nations,  not  less  than  the  prin- 
ciples of  justice,  so  imperiously  require.  The  treaty  being  once 
executed  on  her  part,  little  will  remain  to  disturb  the  friendly 
relations  of  the  two  countries;  nothing  indeed  which  will  not 
yield  to  the  suggestions  of  a  pacific  and  enlightened  policy,  and 
to  the  influence  of  that  mutual  good-will  and  of  those  generous 
recollections  which  we  may  confidently  expect-will  then  be  revived 
in  all  their  ancient  force.     In  any  event,  however,   the  principle 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  739 

involved  in  the  new  aspect  which  has  been  given  to  the  contro- 
versy, is  so  vitally  important  to  the  independent  administration  of 
the  Government,  that  it  can  neither  be  surrendered  nor  compro- 
mitted,  without  national  degradation.  I  hope  it  is  unnecessary 
for  me  to  say  that  such  a  sacrifice  will  not  be  made  through  any 
agency  of  mine.  The  honor  of  my  country  shall  never  be  stained 
by  an  apology  from  me,  for  the  statement  of  truth  and  the  per- 
formance of  duty  ;  nor  can  I  give  any  explanation  of  my  official 
acts,  except  such  as  is  due  to  integrity  and  justice,  and  consistent 
with  the  principles  on  which  our  institutions  have  been  framed. 
This  determination  will,  I  am  confident,  be  approved  by  my  con- 
stituents. I  have,  indeed,  studied  their  character  to  but  little  pur- 
pose, if  the  sum  of  twenty-five  millions  of  francs  will  have  the 
weight  of  a  feather,  in  the  estimation  of  what  appertains  to  their 
national  independence,  and  if,  unhappily,  a  different  impression 
should  at  any  time  obtain  in  any  quarter,  they  will,  I  am  sure, 
rally  around  the  Government  of  their  choice  with  alacrity  and 
unanimity,  and  silence  forever  the  degrading  imputation. 

Having  thus  frankly  presented  to  you  the  circumstances  which, 
since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  have  occurred  in  this  interesting 
and  important  matter,  with  the  views  of  the  Executive  in  regard 
to  them,  it  is  at  this  time  only  necessary  to  add,  that  whenever 
the  advices  now  daily  expected  from  our  charge  d'afl^aires  shall 
have  been  received,  they  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  special 
communication. 

The  condition  of  the  public  finances  was  never  more  flattering 
than  at  the  present  period. 

Since  my  last  annual  communication,  all  the  remains  of  the 
public  debt  have  been  redeemed,  or  money  has  been  placed  in 
deposit  for  this  purpose,  whenever  the  creditors  choose  to  receive 
it.  All  the  other  pecuniary  engagements  of  the  Government 
have  been  honorably  and  promptly  fulfilled,  and  there  will  be  a 
balance  in  the  Treasury  at  the  close  of  the  present  year  of  about 
nineteen  millions  of  dollars.  It  is  believed  that,  after  meeting  all 
outstanding  and  unexpended  appropriations,  there  will  remain 
near  eleven  millions  of  dollars  to  be  applied  to  any  new  objects 
which  Congress  may  designate,  or  to  the  more  rapid  execution  of 
the  works  already  in  progress.  In  aid  of  these  objects  and  to  sat- 
isfy the  current  expenditures  of  the  ensuing  year,  it  is  estimated 
that  there  will  be  received,  from  various  sources,  twenty  millions 
of  dollars  more,  in  1836. 


740  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Should  Congress  make  new  appropriations,  in  conformity  with 
the  estimates  which  will  be  submitted  from  the  proper  depart- 
ments, amounting  to  about  twenty-four  millions  of  dollars,  still 
the  available  surplus,  at  the  close  of  the  next  year,  after  deduct- 
ing all  unexpended  appropriations,  will  probably  be  not  less  than 
six  millions  of  dollars.  This  sum  can,  in  my  judgment,  be  now 
usefully  applied  to  proposed  improvements  in  our  navy-yards,  and 
to  new  national  works,  which  are  not  enumerated  in  the  present 
estimates,  or  to  the  more  rapid  completion  of  those  already  be- 
gun. Either  would  be  Constitutional  and  useful,  and  would  ren- 
der unnecessary  any  attempt  in  our  present  and  peculiar  condition, 
to  divide  the  surplus  revenue,  or  to  reduce  it  any  faster  than  will 
be  effected  by  the  existing  laws.  In  any  event,  as  the  annual 
report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  enter  into  details, 
showing  the  probability  of  some  decrease  in  the  revenue  during 
the  next  seven  years,  and  a  very  considerable  deduction  in  1842, 
it  is  not  recommended  that  Congress  should  undertake  to  modify 
the  present  tariff  so  as  to  disturb  the  principles  on  which  the  com- 
promise act  was  passed.  Taxation  on  some  of  the  articles  of  gen- 
eral consumption,  which  are  not  in  competition  with  our  own 
productions,  may  be,  no  doubt,  so  diminished  as  to  lessen  to  some 
extent  the  source  of  this  revenue ;  and  the  same  object  can  also 
be  assisted  by  more  liberal  provisions  for  the  subjects  of  public 
defense,  which,  in  the  present  state  of  our  prosperity  and  wealth, 
may  be  expected  to  engage  your  attention.  If,  however,  after 
satisfying  all  the  demands  which  can  arise  from  these  sources,  the 
unexpended  balance  in  the  Treasury  should  still  continue  to  in- 
crease, it  would  be  better  to  bear  with  the  evil  until  the  great 
changes  contemplated  in  our  tariff  laws  have  occurred,  and  shall 
enable  us  to  revise  the  system  with  that  care  and  circumspection 
which  are  due  to  so  delicate  and  important  a  subject. 

It  is  certainly  our  duty  to  diminish,  as  far  as  we  can,  the 
burdens  of  taxation,  and  to  regard  all  the  restrictions  which  are 
imposed  on  the  trade  and  navigation  of  our  citizens  as  evils  which 
we  shall  mitigate  whenever  we  are  not  prevented  by  the  adverse 
legislation  and  policy  of  foreign  nations,  or  those  primary  duties 
which  the  defense  and  independence  of  our  country  enjoiu  upon 
us.  That  we  have  accomplished  much  toward  the  relief  of  our 
citizens  by  the  changes  which  have  accompanied  the  payment  of 
the  pu])lic  debt,  and  the  adoption  of  the  present  revenue  laws,  is 
manifest  from   the   fact    that,   compared   with    1833,  there  is   a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  741 

diminution  of  near  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars  in  the  last  two 
years,  and  that  our  expenditures,  independently  of  those  for  the 
public  debt,  have  been  reduced  near  nine  millions  of  dollars  dur- 
ing the  same  period.  Let  us  trust  that,  by  the  continued  observ- 
ance of  economy  and  by  harmonizing  the  great  interests  of  agri- 
culture, manufactures,  and  commerce,  much  more  may  be  accom- 
plished to  diminish  the  burdens  of  Government,  and  to  increase 
still  further  the  enterprise  and  patriotic  affection  of  all  classes  of 
our  citizens,  and  all  the  members  of  our  happy  confederacy.  As 
the  data  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  lay  before  you, 
in  regard  to  our  financial  resources,  are  full  and  extended,  and 
•will  afford  a  safe  guide  in  our  future  calculations,  I  think  it  un- 
necessary to  oflfer  any  further  observations  on  that  subject   here. 

Among  the  evidences  of  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try, not  the  least  gratifying  is  that  afforded  by  the  receipts  from 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  which  amount,  in  the  present  year, 
to  the  unexpected  sum  of  eleven  millions  of  dollars.  This  cir- 
cumstance attests  the  rapidity  with  which  agriculture,  the  first 
and  most  important  occupation  of  man,  advances,  and  contributes 
to  the  wealth  and  power  of  our  extended  territory.  Being  still 
of  the  opinion  that  it  is  our  best  policy,  as  far  as  we  can,  consist- 
ently with  the  obligations  under  which  those  lands  were  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  to  promote  their  speedy  settlement,  I  beg 
leave  to  call  the  attention  of  the  present  Congress  to  the  sugges- 
tions I  have  offered  respecting  it,  in  ray  former  messages. 

The  extraordinary  receipts  from  the  sales  of  public  lands  in- 
vite you  to  consider  what  improvements  the  land  system,  and 
particularly  the  condition  of  the  general  land  office  may  require. 
At  the  time  this  institution  was  organized,  near  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  it  would  probably  be  thought  extravagant  to  antici- 
pate, for  this  period,  such  an  addition  to  its  business  as  has  been 
produced  by  the  vast  increase  of  those  sales  during  the  past  and 
present  years.  It  may  also  be  observed  that,  since  the  year  1812, 
the  land  offices  and  surveying  districts  have  been  greatly  multi- 
plied, and  that  numerous  legislative  enactments,  from  year  to 
year  since  that  time,  have  imposed  a  great  amount  of  new  and 
additional  duties  upon  that  office,  while  the  want  of  a  timely  ap- 
plication of  force,  commensurate  with  the  care  and  labor  required, 
has  caused  the  increasing  embarrassment  of  accumulated  arrears 
in  the  different  branches  of  the  establishment. 

These  impediments  to  the  expedition   of   much   duty  in   the 


742  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

General  Land  Office,  induce  me  to  submit  to  your  judgment, 
whether  some  modification  of  the  laws  relating  to  its  organization, 
or  an  organization  of  a  new  character  be  not  called  for  at  the 
present  juncture,  to  enable  the  office  to  accomplish  all  the  ends 
of  its  institution  with  a  greater  degree  of  facility  and  prompti- 
tude than  experience  has  proved  to  be  practicable  under  existing 
regulations.  The  variety  of  the  concerns,  and  the  magnitude 
and  complexity  of  the  details  occupying  and  dividing  the  atten- 
tion of  the  commissioners,  appear  to  render  it  difficult,  if  not 
impracticable  for  that  officer,  by  any  possible  assiduity,  to  bestow 
on  all  the  multifarious  subjects,  upon  which  he  is  called  to  act, 
the  ready  and  careful  attention  due  to  their  respective  import- 
ance, unless  the  Legislature  shall  assist  him  by  a  law  providing, 
or  enabling  him  to  provide,  for  a  more  regular  and  economical 
distribution  of  labor,  with  the  incident  responsibility  among  those 
employed  under  his  direction.  The  mere  manual  operation  of 
affixing  his  signature  to  the  vast  number  of  documents  issuing 
from  his  office,  subtracts  so  largely  from  the  time  and  attention 
claimed  by  the  weighty  and  complicated  subjects  daily  accumu- 
lating in  that  branch  of  the  public  service,  as  to  indicate  the 
strong  necessity  of  revising  the  organic  law  of  the  establishment. 
It  will  be  easy  for  Congress,  hereafter,  to  proportion  the  expen- 
diture on  account  of  this  branch  of  the  service  to  its  real  wants, 
by  abolishing  from  time  to  time  the  offices  which  can  be  dis- 
pensed with. 

The  extinction  of  the  public  debt  having  taken  place,  there 
is  no  longer  any  use  for  the  offices  of  commissioners  of  loans  and 
of  the  sinking  fund.  I  recommend,  therefore,  that  they  be  abol- 
ished, and  that  proper  measures  be  taken  for  the  transfer  to  the 
Treasury  Department  of  any  funds,  books,  and  papers,  connected 
with  the  operations  of  these  officers ;  and  that  the  proper  power 
be  given  to  that  department  for  closing  finally  any  portion  of 
their  business  which  may  remain  to  be  settled. 

It  is  also  incumbent  on  Congress,  in  guarding  the  pecuniary 
interests  of  the  country,  to  discontinue,  by  such  a  law  as  was 
passed  in  1812,  the  receipt  of  the  bills  ot  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  in  payment  of  the  public  revenue;  and  to  provide 
for  the  designation  of  an  agent  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take 
charge  of  the  books  and  stock  of  the  United  States  in  that 
institution,  and  to  close  all  connection  with  it  after  the  3d 
of  March,  1836,  when  its  charter  expires.     In  making  provision 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  743 

in  regard  to  the  disposition  of  this  stock,  it  will  be  essential  to 
define  clearly  and  strictly  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  officers 
charged  with  tliat  "branch  of  the  public  service. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  correspondence  which  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  will  lay  before  you,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
large  amount  of  the  stock  which  the  United  States  hold  in  that 
institution,  no  information  has  yet  been  communicated  which  will 
enable  the  Government  to  anticipate  when  it  can  receive  any 
dividends,  or  derive  any  benefit  from  it. 

Connected  with  the  condition  of  the  finances,  and  the  flour- 
ishing state  of  the  country  in  all  its  branches  of  industry,  it  is 
pleasing  to  witness  the  advantages  which  have  been  already  de- 
rived from  the  recent  laws  regulating  the  value  of  the  gold  coin- 
age. These  advantages  will  be  more  apparent  in  the  course  of 
the  next  year,  when  the  branch  mints  authorized  to  be  established 
in  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Louisiana,  shall  have  gone  into 
operation.  Aided,  as  it  is  hoped  they  will  be,  by  further  reforms 
in  the  banking  system  of  the  States,  and  by  judicious  regula- 
tions on  the  part  of  Congress,  in  relation  to  the  custody  of  the 
public  moneys,  it  may  be  confidently  anticipated  that  the  use  of 
gold  and  silver,  as  a  circulating  medium,  will  become  general  in 
the  ordinary  transactions  connected  with  the  labor  of  the  coun- 
try. .  The  great  desideratum,  in  modern  times,  is  an  efficient 
check  upon  the  power  of  banks,  preventing  that  excessive  issue 
of  paper,  whence  arise  those  fluctuations  in  the  standard  of  value 
which  render  uncertain  the  rewards  of  labor.  It  was  supposed 
by  those  who  established  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  that 
from  the  credit  given  to  it  from  the  custody  of  the  public  moneys, 
and  other  privileges,  and  the  precautions  taken  to  guard  against 
the  evils  which  the  country  had  sufiered  in  the  bankruptcy  of 
many  of  the  State  institutions  at  that  period,  we  should  derive 
from  that  institution  all  the  security  and  benefits  of  a  sound  cur- 
rency, and  every  good  end  that  was  attainable  under  that  pro- 
vision of  the  Constitution  which  authorizes  Congress  alone  to  coin 
money  and  regulate  the  value  thereof.  But  it  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary now  to  say  that  these  anticipations  have  not  been  realized. 

After  the  extensive  embarrassment  and  distress  recently  pro- 
duced by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  from  which  the  country 
is  now  recovering,  aggravated  as  they  were  by  pretensions  to 
power  which  defied  the  public  authority,  and  which,  if  acquiesced 
in    by    the    people,  would    have    changed   the   whole    character 


744  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

of  our  Government,  every  candid  and  intelligent  individual  must 
admit  that,  for  the  attainment  of  the  great  advantages  of  a  sound 
currency,  we  must  look  to  a  course  of  legislation  radically  differ- 
ent from  that  which  created  such  an  institution. 

In  considering  the  means  of  obtaining  so  important  an  end, 
we  must  set  aside  all  calculations  of  temporary  convenience,  and 
be  influenced  by  those  only  which  are  in  harmony  with  the  true 
character  and  the  permanent  interests  of  the  republic.  We  must 
recur  to  first  principles,  and  see  what  it  is  that  has  prevented  the 
legislation  of  Congress  and  the  States,  on  the  subject  of  cur- 
rency, from  satisfying  the  public  expectation,  and  realizing  re- 
sults corresponding  to  those  which  have  attended  the  action  of 
our  system  when  truly  consistent  with  the  great  principle  of 
equality  upon  which  it  rests,  and  with  that  spirit  of  forbearance 
and  mutual  concession,  and  generous  patriotism,  which  was 
originally,  and  must  ever  continue  to  be,  the  vital  element  of 
our  Union. 

On  this  subject,  I  am  sure  that  I  can  not  be  mistaken,  in 
ascribing  our  want  of  success  to  the  undue  continuance  which 
has  been  afforded  to  the  spirit  of  monopoly.  All  the  serious  dan- 
gers which  our  system  has  yet  encountered  may  be  traced  to  the 
resort  to  implied  powers,  and  the  use  of  corporations  clothed 
with  privileges,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.  We  have  felt  but  one 
class  of  these  dangers  exhibited  in  the  contest  waged  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  against  the  Government,  for  the  last  four 
years.  Happily  they  have  been  obviated  for  the  pi-esent  by  the 
indignant  resistance  of  the  people ;  but  we  should  recollect  that 
the  principle  whence  they  sprung  is  an  ever-active  one,  which  will 
not  fail  to  renew  its  efforts  in  the  same  and  in  other  forms,  so 
long  as  there  is  a  hope  of  success,  founded  either  on  the  inatten- 
tion of  the  people,  or  the  treachery  of  their  representatives,  to 
the  subtle  progress  of  its  influence. 

The  Bank  is,  in  fact,  but  one  of  the  fruits  of  a  system  at  war 
with  the  genius  of  all  our  institutions,  a  system  founded  upon  a 
political  creed,  the  fundamental  principle  of  which  is  a  distrust 
of  the  popular  will  as  a  safe  regulator  of  political  power,  and 
whose  great  ultimate  object,  and  inevitable  result,  should  it  pre- 
vail, is  the  consolidation  of  all  power  in  our  system  in  one  cen- 
tral government.  Lavish  public  disbursements,  and  corporations 
with  exclusive  privileges,  would  be  its  substitutes  for  the  original 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  745 

and  as  yet  sound  checks  and  balances  of  the  Constitution,  the 
means  by  whose  silent  and  secret  operation,  a  control  would  be 
exercised  by  a  few  over  the  political  conduct  of  the  many,  by 
first  acquiring  that  control  over  the  labor  and  earnings  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people.  Wherever  this  spirit  has  effected  an 
alliance  with  political  power,  tyranny  and  despotism  have  been 
the  fruit.  If  it  is  ever  used  for  the  ends  of  government,  it  has 
to  be  incessantly  watched,  or  it  corrupts  the  sources  of  the  pub- 
lic virtue,  and  agitates  the  country  with  questions  unfavorable  to 
the  harmonious  and  steady  pursuit  of  its  true  interests. 

We  are  now  to  see  whether,  in  the  present  favorable  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  we  can  not  take  an  effectual  stand  against 
this  spirit  of  monopoly,  and  practically  prove,  in  respect  to  the 
currency  as  well  as  other  important  interests,  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  so  extensive  a  resort  to  it  as  that  which  has  been 
heretofore  practiced.  The  experience  of  another  year  has  con- 
firmed the  utter  fallacy  of  the  idea  that  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  was  necessary  as  a  fiscal  agent  of  the  Government. 
Without  its  aid,  as  such,  indeed,  in  despite  of  all  th«  embarrass- 
ments it  was  in  its  power  to  create,  the  revenue  has  been  paid 
with  punctuality  by  our  citizens;  the  business  of  exchange,  both 
foreign  and  domestic,  has  been  conducted  with  convenience,  and 
the  circulating  medium  has  been  greatly  improved.  By  the  use 
of  the  State  banks,  which  do  not  derive  their  charters  from  the 
General  Government,  and  are  not  controlled  by  its  authority,  it 
is  ascertained  that  the  moneys  of  the  United  States  can  be  col- 
lected and  disbursed  without  loss  or  inconvenience,  and  that  all 
the  wants  of  the  community,  in  relation  to  exchange  and  cur- 
rency, are  supplied  as  well  as  they  have  ever  been  before.  If, 
under  circumstances  the  most  unfavoraTale  to  the  steadiness  of 
the 'money  market,  it  has  been  found  that  the  considerations  on 
which  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  rested  its  claims  to  the 
public  favor,  were  imaginary  and  groundless,  it  can  not  be 
doubted  that  the  experience  of  the  future  will  be  more  decisive 
against  them. 

It  has  been  seen  that,  without  the  agency  of  a  great  moneyed 
monopoly,  the  revenue  can  be  collected,  and  conveniently  and 
safely  applied  to  all  the  purposes  of  the  public  expenditure.  It  is 
also  ascertained  that,  instead  of  being  necessarily  made  to  pro- 
mote the  evils  of  an  unchecked  paper  system,  the  management 
of  the  revenue  can  be  made  auxiliary  to  the  reform  which  the 


746  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Legislatures  of  several  of  the  States  have  already  commenced  in 
regard  to  the  suppression  of  small  bills;  and  which  has  only  to 
be  fostered  by  proper  regulations  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  se- 
cure a  practical  return,  to  the  extent  required  for  the  security  of 
the  currency,  to  the  Constitutional  medium.  Severed  from  the 
Government  as  political  engines,  and  not  susceptible  of  danger- 
ous extension  and  combination,  the  State  banks  will  not  be 
tempted,  nor  will  they  have  the  power  which  we  have  seen  exer- 
cised, to  divert  the  public  funds  from  the  legitimate  purposes  of 
the  Government.  The  collection  and  custody  of  the  revenue 
being,  on  the  contrary,  a  source  of  credit  to  them,  will  increase 
the  security  which  the  States  provide  for  a  faithful  execution  of 
their  trusts,  by  multiplying  the  scrutinies  to  which  their  opera- 
tions and  accounts  will  be  subjected. 

Thus  disposed,  as  well  from  interest  as  the  obligations  of  their 
charters,  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  such  conditions  as  Congress 
may  see  fit  to  adopt  respecting  the  deposits  in  these  institutions, 
with  a  view  to  the  gradual  disuse  of  the  small  bills,  will  be 
cheerfully  complied  with,  and  that  we  shall  soon  gain,  in  place 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  a  practical  reform  in  the 
whole  paper  system  of  the  country.  If,  by  this  policy,  we  can 
ultimately  witness  the  suppression  of  all  bank  bills  below  twenty 
dollars,  it  is  apparent  that  gold  and  silver  will  take  their  place, 
and  become  the  principal  circulating  medium  in  the  common 
business  of  the  farmers  and  mechanics  of  the  country.  The  at- 
tainment of  such  a  result  will  form  an  era  in  the  history  of  our 
country  which  will  be  dwelt  upon  with  delight  by  every  true 
friend  of  its  liberty  and  independence.  It  will  lighten  the  great 
tax  which  our  paper  system  has  so  long  collected  from  the  earn- 
ings of  labor,  and  do  moVe  to  revive  and  perpetuate  those  habits 
of  economy  and  simplicity  which  are  so  congenial  to  the  charac- 
ter of  republicans,  than  all  the  legislation  which  has  yet  been 
attempted. 

To  this  subject  I  feel  that  I  can  not  too  earnestly  invite  tlie 
special  attention  of  Congress,  without  the  exercise  of  whose 
authority  the  opportunity  to  accomplish  so  much  public  good 
must  pass  unimproved.  Deeply  impressed  with  its  vital  impor- 
tance, the  Executive  has  taken  all  the  steps  within  his  Constitu- 
tional power,  to  guard  the  public  revenue,  and  defeat  the 
expectations  which  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  indulged,  of 
renewing  and   perpetuating  its  monopoly,  on  the  ground  of  its 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  747 

necessity  as  a  fiscal  agent,  aud  as  affording  a  sounder  currency 
than  could  be  obtained  without  such  an  institution.  In  the  per- 
formance of  this  duty,  much  responsibility  was  incurred  which 
would  have  been  gladly  avoided,  if  the  stake  which  the  public 
had  in  the  question  could  have  been  otherwise  preserved.  Al- 
though clothed  with  the  legal  authority,  and  supported  by  prece- 
dent, I  was  aware  that  there  was  in  the  act  of  the  removal  of  the 
deposits  a  liability  to  excite  that  sensitiveness  to  executive  power 
which  it  is  the  characteristic  and  the  duty  of  freemen  to  indulge ; 
but  I  relied  on  this  feeling  also,  directed  by  patriotism  and  intel- 
ligence, to  vindicate  the  conduct  which  in  the  end  would  appear 
to  have  been  called  for  by  the  best  interests  of  my  country.  The 
apprehensions  natural  to  this,  feeling,  that  there  may  have  been  a 
desire,  through  the  instrumentality  of  that  measure,  to  extend 
the  Executive  influence,or  that  it  may  have  been  prompted  by 
motives  not  sufficiently  free  from  ambition,  were  not  overlooked. 

Under  the  operation  of  our  institutions,  the  public  servant 
who  is  called  on  to  take  a  step  of  high  responsibility,  should  feel 
in  the  freedom  which  gives  rise  to  such  apprehensions,  his  high- 
est security.  When  unfounded,  the  attention  which  they  arouse 
and  the  discussions  they  excite,  deprive  those  who  indulge  them 
of  the  power  to  do  harm;  when  just,  they  but  hasten  the  cer- 
tainty with  which  the  great  body  of  our  citizens  never  fail  to 
repel  an  attempt  to  procure  their  sanction  to  any  exercise  of 
power  inconsistent  with  the  jealous  maintenance  of  their  rights. 
Under  such  convictions,  and  entertaining  no  doubt  that  my  Con- 
stitutional obligations  demanded  the  steps  which  were  taken  in 
reference  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits,  it  was  impossible  for  me 
to  be  deterred  from  the  path  of  duty  by  a  fear  that  ray  motives 
could  be  misjudged,  or  that  political  prejudices  could  defeat  the 
just  considerations  of  the  merits  of  my  conduct.  The  result  has 
shown  how  safe  is  this  reliance  upon  the  patriotic  temper  and 
enlightened  discernment  of  the  people.  That  measure  has  now 
been  before  them,  and  has  stood  the  test  of  all  the  severe 
analysis  which  its  general  importance,  the  interests  it  affected,  and 
the  apprehensions  it  excited,  were  calculated  to  produce;  and  it 
now  remains  for  Congress  to  consider  what  legislation  has  become 
necessary  in  consequence. 

I  need  only  add,  to  what  I  have  on  former  occasions  said  on 
this  subject  generally,  that  in  the  regulations  which  Congress  may 
prescribe  respecting  the  custody  of  the  public  moneys,  it  is  desir- 


748  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

able  that  as  little  discretion  as  may  be  deemed  consistent  with  their 
safekeeping  should  be  given  to  the  executive  agents.  No  one  can 
be  more  deeply  impressed  than  I  am  with  the  soundness  of  the 
doctrine  which  restrains  and  limits,  by  specific  provisions,  executive 
discretion,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  its  constitutional  character.  In  respect  to  the  control  over 
the  public  money,  this  doctrine  is  peculiarly  applicable,  and  is  in 
harmony  with  the  great  principle  which  I  felt  I  was  sustaining  in 
the  controversy  with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  has 
resulted  in  severing,  to  some  extent,  a  dangerous  connection  be- 
tween a  moneyed  and  political  power.  The  duty  of  the  Legisla- 
ture to  define,  by  clear  and  positive  enactment,  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  action  which  it  belongs  to  the  Executive  to  super- 
intend, springs  out  of  a  policy  analogous  to  that  which  enjoins 
upon  all  the  branches  of  the  Federal  Government  an  abstinence 
from  the  exercise  of  powers  not  clearly  granted. 

In  such  a  Government,  possessing  only  limited  and  specific 
powers,  the  spirit  of  its  general  administration  can  not  be  wise  or 
just,  when  it  opposes  the  reference  of  all  doubtful  points  to  the 
great  source  of  authority,  the  States  and  the  people,  whose  num- 
ber and  diversified  relations,  securing  them  against  the  influences 
and  excitements  which  may  mislead  their  agents,  make  them  the 
safest  depository  of  power.  In  its  application  to  the  Executive, 
with  reference  to  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  the 
same  rule  of  action  should  make  the  President  ever  anxious  to 
avoid  the  exercise  of  any  discretionary  authority  which  can  be 
regulated  by  Congress.  The  biases  which  may  operate  upon  him 
will  not  be  so  likely  to  extend  to  the  representatives  of  the  people 
in  that  body. 

In  my  former  messages  to  Congress,  I  have  repeatedly  urged 
the  propriety  of  lessening  the  discretionary  authority  lodged  in 
the  various  departments,  but  it  has  produced  no  efiect  as  yet,  ex- 
cept the  discontinuance  of  extra  allowances  in  the  army  and  navy, 
and  the  substitution  of  fixed  salaries  in  the  latter.  It  is  believed 
that  the  same  principle  could  be  advantageously  applied  in  all 
cases,  and  would  promote  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  the  pub- 
lic service,  and  at  the  same  time  that  greater  satisfaction  and 
more  equal  justice  would  be  secured  to  the  public  officers  generally. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will  put 
you  in  possession  of  the  operations  of  the  Department  confided  to 
his  care,  in  all  its  diversified  relations,  during  the  past  year. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  749 

I  am  gratified  in  being  able  to  inform  you  that  no  occurrence 
has  required  any  movement  of  the  military  force,  except  such  as 
is  common  to  a  state  of  peace.  The  services  of  the  army  have 
been  limited  to  their  usual  duties  at  the  various  garrisons  upon 
the  Atlantic  and  inland  frontiers,  with  the  exceptions  stated  by 
the  Secretary  of  War.  Our  small  military  establishment  appears 
to  be  adequate  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  maintained,  and  it 
forms  a  nucleus  around  which  any  additional  force  may  be  col- 
lected, should  the  public  exigencies  unfortunately  require  any  in- 
crease of  our  military  means. 

The  various  acts  of  Congress  which  have  been  recently  passed 
in  relation  to  the  army,  have  improved  its  condition,  and  have 
rendered  its  organization  more  useful  and  efficient.  It  is  at  all 
times  in  a  state  for  prompt  and  vigorous  action,  and  it  contains 
within  itself  the  power  of  extension  to  any  useful  limit,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  preserves  that  knowledge,  both  theoretical  and 
practical,  which  education  and  experience  alone  can  give,  and 
which,  if  not  acquired  and  preserved  in  time  of  peace,  must  be 
sought  under  great  disadvantages  in  time  of  war. 

The  duties  of  the  engineer  corps  press  heavily  upon  that 
branch  of  the  service  ;  and  the  public  interest  requires  an  addition 
to  its  strength.  The  nature  of  the  works  in  which  the  officers  are 
engaged  render  necessary  professsional  knowledge  and  experience, 
and  there  is  no  economy  in  committing  to  them  more  duties  than 
they  can  perform,  or  in  assigning  these  to  other  persons  temporarily 
employed,  and  too  often,  of  necessity,  without  all  the  qualifica- 
tions which  such  service  demands.  I  recommend  this  subject  to 
your  attention,  and  also  the  proposition  submitted  at  the  last  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  and  now  renewed,  for  a  reorganization  of  the 
topographical  corps.  This  reorganization  can  be  efl[ected  without 
any  addition  to  the  present  expenditure,  and  with  much  advan- 
tage to  the  public  service.  The  branch  of  duties  which  devolves 
upon  these  officers  is  at  all  times  interesting  to  the  community, 
and  the  information  furnished  by  them  is  useful  in  peace  and 
in  war. 

Much  loss  and  inconvenience  have  been  experienced  in  con- 
sequence of  the  failure  of  the  bill  containing  the  ordinary  appro- 
priations for  fortifications  which  passed  one  branch  of  the  National 
Legislature  at  the  last  session,  but  was  lost  in  the  other.  This 
failure  was  the  more  regretted,  not  only  because  it  necessarily  in- 
terrupted   and    delayed    the    progress  of  a   system    of  national 


750  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

defense,  projected  immediately  after  the  last  war,  and  since  steadily 
pursued,  but  also  because  it  contained  a  contingent  appropriation, 
inserted  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  Executive  in  aid  of 
this  important  object,  and  other  branches  of  the  national  defense, 
some  portions  of  which  might  have  been  most  usefully  applied 
during  the  past  season.  I  invite  your  early  attention  to  that  part 
of  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  which  relates  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  recommend  an  appropriation  sufficiently  liberal  to  accel- 
erate the  armament  of  the  fortifications,  agreeably  to  the  propo- 
sition submitted  by  him,  and  to  place  our  whole  Atlantic  sea- 
board in  a  complete  state  of  defense.  A  just  regard  to  the 
permanent-  interests  of  the  country  evidently  requires  this  meas- 
ure ;  but  there  are  also  other  reasons  which  at  the  present  juncture 
give  it  peculiar  force,  and  make  it  my  duty  to  call  to  the  subject 
your  special  consideration. 

The  present  §ystem  of  military  education  has  been  in  operation 
sufficiently  long  to  test  its  usefulness,  and  it  has  given  to  the 
army  a  valuable  body  of  officers.  It  is  not  alone  in  the  improve- 
ment, discipline,  and  operation  of  the  troops,  that  these  officers 
are  employed.  They  are  also  extensively  engaged  in  the  admin- 
istrative and  fiscal  concerns  of  the  various  matters  confided  to  the 
War  Department ;  in  the  execution  of  the  staff  duties  usually  ap- 
pertaining to  the  military  organization  ;  in  the  removal  of  the 
Indians,  and  in  the  disbursement  of  the  various  expenditures 
growing  out  of  our  Indian  relations;  in  the  formation  of  roads, 
and  in  the  improvement  of  harbors  and  rivers ;  in  the  construc- 
tion of  fortifications,  in  the  fabrication  of  much  of  the  material 
required  for  the  public  defense,  and  in  the  preservation,  distribu- 
tion, and  accountability  of  the  whole,  and  in  other  miscellaneous 
duties  not  admitting  of  classification. 

These  diversified  functions  embrace  very  heavy  expenditures 
of  public  money,  and  require  fidelity,  science,^and  business  habits, 
in  their  execution  ;  aud  a  system  which  shall  secure  these  qualifi- 
cations is  demanded  by  the  public  interest.  That  this  object  has 
been  in  a  great  measure  obtained  by  the  military  academy  is  shown 
by  the  state  of  the  service,  and  by  the  prompt  accountability 
which  has  generally  followed  the  necessary  advances.  Like  all 
other  political  systems,  the  present  mode  of  military  education, 
no  doubt,  has  its  imperfections,  both  of  principle  and  practice  ; 
but  I  trust  these  can  be  improved  by  rigid  inspections  and  by 
legislative  scrutiny,  without  destroying  the  institution  itself. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  751 

Occurrences  to  which  we,  as  well  as  all  other  nations,  are  liable, 
both  in  our  internal  and  external  relations,  poiiit  to  the  necessity 
of  an  efficient  organization  of  the  militia.  I  am  again  induced 
by  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  bring  it  to  your  attention.  To 
suppress  domestic  violence,  and  to  repel  foreign  invasion,  should 
these  calamities  overtake  us,  we  must  rely  in  the  first  instance 
upon  the  great  body  of  the  community,  whose  will  has  instituted, 
and  whose  power  must  support,  the  Government. 

A  large  standing  military  force  is  not  consonant  to  the  spirit  of 
our  institutions,  nor  to  the  feelings  of  our  countrymen  ;  and  the 
lessons  of  former  days,  and  those  also  of  our  own  times,  show  the 
danger  as  well  as  the  enormous  expense  of  these  permanent  and 
extensive  military  organizations.  That  just  medium  which  avoids 
an  inadequate  preparation  on  one  hand,  and  the  danger  and  ex- 
pense of  a  large  force  on  the  other,  is  what  our  constituents  have 
a  right  to  expect  from  their  Government.  This  object  can  be  at- 
tained only  by  the  maintenance  of  a  small  military  force,  and  by 
such  an  organization  of  the  physical  strength  of  the  country 
as  may  bring  this  power  into  operation,  whenever  its  services  are 
required. 

A  classification  of  the  population  ofiers  the  most  obvious  means 
of  effecting  this  organization.  Such  a  division  may  be  made  as 
will  be  just  to  all,  by  transferring  each  at  a  proper  period  of  life 
from  one  class  to  another,  and  by  calling  first  for  the  services  of 
that  class,  whether  for  instruction  or  action,  which,  from  age,  is 
qualified  for  the  duty,  and  may  be  called  to  perform  it  with  least 
injury  to  themselves  or  to  the  public.  Should  the  danger  ever  be- 
come so  imminent  as  to  require  additional  force,  the  other  classes 
in  succession  would  be  ready  for  the  call.  And  if,  in  addition  to 
this  organization,  voluntary  associations  were  encouraged,  and  in- 
ducements held  out  for  their  formation,  our  militia  would  be  in  a 
state  of  efficient  service. 

Now,  when  we  are  at  peace,  is  the  proper  time  to  digest  and 
establish  a  practicable  system.  The  object  is  certainly  worth  the 
experiment,  and  worth  the  expense.  No  one,  appreciating  the 
benefits  of  a  republican  Government,  can  object  to  his  share  of 
the  burden  which  such  a  plan  may  impose.  Indeed  a  moderate 
portion  of  the  national  funds  could  scarcely  be  better  applied 
than  carrying  into  effect  and  continuing  such  an  arrangement, 
and  in  giving  the  necessary  elementary  instruction.  We  are 
happily  at  peace  with  all  the  world.    A  sincere  desire  to  continue 


752  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

so,  and  a  fixed  determination  to  give  no  just  cause  of  offense  to 
other  nations,  furnish,  unfortunately,  no  certain  grounds  of  ex- 
pectation that  this  relation  will  be  uninterrupted.  With  this  de- 
termination to  give  no  offense  is  associated  a  resolution,  equally 
decided,  tamely  to  submit  to  none.  The  armor  and  the  attitude 
of  defense  afford  the  best  security  against  those  collisions  which 
the  ambition,  or  interest,  or  some  other  passion  of  nations,  not 
more  justifiable,  is  liable  to  produce.  In  many  countries  it  is 
considered  unsafe  to  put  arms  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
to  instruct  them  in  the  elements  of  military  knowledge.  That  fear 
can  have  no  place  here,  when  it  is  recollected  that  the  people  are 
the  sovereign  power.  Our  Government  was  instituted  and  is  sup- 
ported by  the  ballot-box,  not  by  the  musket.  Whatever  changes 
await  us,  still  greater  changes  must  be  made  in  our  social  insti- 
tutions, before  our  political  system  can  yield  to  physical  force. 
In  every  aspect,  therefore,  in  which  I  can  view  the  subject,  I  am 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  prompt  and  efficient  organiza- 
tion of  the  militia. 

The  plan  of  removing  the  aboriginal  people  who  yet  remain 
within  the  settled  portions  of  the  United  States,  to  the  country 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  approaches  its  consummation.  It 
was  adopted  on  the  most  mature  consideration  of  the  condition 
of  this  race,  and  ought  to  be  persisted  in  till  the  object  is  accom- 
plished, and  prosecuted  with  as  much  vigor  as  a  just  regard  to 
their  circumstances  will  permit,  and  as  fast  as  their  consent  can 
be  obtained.  All  preceding  experiments  for  the  improvement  of 
the  Indians  have  failed.  It  seems  now  to  be  an  established  fact 
that  they  can  not  live  in  contact  with  a  civilized  community  and 
prosper.  Ages  of  fruitless  endeavors  have  at  length  brought  us 
to  a  knowledge  of  this  principle  of  intercommunication  with  them. 
The  past  we  can  not  recall,  but  the  future  we  can  provide  for. 
Independently  of  the  treaty  stipulations  into  which  we  have  en- 
tered with  the  various  tribes,  for  the  usufructory  rights  they  have 
ceded  to  us,  no  one  can  doubt  the  moral  duty  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  to  protect,  and,  if  possible,  to  preserve  and 
perpetuate  the  scattered  remnants  of  this  race  which  are  left 
within  our  borders.  In  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  an  extensive 
region  in  the  West  has  been  assigned  for  their  permanent  resi- 
dence. It  has  been  divided  into  districts,  and  allotted  among 
them.  Many  have  already  removed,  and  others  are  preparing  to 
go;  and  with  the  exception  of  two  small  bands,   living  in  Ohio 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  753 

and  Indiana,  not  exceeding  one  thousand  five  hundred  persons, 
and  of  the  Cherokees,  all  the  tribes  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missis- 
sissippi,  and  extending  from  Lake  Michigan  to  Florida,  have 
entered  into  engagements  which  will  lead  to  their  transplantation. 
The  plan  for  their  removal  and  re-establishment  is  founded 
upon  the  knowledge  we  have  gained  of  their  character  and  habits, 
and  has  been  dictated  by  a  spirit  of  enlarged  liberality.  A  terri- 
tory exceeding  in  extent  that  relinquished,  has  been  granted  to 
each  tribe.  Of  its  climate,  fertility,  and  capacity  to  support  an 
Indian  population,  the  representations  are  highly  favorable.  To 
these  districts  the  Indians  are  removed  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States,  and  with  certain  supplies  of  clothing,  arms,  ammu- 
nition, and  other  indispensable  articles,  they  are  also  furnished 
gratuitously  with  provisions  for  the  period  of  a  year  after  their  ar- 
rival at  their  new  homes.  In  that  time,  from  the  nature  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  products  raised  by  them,  they  can  subsist 
themselves  by  agricultural  labor,  if  they  choose  to  resort  to  that 
mode  of  life  ;  if  they  do  not,  they  are  upon  the  skirts  of  the  great 
prairies,  where  countless  herds  of  buffalo  roam,  and  a  short  time 
suffices  to  adapt  their  own  habits  to  the  changes  which  a  change 
of  the  animals  destined  for  their  food  may  require. 

Ample  arrangements  have  also  been  made  for  the  support  of 
schools;  in  some  instances,  council-houses  and  churches  are  to  be 
erected,  dwellings  constructed  for  the  chiefs,  and  mills  for  com- 
mon use.  Funds  have  been  set  apart  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
poor ;  the  most  necessary  mechanical  arts  have  been  introduced, 
and  blacksmiths,  gunsmiths,  wheelwrights,  millwrights,  etc.,  are 
supported  among  them.  Steel  and  iron,  and  sometimes  salt,  are 
purchased  for  them  ;  and  plows,  and  other  farming  utensils,  do- 
mestic animals,  looms,  spinning-wheels,  cards,  etc.,  are  presented 
to  them.  And  besides  these  beneficial  arrangements,  annuities 
are,  in  all  cases,  paid,  amounting,  in  some  instances,  to  more  than 
thirty  dollars  for  each  individual  of  the  tribe,  and  in  all  cases 
sufficiently  great,  if  justly  divided,  and  prudently  expended,  to 
enable  them,  in  addition  to  their  own  exertions,  to  live  comfort- 
ably. And  as  a  stimulus  for  exertions,  it  is  now  provided  by 
law  that  "in  all  cases  of  the  appointment  of  interpreters,  or 
other  persons  employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians,  a  prefer- 
ence shall  be  given  to  persons  of  Indian  descent,  if  such  can 
be  found,  who  are  properly  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  the 
duties." 

48— fi 


754  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Such  are  the  arrangements  for  the  physical  comfort,  and  for 
the  moral  improvement  of  the  Indians.  The  necessary  measures 
for  their  political  advancement,  and  for  their  separation  from  our 
citizens,  have  not  been  neglected.  The  pledge  of  the  United 
States  has  been  given  by  Congress,  that  the  country  destined  for 
the  residence  of  this  people  shall  be  forever  "  secured  and  guar- 
antied to  them." 

A  country  west  of  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  has  been  as- 
signed to  them,  into  which  the  white  settlements  are  not  to  be 
pushed.  No  political  communities  can  be  formed  in  that  exten- 
sive region,  except  those  which  are  established  by  the  Indians 
themselves,  or  by  the  United  States  for  them,  with  their  concur- 
rence. A  barrier  has  thus  been  raised  for  their  protection 
against  the  encroachments  of  our  citizens,  and  guarding  the 
Indians,  as  far  as  possible,  from  those  evils  which  have  brought 
them  to  their  present  condition.  Summary  authority  has  been 
given  by  law,  to  destroy  all  ardent  spirits  found  in  their  country, 
without  waiting  the  doubtful  result  and  slow  process  of  a  legal 
seizure.  I  consider  the  absolute  and  unconditional  interdiction 
of  this  article  among  these  people,  as  the  first  and  great  step  in 
their  melioration.  Half-way  measures  will  answer  no  purpose. 
These  can  not  successfully  contend  against  the  cupidity  of  the 
seller,  and  the  overpowering  appetite  of  the  buyer.  And  the 
destructive  effects  of  the  traffic  are  marked  in  every  page  of  the 
history  of  our  Indian  intercourse. 

Some  general  legislation  seems  necessary  for  the  regulation  of 
the  relations  which  will  exist  in  this  new  state  of  things,  between 
the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  States  and  these  trans- 
planted Indian  tribes  ;  and  for  the  establishment  among  the  lat- 
ter, and  with  their  own  consent,  of  some  principles  of  intercom- 
munication, which  their  juxtaposition  will  call  for;  that  moral 
may  be  substituted  for  physical  force,  the  authority  of  a  few  and 
simple  laws  for  the  tomahawk,  and  that  an  end  may  be  put  to 
those  bloody  wars,  whose  prosecution  seems  to  have  made  part 
of  their  social  system. 

After  the  further  details  of  this  arrangement  are  completed, 
■with  a  very  general  supervision  over  them,  they  ought  to  be  left 
to  the  progress  of  events.  These,  I  indulge  the  hope,  will  secure 
their  prosperity  and  improvement,  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
moral  debt  we  owe  them  will  be  paid. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  showing  the  condi- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  755 

tion  of  that  branch  of  the  public  service,  is  recommenderl  to 
your  special  attention.  It  appears  from  it,  that  our  naval  force 
at  present  in  commission,  with  all  the  activity  which  can  be 
given  to  it,  is  inadequate  to  the  protection  of  our  rapidly  increas- 
ing commerce.  This  consideration,  and  a  more  general  one 
which  regards  this  arm  of  the  national  defense  as  our  best  secu- 
rity against  foreign  aggression,  strongly  urge  the  continuance  of 
the  measures  which  promote  its  gradual  enlargement,  and  speedy 
increase  of  the  force  which  has  been  hitherto  employed  abroad 
and  at  home.  You  will  perceive  from  the  estimates  which  ap- 
pear in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  that  the  expen- 
ditures necessary  to  this  increase  of  its  force,  though  of  consid- 
erable amount,  are  small,  compared  with  the  benefits  which  they 
will  secure  to  the  country. 

As  a  means  of  strengthening  this  national  arm,  I  also  recom- 
mend to  your  particular  attention  the  propriety  of  the  sugges- 
tion which  attracted  the  consideration  of  Congress  at  its  last  ses- 
sion, respecting  the  enlistment  of  boys  at  a  suitable  age  in  the 
service.  In  this  manner,  a  nursery  of  skilful  and  able-bodied  sea- 
men can  be  established,  which  will  be  of  the  greatest  importance. 
Next  to  the  capacity  to  put  afloat  and  arm  the  requisite  number 
of  ships,  is  the  possession  of  the  means  to  man  them  efficiently; 
and  nothing  seems  better  calculated  to  aid  this  object  than  the 
measure  proposed.  As  an  auxiliary  to  the  advantages  derived 
from  our  extensive  commercial  marine,  it  would  furnish  us  with 
a  resource  ample  enough  for  all  the  exigencies  which  can  be 
anticipated.  Considering  the  state  of  our  resources,  it  can  not 
be  doubted  that  whatever  provision  the  liberality  and  wisdom  of 
Congress  may  now  adopt,  with  a  view  to  the  perfect  organization 
of  this  branch  of  our  service,  will  meet  the  approbation  of  all 
classes  of  our  citizens. 

By  the  report  of  the  Postmaster-General,  it  appears  that  the 
revenue  of  that  Department  during  the  year  ending  on  the  30th 
day  of  June  last,  exceeded  its  accruing  responsibilities,  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  thousand  two  hundred  and  six  dollars;  and 
that  the  surplus  of  the  present  fiscal  year  is  estimated  at  four 
hundred  and  seventy-six  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
dollars.  It  further  appears  that  the  debt  of  the  Department,  on 
the  1st  day  of  July  last,  including  the  amount  due  to  contractors 
for  the  quarter  then  just  expired,  was  about  one  million  and 
sixty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-one  dollars,  exceeding 


756  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  available  means  about  twenty-three  thousand  and  seven 
huudred  dollars ;  and  that  on  the  1st  instant,  about  five  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  thousand  and  seventy-seven  dollars  of  this  debt 
had  been  paid;  four  hundred  and  nine  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  ninety-one  dollars  of  the  postages  accruing  before  July,  and 
one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  thousand  and  eighty-six  dollars  out 
of  postages  accruing  since.  In  these  payments  are  included  sixty- 
seven  thousand  dollars  of  the  old  debt  due  to  banks.  After 
making  these  payments,  the  Department  had  seventy-three  thou- 
sand dollars  in  bank  on  the  1st  instant.  The  pleasing  assurance 
is  given  that  the  Department  is  entirely  free  from  embarrassment, 
and  that  by  collections  of  outstanding  balances,  and  using  the 
current  surplus,  the  remaining  portion  of  the  bank  debt,  and 
most  of  the  other  debt,  will  probably  be  paid  in  April  next, 
leaving  thereafter  a  heavy  amount  to  be  applied  in  extending  the 
mail  facilities  of  the  country.  Reserving  a  considerable  sum  for 
the  improvement  of  existing  mail-routes,  it  is  stated  that  the 
Department  will  be  able  to  sustain  with  perfect  convenience  an 
annual  charge  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  support 
of  new  routes,  to  commence  as  soon  as  they  can  be  established 
and  put  in  operation. 

The  measures  adopted  by  the  Postmaster-General  to  bring  the 
means  of  the  Department  into  action,  and  to  effect  a  speedy  ex- 
tinguishment of  its  debt,  as  well  as  to  produce  an  efficient  admin- 
istration of  its  affairs,  will  be  found  detailed  at  length  in  his  able 
and  luminous  report.  Aided  by  a  reorganization  on  the  prin- 
ciples suggested,  and  such  salutary  provisions  in  the  laws  regu- 
lating its  administrative  duties  as  the  wisdom  of  Congress  may 
devise  or  approve,  that  important  Department  will  soon  attain  a 
degree  of  usefulness  proportioned  to  the  increase  of  our  popula- 
tion and  the  extension  of  our  settlements. 

Particular  attention  is  solicited  to  that  portion  of  the  report 
of  the  Postmaster-General  which  relates  to  the  carriage  of  mails 
of  the  United  States  upon  railroads  constructed  by  private  cor- 
porations under  the  authority  of  the  several  States.  The  reliance 
which  the  General  Government  can  place  on  those  roads  as  a 
means  of  carrying  on  its  operations,  and  the  principles  on  which 
the  use  of  them  is  to  be  obtained,  can  not  too  soon  be  considered 
and  settled. 

Already  does  the  spirit  of  monopoly  begin  to  exhibit  its  natu- 
ral propensities  in  attempts  to  exact  from  the  public,-  for  services 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  757 

which  it  supposes  can  not  be  obtained  on  other  terms,  the  most 
extravagant  compensation. 

If  these  claims  be  persisted  in,  the  question  may  arise  whether 
a  combination  of  citizens,  acting  under  charters  of  incorporation 
from  the  States,  can,  by  a  direct  refusal  or  the  demand  of  an 
exorbitant  price,  exclude  the  United  States  from  the  use  of  the 
established  channels  of  communication  between  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  whether  the  United  States  can  not, 
without  transcending  their  Constitutional  powers,  secure  to  the 
Post-office  Department  the  use  of  those  roads,  by  an  act  of  Con- 
gress which  shall  provide  within  itself  some  equitable  mode  of 
adjusting  the  amount  of  compensation. 

To  obviate,  if  possible,  the  necessity  of  considering  this  ques- 
tion, it  is  suggested  whether  it  be  not  expedient  to  fix  by  law 
the  amounts  which  shall  be  offered  to  railroad  companies  for  the 
conveyance  of  the  mails,  graduated  according  to  their  average 
weight,  to  be  ascertained  and  declared  by  the  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral. It  is  probable  that  a  liberal  proposition  of  that  sort  would 
be  accepted. 

In  connection  with  these  provisions  in  relation  to  the  Post- 
effice  Department,  I  must  also  invite  your  attention  to  the  pain- 
ful excitement  produced  in  the  South,  by  attempts  to  circulate, 
through  the  mails,  inflammatory  appeals  addressed  to  the  passions 
of  the  slaves,  in  prints,  and  in  various  sorts  of  publications,  cal- 
culated to  stimulate  them  to  insurrection,  and  to  produce  all  the 
horrors  of  a  servile  war. 

There  is,  doubtless,  no  respectable  portion  of  our  countrymen 
who  can  be  so  far  misled  as  to  feel  any  other  sentiment  than  that 
of  indignant  regret  at  conduct  so  destructive  of  the  harmony  and 
peace  of  the  country,  and  so  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  our 
national  compact,  and  to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  religion. 
Our  happiness  and  prosperity  essentially  depend  upon  peace 
within  our  borders,  and  peace  depends  upon  the  maintenance,  in 
good  faith,  of  those  compromises  of  the  Constitution  upon  which 
the  Union  is  founded.  It  is  fortunate  for  the  country  that  the 
good  sense,  the  generous  feeling,  and  the  deep-rooted  attachment 
of  the  people  of  the  non-slaveholding  States  to  the  Union,  and 
to  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  same  blood  in  the  South,  have 
given  so  strong  and  impressive  a  tone  to  the  sentiments  entertained 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  misguided  persons  who  have 
engaged    in    these    unconstitutional    and    wicked    attempts,   and 


758  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

especially  against  the  emissaries  from  foreign  parts  who  have  dared 
to  interfere  in  this  matter,  as  to  authorize  the  hope  that  those 
attempts  will  no  longer  be  persisted  in.  But  if  these  expressions 
of  the  public  will  shall  not  be  sufficient  to  effect  so  desirable  a 
result,  not  a  doubt  can  be  entertained  that  the  non-slaveholding 
States,  so  far  fi-om  countenancing  the  slightest  interference  with 
the  Constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  will  be  2:)rompt  to  exercise 
their  authority  in  suppressing,  so  far  as  in  them  lies,  whatever  is 
calculated  to  produce  this  evil. 

In  leaving  the  care  of  other  branches  of  this  interesting  sul3- 
jeet  to  the  State  authorities,  to  whom  they  properly  belong,  it  is 
nevertheless  proper  for  Congress  to  take  such  measures  as  will 
prevent  the  Post-office  Department,  which  was  designed  to  foster  an 
amicable  intercourse  and  correspondence  between  all  the  members 
of  the  Confederacy,  from  being  used  as  an  instrument  of  an  op- 
posite character.  The  General  Government,  to  which  the  great 
trust  is  confided  of  preserving  inviolate  the  relati(ms  created 
among  the  States  by  the  Constitution,  is  especially  bound  to 
avoid,  in  its  own  action,  anything  that  may  disturb  them.  I 
would,  therefore,  call  the  special  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
subject,  and  respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of  passing  such  a 
law  as  will  prohibit,  under  severe  penalties,  the  circulation  in  the 
Southern  States,  through  the  mail,  of  incendiary  publications  in- 
tended to  instigate  the  slaves  to  insurrection. 

I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty,  in  the  first  message  which  I  commu- 
nicated to  Congress,  to  urge  upon  its  attention  the  propriety  of 
amending  that  part  of  the  Constitution  which  provides  for  the 
election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 
The  leading  object  which  I  had  in  view  was  the  adoption  of  some 
new  provisions  which  would  secure  to  the  people  the  performance 
of  this  high  duty  without  any  intermediate  agency.  In  my  annual 
communications  since,  I  have  enforced  the  same  views,  from  a 
sincere  conviction  that  the  best  interests  of  the  country  would  be 
promoted  by  their  adoption.  If  the  subject  were  an  ordinary 
one,  I  should  have  regarded  the  failure  of  Congress  to  act  upon 
it  as  an  indication  of  their  judgment  that  the  disadvantages  which 
belong  to  the  present  system  were  not  so  great  as  those  which 
would  result  from  any  attainable  substitute  that  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  their  consideration.  Recollecting,  however,  that  prop- 
ositions to  introduce  a  new  feature  in  our  fundamental  laws  can 
not  be  too  patiently  examined,  and   ought   not  to   be   received 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  "  759 

with  favor  until  the  great  body  of  the  people  are  thoroughly  im- 
pressed with  their  necessity  and  value  as  a  remedy  for  real  evils, 
I  feel  that  in  renewing  the  recommendation  I  have  heretofore 
made  on  this  subject,  I  am  not  transcending  the  bounds  of  a  just 
deference  to  the  sense  of  Congress,  or  to  the  disposition  of  the 
people.  However  much  we  may  differ  in  the  choice  of  the 
measures  which  should  guide  the  Administration  of  the  Govern- 
ment, there  can  be  but  little  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  really  friendly  to  the  republican  features  of  our  system,  that 
one  of  its  most  important  securities  consists  in  the  separation  of 
the  legislative  and  the  Executive  powers,  at  the  same  time  that 
each  is  held  responsible  to  the  great  source  of  authority,  which  is 
acknowledged  to  be  supreme,  in  the  will  of  the  people  Constitu- 
tionally expressed.  My  reflection  and  experience  satisfy  me  that 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  although  they  were  anxious  to 
mark  this  feature  as  a  settled  and  fixed  principle  in  the  structure 
of  the  Government,  did  not  adopt  all  the  precautions  that  were 
necessary  to  secure  its  practical  observance,  and  that  we  can  uot 
be  said  to  have  carried  into  complete  effect  their  intentions  until 
the  evils  which  arise  from  this  organic  defect  are  remedied. 

Considering  the  great  extent  of  our  Confederacy,  the  rapid 
increase  of  its  population,  and  the  diversity  of  their  interests  and 
pursuits,  it  can  not  be  disguised  that,  the  contingency  by  which 
one  branch  of  the  Legislature  is  to  form  itself  into  an  electoral 
college,  can  not  become  one  of  ordinary  occurrence  without  pro- 
ducing incalculable  mischief.  AVhat  was  intended  as  the  medi- 
cine of  the  Constitution  in  extreme  cases,  can  not  be  frequently 
used  without  changing  its  character,  and  sooner  or  later  produc- 
ing incurable  disorder. 

Every  election  by  the  House  of  Representatives  is  calculated  to 
lessen  the  force  of  that  security  which  is  derived  from  the  distinct 
and  separate  character  of  the  legislative  and  Executive  function, 
and  while  it  exposes  each  to  temptations  adverse  to  their  efficiency 
as  organs  of  the  Constitution  and  laws,  its  tendency  will  be  to 
unite  both  in  resisting  the  will  of  the  people,  and  thus  give  a  di- 
rection to  the  Government  anti-republican  and  dangerous.  All 
history  tells  ms  that  a  free  people  should  be  watchful  of  delegated 
power,  and  should  never  acquiesce  in  a  practice  which  shall  dimin- 
ish their  control  over  it.  This  obligation,  so  universal  in  its 
application  to  all  the  principles  of  a  republic,  is  peculiarly  so  in 
ours,  where  the  formation  of  parties,  founded  on  sectional  interests, 


760  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

is  so  much  fostered  by  the  extent  of  our  territory.  These  inter- 
ests, represented  by  candidates  for  the  Presidency,  are  constantly 
prone,  in  the  zeal  of  party  and  selfish  objects,  to  generate  influ- 
ences unmindful  of  the  general  good,  and  forgetful  of  the  re- 
straints which  the  great  body  of  the  people  would  enforce,  if  they 
were  in  no  contingency  to  use  the  right  of  expressing  their  will. 
The  experience  of  our  country,  from  the  formation  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  the  present  day,  demonstrates  that  the  people  can  not 
too  soon  adopt  some  stronger  safeguard  for  their  right  to  elect  the 
highest  officers  known  to  the  Constitution,  than  is  contained  in 
that  sacred  instrument  as  it  now  stands. 

It  is  my  duty  to  call  the  particular  attention  or  Congress  to 
the  pi'esent  condition  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  From  what- 
ever cause  the  great  depression  has  arisen  which  now  exists  in  the 
pecuniary  concerns  of  this  district,  it  is  proper  that  its  situation 
should  be  fully  understood,  and  such  relief  or  remedies  provided 
as  are  consistent  with  the  powers  of  Congress.  I  earnestly  recom- 
mend the  extension  of  every  political  right  to  the  citizens  of  the 
District  which  their  true  interests  require,  and  which  does  not  con- 
flict with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  believed  that 
the  laws  for  the  government  of  the  District  require  revisal  and 
amendment,  and  that  much  good  may  be  done  by  modifying  the 
penal  code,  so  as  to  give  uniformity  to  its  provisions. 

Your  attention  is  also  invited  to  the  defects  which  exist  in  the 
judicial  system  of  the  United  States.  As  at  present  organized, 
the  States  of  the  Union  derive  unequal  advantages  from  the  Fed- 
eral judiciary,  which  have  been  so  often  pointed  out,  that  I  deem 
it  unnecessary  to  repeat  them  here.  It  is  hoped  that  the  present 
Congress  will  extend  to  all  the  States  that  equality  in  respect  to 
the  benefits  of  the  laws  of  the  Union  which  can  only  be  secured 
by  the  unifi)rmity  and  efficiency  of  the  judicial  system. 

With  these  observations  on  the  topics  of  general  interest  which 
are  deemed  worthy  of  your  consideration,  I  leave  them  to  your 
care,  trusting  that  the  legislative  measures  they  call  for  will  be 
met  as  the  wants  and  the  best  interests  of  our  beloved  country 
demand. 

Like  nearly  all  the  other  messages  of  General  Jack- 
son, this  one  is  mainly  made  up  of  arguments,  defenses, 
and  explanations  of  his  past  or  intended  acts.  But 
this    is    certainly    a    very    interesting    and    valuable 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  761 

message.  Its  style  is  simple  and  easy,  and  hence  pecul- 
iarly admirable.  The  French  spoliations  history  is  very 
full,  and  it  must  have  seemed  very  satisfactory  and 
honorable  to  the  President  from  what  may  be  deemed 
a  fair  American  point  of  view.  The  President's  French 
message  to  Congress  was  dated  January  15,  1836. 
And  it  was  during  this  year  that  relations  were  again 
established  with  France,  and  Lewis  Cass  resigned  his 
place  as  Secretary  of  War  to  become  Minister  to  that 
country.  The  President  reviews  at  length  Indian  af- 
fairs and  shows  the  progress  made  in  removing  nearly 
all  of  the  Indians  to  the  West.  He  again  recommends 
the  change  in  the  mode  of  conducting  Presidential 
elections.  Public  land  questions  again  receive  his  at- 
tention, in  the  wise  and  just  line  formerly  pursued. 
The  financial  condition  of  the  Government  appears  ex- 
tremely gratifying  from  the  President's  statement. 
The  whole  financial  question  is  discussed  fearlessly, 
and  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  comes  in,  of  course, 
for  his  usual  severe  assault.  The  strangest  part  of 
this  message  is  that  relating  to  the  circulation  of 
abolition  matter  through  the  mails  in  the  South.  There 
is  nothing  Jacksonian  about  this  part  of  the  message, 
at  all  events.  It  is  weak,  timid,  and  truculent.  But 
it  was  up  to  the  standard  of  public  sentiment  on  this 
subject  at  that  day.  This  affair  brought  on  a  bitter 
discussion  in  Congress,  in  which  Mr.  Calhoun  revived 
the  dogma  of  nullification,  and  a  distinct  issue  on  the 
slavery  question  began  for  the  first  to  be  made  in 
national  politics. 

In  May,  1835,  Mr.  Barry  had  resigned,  and  Mr. 
Kendall,  who  had  before  been  Fourth  Auditor  of  the 
Treasury,    was   appointed     Postmaster-General.     This 


762  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

appointment  was  not  confirmed  till  the  following  spring. 
Although  Mr.  Barry  had  remained  longer  than  any 
other  member  of  the  Cabinet,  his  management  of  the 
Department  was  not  very  successful.  His  executive 
skill  was  not  great,  although  he  was  a  good  lawyer  and 
an  eloquent  speaker.  He  died  at  Liverpool,  before 
reaching  his  destination.  The  death  of  Chief-Justice 
Marshall  made  a  vacancy  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
President  Jackson  appointed  Roger  B.  Taney  to  this 
important  place,  and  perhaps,  contrary  to  his  expecta- 
tions, the  Senate  confirmed  the  appointment.'  John  H. 
Eaton  was  confirmed  as  Minister  to  Spain,  in  place  of 
Mr.  Barry. 

The  great  ambition  of  General  Jackson  was  to  pay 
off  the  public  debt,  and  cut  down  all  possible  sources 
of  taxation  offensive  to  the  people.  The  income  from 
the  sales  of  public  lands  was  very  large,  as  there  was 
yet  no  check  to  speculations.  Jackson's  desire  was  to 
turn  these  lands  to  the  advantage  of  actual  settlers. 
And  in  order  to  check  speculation  in  lands  it  was  pro- 
posed to  require  payments  to  be  made  in  specie. 

The  most  important  matters  before  Congress  at  this 
session  were  connected  with  the  disposition  of  the  sur- 
plus funds  of  the  United  States  Treasury  after  the  pay- 
ment of  the  "public  debt.  There  seemed  to  be  great 
fears  that  the  Government  would  become  too  wealthy. 
This  whole  matter  of  reducing  the  Treasury  to  the 
mere  ability  to  pay  the  present  running  expenses  of 
the  Government  was  unwise  in  the  extreme,  and  all 
its  evil  results  go  to  show  how  little  General  Jackson 
and  his  friends,  and  enemies,  for  that  matter,  deserve 
respect  as  financiers. 

Mr.  Clay  introduced  a  bill  for  the  distribution  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  763 

the  proceeds  of  land  sales  among  the  States,  which 
looked  more  like  a  President-making  scheme  than  any- 
thing else,  or  would  look  so  at  this  day.  The  Senate 
passed  this  bill,  but  the  House  did  not  act  on  it  at 
all.  In  place  of  this,  however,  a  bill  was  passed  called 
the  "  distribution  act,"  which  was  a  loan  of  surplus  rev- 
enue to  the  States  according  to  the  representation  in 
Congress,  and  proved  to  be  a  gift,  one  of  the  most 
frivolous,  unstatesman-like,  and  ridiculous  transactions 
in  the  history  of  our  national  legislation.  This  bill 
became  a  law  in  June,  1836,  and  provided  that  the 
money  in  the  Treasury  on  the  1st  of  January,  1837, 
after  reserving  $5,000,000,  should  be  deposited  in 
the  several  States,  in  quarterly  sums  beginning  January 
1,  1837,  and  regulated  by  the  Congressional  represen- 
tation ;  $28,000,000  were  thus  to  be  divided  among 
the  States.  The  great  panic  which  had  been  provided 
for  by  all  the  financial  schemes  since  the  beginning  of 
the  attack  on  the  United  States  Bank,  came  at  last  in 
1837,  and  then  when  the  General  Government  became 
a  beggar  for  money  without  resources.  Congress 
stopped  the  payment  of  the  fourth  installment  of  this 
deposit.  None  of  it  that  had  been  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  States  was  ever  heard  of  again.  Nobody  ever 
believed  that  it  would  return  to  the  Government  Treas- 
ury, where  it  should  have  been  kept. 

Arkansas  was  admitted  to  the  Union  during  this 
session ;  also  Michigan  conditionally,  but  the  condi- 
tions not  being  fulfilled  she  was  not  admitted  till  the 
following  year.  At  the  close  of  this  session  the  Ad- 
ministration had  a  majority  in  each  branch  of  Congress. 
Some  account  of  the  Seminole  War,  beginning  under 
this  Administration,  in  1835  and  1836,  is  reserved  for 


764  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

another  volume  of  this  work.  The  great  question  be- 
fore the  country  in  the  summer  of  1836  was  the  Pres- 
idential election.  Although  on  the  point  of  going  into 
retirement  "  Old  Hickory "  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Jacksonian,  or  new  Democratic  party  in  this  election. 
The  nominee  of  the  party  was  his  nominee.  The 
country  knew  his  wish  and  had  to  respect  it.  He 
had  dictated  all  the  movements  of  the  party.  His 
will  was  its  will,  and  his  name  now  gave  the  party 
success. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  765 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

PRESIDENT  JACKSON'S  LAST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE— LAST 
POCKET  VETO— FINAL  TRIUMPHS. 

ON  the  5th  of  December,  1836,  Congress  convened 
for  the  alternate  short  session,  and  on  the  next 
day  the  President  delivered  his 

EIGHTH  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

December  6,  1S36. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : — 

Addressing  to  you  the  last  annual  message  I  shall  ever  pre- 
sent to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  it  is  a  source  of  the 
most  heart-felt  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  congratulate  you  on  the 
high  state  of  prosperity  which  our  beloved  country  has  attained. 
With  no  causes  at  home  or  abroad  to  lessen  the  confidence  with 
which  we  look  to  the  future  for  continuing  proofs  of  the  capacity 
of  our  free  institutions  to  produce  all  the  fruits  of  good  govern- 
ment, the  general  condition  of  our  affairs  may  well  excite  our 
national  pride. 

I  can  not  avoid  congratulating  you  and  my  country  particu- 
larly on  the  success  of  the  eflbrts  made  during  my  Administra- 
tion by  the  Executive  and  Legislature,  in  conformity  with  the 
sincere,  constant,  and  earnest,  desire  of  the  people,  to  maintain 
peace,  and  establish  cordial'  relations  with  all  foreign  powers. 
Our  gratitude  is  due  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe,  and 
I  invite  you  to  unite  with  me  in  offering  to  Him  fervent  suppli- 
cations, that  his  providential  care  may  ever  be  extended  to  those 
who  follow  us,  enabling  them  to  avoid  the  dangers  and  the  hor- 
rors of  war,  consistently  with  a  just  and  indispensable  regard  to 
the  rights  and  honor  of  our  country.  But  although  the  present 
state  of  our  foreign  affairs,  standing  without  important  change  as 


766  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

they  did  when  you  separated  in  July  last,  is  flattering  in  the  ex- 
treme, I  regret  to  say  that  many  questions  of  an  interesting 
nature,  at  issue  with  other  powers,  are  yet  unadjusted.  Among 
the  most  prominent  of  these  is  that  of  the  north-eastern  boundary. 
With  an  undiminished  confidence  in  the  sincere  desire  of  His 
Britannic  Majesty's  Government  to  adjust  that  question,  I  am 
not  yet  in  possession  of  the  precise  grounds  upon  which  it  pro- 
poses a  satisfactory  adjustment. 

With  France,  our  diplomatic  relations  have  been  resumed, 
and  under  circumstances  which  attest  the  disposition  of  both 
governments  to  preserve  a  mutually  beneficial  intercourse, 
and  foster  those  amicable  feelings  which  are  so  strongly  required 
by  the  true  interests  of  the  two  countries.  With  Russia,  Austria, 
Prussia,  Naples,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  the  best  understanding 
exists,  and  our  commercial  intercourse  is  gradually  expanding 
itself  with  them.  It  is  encouraged  in  all  these  countries,  except 
Naples,  by  their  mutually  advantageous  and  liberal  treaty  stipu- 
lations with  us. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  on  Portugal  are  admitted  to  be 
just,  but  provision  for  the  payment  of  them  has  been  unfortu- 
nately delayed  by  frequent  political  changes  in  that  kingdom. 

The  blessings  of  peace  have  not  been  secured  by  Spain.  Our 
connections  with  that  country  are  on  the  best  footing,  with  the 
exception  of  the  burdens  still  imposed  upon  our  commerce  with 
her  possessions  out  of  Europe. 

The  claims  of  American  citizens  for  losses  sustained  at  the 
bombardment  of  Antwerp,  have  been  presented  to  the  govern- 
ments of  Holland  and  Belgium,  and  will  be  pressed,  in  due  sea- 
son, to  settlement. 

With  Brazil,  and  all  our  neighbors  of  this  continent,  we  con- 
tinue to  maintain  relations  of  amity  and  concord,  extending  our 
commerce  with  them  as  far  as  the  resources  of  the  people  and 
the  policy  of  their  governments  will  permit  us.  The  just  and 
long-standing  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  some  of  them  are  yet 
sources  of  dissatisfaction  and  complaint.  No  danger  is  appre- 
hended, however,  that  they  will  not  be  peacefully,  although 
tardily,  acknowledged  and  paid  by  all,  unless  the  irritating  effect 
of  her  struggle  with  Texas  should  unfortunately  make  our  imme- 
diate neighbor,  Mexico,  an  exception. 

It  is  already  known  to  you,  by  the  correspondence  between 
the  two  governments  communicated  at  your  last  session,  that  our 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  767 

conduct  in  relation  to  that  struggle  is  regulated  by  the  same 
principles  that  governed  us  in  the  dispute  between  Spain  and 
Mexico  herself,  and  I  trust  that  it  will  be  found,  on  the  most 
severe  scrutiny,  that  our  acts  have  strictly  corresponded  with  our 
professions.  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  should 
feel  strong  prepossessions  for  the  one  party  is  not  surprising. 
But  this  circumstance  should,  of  itself,  teach  us  great  caution, 
lest  it  lead  us  into  the  great  error  of  suffering  public  policy  to  be 
regulated  by  partiality  or  prejudice ;  and  there  are  considerations 
connected  with  the  possible  result  of  this  contest  between  the  two 
parties  of  so  much  delicacy  and  importance  to  the  United  States, 
that  our  character  requires  that  we  should  neither  anticipate 
events  nor  attempt  to  control  them.  The  known  desire  of  the 
Texans  to  become  a  part  of  our  system,  although  its  gratification 
depends  upon  the  reconcilement  of  various  and  conflicting  inter- 
ests, necessarily  a  work  of  time,  and  uncertain  in  itself,  is  calcu- 
lated to  expose  our  conduct  to  misconstruction  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  There  are  already  those  who,  indifferent  to  principle 
themselves,  and  prone  to  suspect  the  want  of  it  in  others,  charge 
us  with  ambitious  designs  and  insidious  policy. 

You  will  perceive  by  the  accompanying  documents,  that  the 
extraordinary  mission  from  Mexico  has  been  terminated,  on  the 
sole  grounds  that  the  obligations  of  this  Government  to  itself  and 
to  Mexico,  under  treaty  stipulations,  have  compelled  me  to  trust 
a  discretionary  authority  to  a  high  officer  of  our  army  to  advance 
into  territory  claimed  as  part  of  Texas,  if  necessary  to  protect 
our  own  or  the  neighboring  frontier  from  Indian  depredation. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  Mexican  functionary  who  has  just  left  us, 
the  honor  of  his  country  will  be  wounded  by  American  soldiers 
entering,  with  the  most  amicable  avowed  purposes,  upon  ground 
from  which  the  followers  of  his  government  have  been  expelled, 
and  over  which  there  is  at  present  no  certainty  of  a  serious  effort 
on  its  part  being  made  to  re-establish  its  dominion.  The  depart- 
ure of  this  minister  was  the  more  singular,  as  he  was  apprised 
that  the  sufficiency  of  the  causes  assigned  for  the  advance  of  our 
troops  by  the  commanding  general  had  been  seriously  doubted  by 
me,  and  that  there  was  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  troops 
of  the  United  States — their  commander  having  had  time  to  ascer- 
tain the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  information  upon  which  they 
had  been  marched  to  Nacogdoches — would  be  either  there  in  per- 
fect accordance  with  the  principles  admitted  to  be  just  in   his 


768  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

conference  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  by  the  Mexican  Minister 
himself,  or  were  already  withdrawn  in  consequence  of  the  im- 
pressive warnings  their  commanding  officer  had  received  from  the 
Department  of  War.  It  is  ho^ed  and  believed  that  his  govern- 
ment will  take  a  more  dispassionate  and  just  view  of  this  subject, 
and  not  be  disposed  to  construe  a  measure  of  justifiable  precau- 
tion, made  necessary  by  its  known  inability,  in  execution  of  the 
stipulations  of  our  treaty,  to  act  upon  the  frontier,  into  an  en- 
croachment upon  its  rights  or  a  stain  upon  its  honor. 

In  the  meantime  the  ancient  complaints  of  injustice,  made  on 
behalf  of  our  citizens,  are  disregarded,  and  new  causes  of  dissat- 
isfaction have  arisen,  some  of  them  of  a  character  requiring 
prompt  remonstrance,  and  ample  immediate  redress.  I  trust, 
however,  by  tempering  firmness  with  courtesy,  and  acting  with 
great  forbearance  upon  every  incident  that  has  occurred,  or  that 
may  happen,  to  do  and  to  obtain  justice,  and  thus  avoid  the 
necessity  of  again  bringing  this  subject  to  the  view  of  Congress. 

It  is  my  duty  to  remind  you  that  no  provision  has  been  made 
to  execute  our  treaty  with  Mexico  for  tracing  the  boundary  line 
between  the  two  countries.  Whatever  may  be  the  prospect  of 
Mexico's  being  soon  able  to  execute  the  treaty  on  its  part,  it  is 
proper  that  we  should  be  in  anticipation  prepared  at  all  times  to 
perform  our  obligations  without  regard  to  the  probable  condition 
of  those  with  whom  we  have  contracted  them. 

The  result  of  the  confidential  inquiries  made  into  the  condition 
and  prospects  of  the  newly  declared  Texan  Government,  will  l)e 
communicated  to  you  in  the  course  of  the  session. 

Commercial  treaties,  promising  great  advantages  to  our  enter- 
prising merchants  and  navigators,  have  been  formed  with  the  dis- 
tant governments  of  Muscat  and  Siam.  The  ratifications  have 
been  exchanged,  but  have  not  reached  the  Department  of  State. 
Copies  of  the  treaties  will  be  transmitted  to  you  if  received  be- 
fore, or  published,  if  arriving  after  the  close  of  the  present  session 
of  Congress. 

Nothing  has  occurred  to  interrupt  the  good  understanding  that 
has  long  existed  with  the  Barbary  powers,  nor  to  check  the  good 
will  which  is  gradually  growing  up  in  our  intercourse  with  the 
dominions  of  the  government  of  the  distinguished  chief  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire. 

Information  has  been  received  at  the  Department  of  Slate 
that  a  treaty  with  the  Emperor  of  Morocco   has  just  been  nego- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  769 

tiated,  wliich,  I  hope,  will  be  received  in  time  to  be  laid  before 
the  Senate  previous  to  the  close  of  the  session. 

You  will  perceive,  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  that  the  financial  means  of  the  country  continue  to 
keep  pace  with  its  improvement  in  all  other  respects.  The  re- 
ceipts into  the  Treasury  during  the  present  year  will  amount  to 
about  forty-seven  millions  six  hundred  and  ninety-one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight  dollars;  those  from  customs  being 
estimated  at  twenty-two  millions  five  hundred  and  twenty-three 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  dollars;  those  from  lauds  at 
about  twenty-four  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  the  residue  from  mis- 
cellaneous sources.  The  expenditures  for  all  objects,  during  the 
year,  are  estimated  not  to  exceed  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars, 
which  will  leave  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  for  public  purposes, 
on  the  1st  day  of  January  next,  of  about  forty-one  millions  seven 
hundred  and  tVenty-three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
dollars.  This  sum,  with  the  exception  of  five  millions,  will  be 
transferred  to  the  several  States,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  act  regulating  the  deposits  of  the  public  money. 

The  unexpended  balances  of  appropriations  on  the  1st  day  of 
January  next,  are  estimated  at  fourteen  millions  six  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  and  sixty-two  dollars,  exceeding,  by  nine  mill- 
ions six  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  and  sixty-two  dollars, 
the  amount  which  will  be  left  in  the  deposit  banks,  subject  to  the 
draft  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  after  the  contem- 
plated transfers  to  the  several  States  are  made.  If,  therefore,  the 
future  receipts  should  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  those  outstanding 
and  future  appropriations,  there  may  be  soon  a  necessity  to  use  a 
portion  of  the  funds  deposited  with  the  States. 

The  consequences  apprehended  when  the  deposit  act  of  the 
last  session  received  a  reluctant  approval,  have  been  measurably 
realized.  Though  an  act  merely  for  the  deposit  of  the  surplus 
moneys  of  the  United  States  in  the  State  treasuries  for  safe-keep- 
ing, until  they  may  be  wanted  for  the  service  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, it  has  been  extensively  spoken  of  as  an  act  to  give  the 
money  to  the  several  States ;  and  they  have  been  advised  to  use  it 
as  a  gift,  without  regard  to  the  means  of  refunding  it  when  called 
for.  Such  a  suggestion  has  doubtless  been  made  without  a  due 
consideration  of  the  obligation  of  the  deposit  act,  and  without  a 
proper  attention  to  the  various  principles  and  interests  which  are 
affected  by  it.     It  is  manifest  that  the  law  itself  can  not  sanction 

49— G 


770  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

such  a  suggestion,  and  that,  as  it  now  stands,  the  States  have  no 
more  authority  to  receive  and  use  these  deposits  without  intend- 
ino-  to  return  them,  than  any  deposit  bank,  or  any  individual  tem- 
porarily charged  with  the  safe-keeping  or  application  of  the  public 
moiiev,  would  now  have  for  converting  the  same  to  their  private 
use,  without  the  consent  and  against  the  will  of  the  Government. 
But  independently  of  the  violation  of  the  public  faith  and  moral 
obligation  which  are  involved  in  this  suggestion,  when  examined 
in  reference  to  the  terms  of  the  present  deposit  act,  it  is  believed 
that  the  considerations  Avhich  should  govern  the  future  legislation 
of  Congress  on  this  subject,  will  be  equally  conclusive  against  the 
adoption  of  any  measure  recognizing  the  principles  on  which  the 
suggestion  has  been  made. 

Considering  the  intimate  connection  of  the  subject  with  the 
financial  interests  of  the  country,  and  its  great  importance  in 
"whatever  aspect  it  can  be  viewed,  I  have  bestowed  upon  it  the 
most  anxious  reflection,  and  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  state  to 
Congress  such  thoughts  as  have  occurred  to  me,  to  aid  their  de- 
liberation in  treating  it  in  the  manner  best  calculated  to  conduce 
to  the  common  good. 

The  experience  of  other  nations  admonished  us  to  hasten  the 
extinguishment  of  the  public  debt ;  but  it  will  be  in  vain  that  we 
have  congratulated  each  other  upon  the  disappearance  of  this  evil, 
if  we  do  not  guard  against  the  equally  great  one  of  promoting  the 
unnecessary  accumulation  of  public  revenue.  No  political  maxim 
is  better  established  than  that  which  tells  us  that  an  improvident 
expenditure  of  money  is  the  parent  of  profligacy,  and  that  no 
people  can  hope  to  perpetuate  their  liberties  who  long  acquiesce 
in  a  policy  wliich  taxes  them  for  objects  not  necessary  to  the 
legitimate  and  real  wants  of  their  Government.  Flattering  as  is 
the  condition  of  our  country  at  the  present  period,  because  of  its 
unexampled  advance  in  all  the  steps  of  social  and  political  im- 
provement, it  can  not  be  disguised  that  there  is  a  lurking  danger 
already  apparent  in  the  neglect  of  this  warning  truth,  and  that 
the  time  has  arrived  when  the  representatives  of  the  people  should 
be  employed  in  devising  some  more  appropriate  remedy  than  now 
exists  to  avert  it. 

Under  our  present  revenue  system,  there  is  every  probability 
that  there  will  continue  to  be  a  surplus  beyond  the  wants  of  the 
Government ;  and  it  has  become  our  duty  to  decide  whether  such 
a  result  be  consistent  with  the  true  objects  of  our  Government. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  771 

Should  a  surplus  be  permitted  to  accumulate  beyond  the  ap- 
propriations, it  must  be  retained  in  the  Treasury  as  it  now  is,  or 
distributed  among  the  people  or  the  States. 

To  retain  it  in  the  Treasury  unemployed  in  any  way,  is  im- 
practicable. It  is,  besides,  against  the  genius  of  our  free  institu- 
tions to  lock  up  in  vaults  the  treasure  of  the  Nation.  To  take 
from  the  people  the  right  of  bearing  arms,  and  put  their  weapons 
of  defense  in  the  hands  of  a  standing  army,  would  be  scarcely 
more  dangerous  to  their  liberties,  than  to  permit  the  Government 
to  accumulate  immense  amounts  of  treasure  beyond  the  supplies 
necessary  to  its  legitimate  wants.  Such  a  treasure  would  doubt- 
less be  employed  at  some  time,  as  it  has  been  in  other  countries, 
when  opportunity  tempted  ambition. 

To  collect  it  merely  for  distribution  to  the  States  would  seem 
to  be  highly  impolitic,  if  not  as  dangerous  as  the  proposition  to 
retain  it  in  the  Treasury.  The  shortest  reflection  must  satisfy 
every  one,  that  to  require  the  people  to  pay  taxes  to  the  Govern- 
ment, merely  that  they  may  be  paid  back  again,  is  sporting  with 
the  substantial  interests  of  the  country,  and  no  system  which  pro- 
duces such  a  result  can  be  expected  to  receive  the  public  counte- 
nance. Nothing  could  be  gained  by  it,  even  if  each  individual  who 
contributed  a  portion  of  the  tax  could  receive  back  promptly  the 
same  portion.  But  it  is  apparent  that  no  system  of  the  kind  can 
ever  be  enforced  which  will  not  absorb  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  money  to  be  distributed  in  salaries  and  commissions  to  the 
agents  employed  in  the  process,  and  in  the  various  losses  and  de- 
preciations which  arise  from  other  causes  ;  and  the  practical  effect 
of  such  an  attempt  must  ever  be  to  burden  the  people  with  taxes, 
not  for  purposes  beneficial  to  them,  but  to  swell  the  profits  of  de- 
posit banks  and  support  a  band  of  useless  public  officers. 

A  distribution  to  the  people  is  impracticable  and  unjust  in 
other  respects.  It  would  be  taking  one  man's  property  and  giv- 
ing it  to  another.  Such  would  be  the  unavoidable  result  of  a 
rule  of  equality  (and  none  other  is  spoken  of,  or  would  be  likely 
to  be  adopted)  inasmuch  as  there  is  no  mode  by  which  the  amount 
of  the  individual  contributions  of  our  citizens  to  the  public  reve- 
nue can  be  ascertained.  We  know  that  they  contribute  unequally, 
and  a  rule,  therefore,  that  would  distribute  to  them  equally 
would  be  liable  to  all  the  objections  which  apply  to  the  principle 
of  an  equal  division  of  property.  To  make  the  General  Govern- 
ment the  instrument  of  carrying  this  odious  principle  into  effect, 


772  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

would  be  at  once  to  destroy  the  means  of  its  usefulness,  and 
change  the  character  designed  for  it  by  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

But  the  more  extended  and  injurious  consequences  likely  to  re- 
sult from  a  policy  which  would  collect  a  surplus  revenue  for  the 
purpose  of  distributing  it,  may  be  forcibly  illustrated  by  an  ex- 
amination of  the  effects  already  produced  by  the  present  deposit 
act.  This  act,  although  certainly  designed  to  secure  the  safe- 
keeping of  the  public  revenue,  is  not  entirely  free  in  its  tenden- 
cies from  many  of  the  objections  which  apply  to  this  principle  of 
distribution.  The  Government  had,  without  necessity,  received 
from  the  people  a  large  surplus,  which,  instead  of  being  employed 
as  heretofore,  and  returned  to  them  by  means  of  the  public  ex- 
penditure, was  deposited,  with  sundry  banks.  The  banks  pro- 
ceeded to  make  loans  upon  this  surplus,  and  thus  converted  it  into 
banking  capital ;  and  in  this  manner  it  has  tended  to  multiply 
bank  charters,  and  has  had  a  great  agency  in  producing  a  spirit 
of  wild  speculation.  The  possession  and  use  of  the  property  out 
of  which  this  surplus  was  created,  belonged  to  the  people ;  but 
the  Government  h^s  transferred  its  possession  to  incorporated 
banks,  whose  interest  and  effort  it  is  to  make  large  profits  out  of 
its  use.  This  process  needs  only  be  stated  to  show  its  injustice 
and  bad  policy. 

And  the  same  observations  apply  to  the  influence  which  is  pro- 
duced by  the  steps  necessary  to  collect  as  well  as  to  distribute  such 
a  revenue.  About  three-fifths  of  all  the  duties  on  imports  are  paid 
in  the  city  of  New  York ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  means  to  pay 
those  duties  are  drawn  from  every  quarter  of  the  Union.  Every 
citizen  in  every  State,  who  purchases  and  consumes  an  article 
which  has  paid  a  duty  at  that  port^  contributes  to  the  accumulating 
mass.  The  surplus  collected  there  must,  therefore,  be  made  up 
of  moneys  or  property  withdrawn  from  other  points  and  other 
States.  Thus  the  wealth  and  business  of  every  region  from  which 
these  surplus  funds  proceed  must  be  to  some  extent  injured,  while 
that  of  the  place  where  the  funds  are  concentrated  and  are  em- 
ployed in  banking,  are  proportionably  extended.  But  both  in 
making  the  transfer  of  the  funds  which  are  first  necessary  to  pay 
the  duties  and  collect  the  surplus,  and  in  making  the  re-transfer 
which  becomes  necessary  wheb  the  time  arrives  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  that  surplus,  there  is  a  considerable  period  when  the  funds 
can  not  be  brought  into  use ;  and  it  is  manifest  that,  besides  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  773 

loss  inevitable  from  such  an  operation,  its  tendency  is  to  produce 
fluctuations  in  the  business  of  the  country,  which  are  always  pro- 
ductive of  speculation,  and  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  regular 
trade.  Argument  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  show  that  a  meas- 
ure of  this  character  ought  not  to  receive  further  legislative  en- 
couragement. 

By  examining  the  practical  operation  of  the  ratio  for  distribu- 
tion adopted  in  the  deposit  bill  of  the  last  session,  we  shall  dis- 
cover other  features  that  appear  equally  objectionable.  Let  it  be 
assumed,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  surplus  moneys  to 
be  deposited  with  the  States  have  been  collected  and  belong  to 
them  in  the  ratio  of  their  federal  representative  population,  an 
assumption  founded  upon  the  fact  that  any  deficiencies  in  our 
future  revenue,  from  imposts  and  public  lands,  must  be  made  up 
by  direct  taxes  collected  from  the  States  in  that  ratio.  It  is  pro- 
posed to  distribute  the  surplus,  say  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  not 
according  to  the  ratio  in  which  it  has  been  collected,  and  belongs 
to  the  people  of  the  States,  but  in  that  of  their  votes  in  the 
colleges  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice-President.  The  effect 
of  a  distribution  upon  that  ratio  is  shown  by  the  annexed  table, 
marked  A. 

By  an  examination  of  that  table,  it  will  be  preceived  that  in 
the  distribution  of  a  surplus  of  thirty  millions  of  dollars  upon 
that  basis,  there  is  a  great  departure  from  the  principle  which 
regards  representation  as  the  true  measure  of  taxation ;  and  it 
will  be  found  that  the  tendency  of  that  departure  will  be  to  in- 
crease whatever  inequalities  have  been  supposed  to  attend  the 
operation  of  our  federal  system  in  respect  to  its  bearings  upon 
the  different  interests  of  the  Union.  In  making  the  basis  of  rep- 
resentation the  basis  of  taxation,  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
intended  to  equalize  the  burdens  which  are  necessary  to  support 
the  Government ;  and  the  adoption  of  that  ratio,  while  it  accom- 
plished this  object,  was  also  the  means  of  adjusting  other  great 
topics  arising  out  of  the  conflicting  views  respecting  the  political 
equality  of  the  various  members  of  the  Confederacy.  Whatever, 
therefore,  disturbs  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  compromises  which 
established  a  rule  of  taxation  so  just  and  equitable,  and  which 
experience  has  proved  to  be  so  well  adapted  to  the  genius  and 
habits  of  our  people,  should  be  received  with  the  greatest  caution 
and  distrust. 

A  bare  inspection,    in  the  annexed  table,  of  the  differences 


774  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

produced  by  the  ratio  used  in  the  deposit  act,  compared  with  the 
results  of  a  distribution  according  to  the  ratio  of  direct  taxation, 
must  satisfy  every  unprejudiced  mind,  that  the  former  ratio  con- 
travenes the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  produces  a  degree  of 
injustice  in  the  operation  of  the  Federal  Government  which 
would  be  fatal  to  the  hope  of  perpetuating  it.  By  the  ratio  of 
direct  taxation,  for  example,  the  State  of  Delaware,  in  the  col- 
lection of  thirty  millions  of  dollars  of  revenue,  would  pay  into 
the  Treasury  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  dollars;  and  in  the  distribution  of  thirty  mill- 
ions of  dollars,  she  would  receive  back  from  the  Government, 
according  to  the  ratio  of  the  deposit  bill,  the  sum  of  three  hun- 
dred and  six  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  dollars;  and 
similar  results  would  follow  the  comparison  between  the  small 
and  large  States  throughout  the  Union;  thus  realizing  to  the 
small  States  an  advantage  which  would  be  doubtless  as  unac- 
ceptable to  them  as  a  motive  for  incorporating  the  principle  in 
any  system  which  would  produce  it,  as  it  would  be  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  and  expectations  of  the  large  States.  It  was  cer- 
tainly the  intention  of  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which 
declares  that  all  "duties,  imposts,  and  excises"  shall  "he 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States,"  to  make  the  burdens  of 
taxation  fall  equally  upon  the  people  in  whatever  State  of  the 
Union  they  may  reside.  But  what  would  be  the  value  of  such 
a  uniform  rule,  if  the  moneys  raised  by  it  could  be  immediately 
returned  by  a  different  one,  which  will  give  to  the  people  of  some 
States  much  more,  and  to  those  of  others  much  less  than  their 
fair  proportions?  Were  the  Federal  Government  to  exempt,  in 
express  terms,  the  imports,  products,  and  manufactures  of  some 
portions  of  the  country  from  all  duties,  while  it  imposes  heavy 
ones  on  others,  the  injustice  could  not  be  greater.  It  would  be 
easy  to  show  how,  by  the  operation  of  such  a  principle,  the  large 
States  of  the  Union  would  not  only  have  to  contribute  their  just 
share  toward  the  support  of  the  Federal  Government,  but  also 
have  to  bear  in  some  degree  the  taxes  necessary  to  support  the 
governments  of  their  smaller  sisters ;  but  it  is  deemed  unneces- 
sary to  state  the  details  where  the  general  principle  is  so  obvious. 
A  system  liable  to  such  objections  can  never  be  supposed  to 
have  been  sanctioned  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  when 
they  conferred  on  Congress  the  taxing  power;  and  I  feel  per- 
suaded that  a   mature  examination    of   the  subject   will   satisfy 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  775 

every  one  that  there  are  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  ope- 
ration of  any  plan  which  can  be  devised,  of  collecting  reve- 
nue for  the  purpose  of  distributing  it.  Cougress  is  only  author- 
ized to  levy  taxes,  "to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common 
defense  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States."  There  is  no 
such  provision  as  would  authorize  Congress  to  collect  together  the 
property  of  the  country,  under  the  name  of  revenue,  for  the 
purpose  of  dividing  it  equally  or  unequally  among  the  States  or 
the  people.  Indeed,  iV  is  not  probable  that  such  an  idea  ever 
occurred  to  the  States  when  they  adopted  the  Constitution.  But, 
however  this  may  be,  the  only  safe  rule  for  us  in  interpreting  the 
powers  granted  to  the  Federal  Government,  is  to  regard  the 
absence  of  express  authority  to  touch  a  subject  so  important  and 
delicate  as  this  is,  as  equivalent  to  a  prohibition. 

Even  if  our  powers  were  less  doubtful  in  this  respect,  as  the 
Constitution  now  stands,  there  are  considerations  afforded  by  re- 
cent experience  which  would  seem  to  make  it  our  duty  to  avoid 
a  resort  to  such  a  system. 

All  will  admit  that  the  simplicity  and  economy  of  the  State 
governments  mainly  depend  on  the  fact  that  money  has  to  be 
supplied  to  support  them  by  the  same  men,  or  their  agents,  who 
vote  it  away  in  appropriations.  Hence,  when  there  are  extrava- 
gant and  wasteful  appropriations,  there  must  be  a  corresponding 
increase  of  taxes;  and  the  people,  becoming  awakened,  will 
necessarily  scrutinize  the  character  of  measures  which  thus  in- 
crease their  burdens.  By  the  watchful  eye  of  self-interest,  the 
agents  of  the  people  in  the  State  governments  are  repressed,  and 
kept  within  the  limits  of  a  just  economy.  But  if  the  necessity 
of  levying  the  taxes  be  taken  from  those  who  make  the  appro- 
priations, and  thrown  upon  a  more  distant  and  less  responsible 
set  of  public  agents,  who  have  power  to  approach  the  people  by 
an  indirect  and  stealthy  taxation,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that 
prodigality  will  soon  supersede  those  characteristics  which  have 
thus  far  made  us  look  with  so  much  pride  and  confidence  to  the 
State  governments  as  the  mainstay  of  our  Union  and  liberties. 
The  State  Legislatures,  instead  of  studying  to  restrict  their  State 
expenditures  to  the  smallest  possible  sum,  will  claim  credit  for 
their  profusion,  and  harass  the  General  Government  for  increased 
supplies.  Practically,  there  would  soon  be  but  one  taxing  power, 
and  that  vested  in  a  body  of  men  far  removed  from  the  people, 
in  which  the  farming  and  mechanic  interests  would  scarcelv  be 


776  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

represented.  The  States  would  gradually  lose  their  purity  as 
well  as  their  independence;  they  would  not  dare  to  murmur  at 
the  proceedings  of  the  General  Government,  lest  they  should 
lose  their  supplies;  all  would  be  merged  in  a  practical  consolida- 
tion, cemented  by  wide-spread  corruption,  which  would  only  be 
eradicated  by  one  of  those  bloody  revolutious  which  occasionally 
overthrow  the  despotic  systems  of  the  Old  World.  In  all  the 
other  aspects  in  which  I  have  been  able  to  look  at  the  effect  of 
such  a  principle  of  distribution  upon  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,  I  can  see  nothing  to  compensate  for  the  disadvantages 
to  which  I  have  adverted.  If  we  consider  the  protective  duties, 
■  which  are  in  a  great  degree  the  source  of  the  surplus  revenue, 
beneficial  to  one  section  of  the  Union  and  prejudicial  to  another, 
there  is  no  corrective  for  the  evil  in  such  a  plan  of  distribution. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  all  the  complaints 
which  have  sprung  from  this  cause  would  be  aggravated.  Every 
one  must  be  sensible  that  a  distribution  of  the  surplus  must 
beget  a  disposition  to  cherish  the  means  which  create  it;  and  any 
system,  therefore,  into  which  it  enters,  must  have  a  powerful 
tendency  to  increase,  rather  than  diminish  the  tariff.  If  it  were 
even  admitted  that  the  advantages  of  such  a  system  could  be 
made  equal  to  all  the  sections  of  the  Union,  the  reasons  already 
so  urgently  calling  for  a  reduction  of  the  revenue  would  never- 
theless lose  none  of  their  force ;  for  it  will  always  be  improbable 
that  an  intelligent  and  virtuous  community  can  consent  to  raise 
a  surplus  for  the  mere  purpose  of  dividing  it,  diminished  as  it 
must  inevitably  be  by  the  expenses  of  the  various  machinery 
necessary  to  the  process. 

The  safest  and  simplest  mode  of  obviating  all  the  difficulties 
which  have  been  mentioned,  is  to  collect  only  revenue  enough  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  Government,  and  let  the  people  keep  the 
balance  of  the  property  in  their  own  hands,  to  be  used  for  their 
own  profit.  Each  State  will  then  support  its  own  government, 
and  contribute  its  due  share  toward  the  support  of  the  General 
Government.  There  would  be  no  surplus  to  cramp  and  lessen 
the  resources  of  individual  wealth  and  enterprise,  and  the  banks 
would  be  left  to  their  ordinary  means.  Whatever  agitations  and 
fluctuations  might  arise  from  our  unfortunate  papet  system,  they 
could  never  be  attributed,  justly  or  unjustly,  to  the  action  of  the 
Federal  Government.  There  would  be  some  guarantee  that  the 
spirit   of  wild   speculation    which   seeks   to  convert  the   surplus 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  777 

revenue  into  banking  capital,  would  be  effectually  checked,  and  that 
the  scenes  of  demoralization  which  are  now  so  prevalent  through 
the  laud  would  disappear. 

Without  desiring  to  conceal  that  the  experience  and  observa- 
tion of  the  last  two  years  have  operated  a  partial  chauge  in  my 
views  upon  this  interesting  subject,  it  is  nevertheless  regretted 
that  the  suggestions  made  by  me  in  my  annual  messages  of  1829 
and  1830,  have  been  greatly  misunderstood.  At  that  time  the 
great  struggle  was  begun  against  that  latitudinarian  construction 
of  the  Constitution  .which  authorizes  the  unlimited  appropriation 
of  the  revenues  of  the  Union  to  internal  improvements  within 
the  States,  tending  to  invest  in  the  hands,  and  place  under 
the  control  of  the  General  Government,  all  the  principal  roads 
and  canals  of  the  country,  in  violation  of  State  rights,  and  in 
derogation  of  State  authority.  At  the  same  time,  the  condition 
of  the  manufacturing  interests  was  such  as  to  create  an  appre- 
hension that  the  duties  on  imports  could  not,  without  extensive 
mischief,  be  reduced  in  season  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  a 
considerable  surplus,  after  the  payment  of  the  national  debt.  In 
view  of  the  dangers  of  such  a  surplus,  and  in  preference  to  its 
application  to  internal  improvements,  in  derogation  of  the  rights 
and  powers  of  the  States,  the  suggestion  of  an  amendment  of 
the  Constitution  to  authorize  its  distribution  was  made.  It  was 
an  alternative  for  what  were  deemed  greater  evils,  a  temporary  re- 
sort to  relieve  an  overburdened  Treasury,  until  the  Government 
could,  without  a  sudden  and  destructive  revulsion  in  the  business 
of  the  country,  gradually  return  to  the  just  principle  of  raising 
no  more  revenue  from  the  people  in  taxes  than  is  necessary  for 
its  economical  support.  Even  that  alternative  was  not  spoken 
of  but  in  connection  with  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution. 
No  temporary  inconvenience  can  justify  the  exercise  of  a  pro- 
hibited power,  or  a  power  not  granted  by  that  instrument;  and 
it  was  from  a  conviction  that  the  power  to  distribute  even  a  tem- 
porary surplus  of  revenue  is  of  that  character,  that  it  was  sug- 
gested only  in  connection  with  an  appeal  to  the  source  of  all 
legal  power  in  the  General  Government,  the  States  which  have 
established  it.  No  such  appeal  has  been  taken;  and,  in  my 
opinion,  a  distribution  of  the  surplus  revenue  by  Congress,  either 
to  the  States  or  the  people,  is  to  be  considered  as  among  the  pro- 
hibitions of  the  Constitution.  As  already  intimated,  my  views 
have   undergone   a  change,   so  far  as  to  be  convinced   that  no 


778  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

alteration  of  the  Coustitution  in  this  respect  is  wise  or  expedient. 
The  influence  of  an  accumulating  surplus  upon  the  legislation  of 
the  General  Government  and  the  States,  its  effects  upon  the 
credit  system  of  the  country,  producing  dangerous  extensions  and 
ruinous  contractions,  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  property,  rash 
speculations,  idleness,  extravagance,  and  a  deterioration  of  mor- 
als, have  taught  us  the  important  lesson,  that  any  transient 
mischief  which  may  attend  the  reduction  of  our  revenue  to  the 
wants  of  our  Government,  is  to  be  borne  in  preference  to  an 
overflowing  Treasury. 

I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  another  subject  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  preceding  one,  the  currency  of  the 
country. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  whole  context  of  the  Constituion,  as 
well  as  the  history  of  the  times  which  gave  birth  to  it,  that  it 
was  the  purpose  of  the  convention  to  establish  a  currency  con- 
sisting of  the  precious  metals.  These,  from  their  peculiar  prop- 
erties, which  rendered  them  the  standard  of  value  in  all  other 
countries,  were  adopted  in  this,  as  well  to  establish  its  commer- 
cial standard,  in  reference  to  foreign  countries,  by  a  permanent 
rule,  as  to  exclude  the  use  of  a  mutual  medium  of  exchange,  such 
as  of  certain  agricultural  commodities,  recognized  by  the  stat- 
utes of  some  States,  as  a  tender  for  debts,  or  the  still  more  per- 
nicious expedient  of  a  paper  currency.  The  last,,  from  the 
experience  of  the  evils  of  the  issues  of  paper  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, had  become  so  justly  obnoxious  as  not  only  to  suggest  the 
clause  in  the  Constitution  forbidding  the  emission  of  bills  of 
credit  by  the  States,  but  also  to  produce  that  vote  in  the  conven- 
tion which  negatived  the  proposition  to  grant  power  to  Congress 
to  charter  corporations;  a  proposition  well  understood  at  the 
time,  as  intended  to  authorize  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bank,  which  was  to  issue  a  currency  of  bank-notes,  on  a  capital 
to  be  created  to  some  extent  out  of  Government  stocks.  Al- 
though this  proposition  was  refused  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  con- 
vention, the  object  was  afterward  in  effect  obtained  by  its  ingenious 
advocates  through  a  strained  construction  of  the  Constitution. 
The  debts  of  the  Revolution  were  funded  at  prices  which  formed 
no  equivalent,  compared  with  the  nominal  amount  of  the  stock, 
and  under  circumstances  which  exposed  the  motives  of  some  of 
those  who  participated  in  the  passage  of  the  act,  to  distrust. 

The  facts  that  the  value  of  the  stock  was  greatly  enhanced 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  779 

by  the  creation  of  the  Bank,  that  it  was  well  understood  that 
such  would  be  the  case,  and  that  some  of  the  advocates  of  the 
measure  were  largely  benefited  by  it,  belong  to  the  history  of 
the  times,  and  are  well  calculated  to  diminish  the  respect  which 
might  otherwise  have  been  due  to  the  action  of  the  Congress 
which  created  the  institution. 

On  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank,  it  became  the  in- 
terest of  its  creditors  that  gold  should  be  superseded  by  the  paper 
of  the  Bank  as  a  general  currency.  A  value  was  soon  attached 
to  the  gold  coins,  which  made  their  exportation  to  foreign  coun- 
tries, as  a  mercantile  commodity,  more  profitable  than  their  reten- 
tion and  use  at  home  as  money.  It  followed,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  if  not  designed  by  those  who  established  the  bank,  that 
the  Bank  became,  in  effect,  a  substitute  for  the  mint  of  the 
United  States. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  a  National  Bank  currency,  and  such 
the  beginning  of  those  difficulties  which  now  appear  in  the  ex- 
cessive issues  of  the  banks  incorporated  by  the  various  States. 

Although  it  may  not  be  possible,  by  any  legislative  means 
within  our  power,  to  change  at  once  the  system  which  has  thus 
been  introduced,  and  has  received  the  acquiescence  of  all  portions 
of  the  country,  it  is  certainly  our  duty  to  do  all  that  is  consistent 
with  our  Constitutional  obligations  in  preventing  the  mischiefs 
which  are  threatened  by  its  undue  extension.  That  the  efforts  of 
the  fathers  of  our  Government  to  guard  against  it  by  a  Constitu- 
tional provision  were  founded  on  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  has  been  frequently  attested  by  the  better  experience  of 
the  country.  The  same  causes  which  led  them  to  refuse  their 
sanction  to  a  power  authorizing  the  establishment  of  incorpora- 
tions for  banking  purposes,  now  exist  in  a  piuch  stronger  degree 
to  urge  us  to  exert  the  utmost  vigilance  in  calling  into  action  the 
means  necessary  to  correct  the  evils  resulting  from  the  unfortu- 
nate exercise  of  the  power ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  oppor- 
tunity for  effecting  this  great  good  will  be  improved,  before  the 
country  witnesses  new  scenes  of  embarrassment  and  distress. 

Variableness  must  ever  be  the  characteristic  of  a  currency  of 
"which  the  precious  metals  are  not  the  chief  ingredient,  or  which 
can  be  expanded  or  contracted  without  regard  to  the  principles 
that  regulate  the  value  of  those  metals  as  a  standard  in  the  gen- 
eral trade  of  the  world.  With  us,  bank  issues  constitute  a  cur- 
rency, and   must  ever  do  so  until  they  are  made  dependent  on 


780  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

those  just  proportions  of  gold  and  silver,  as  a  circulating  medium, 
which  experience  has  proved  to  be  necessary,  not  only  in  this, 
but  in  all  other  commercial  countries.  Where  those  proportions 
are  not  infused  into  the  circulation,  and  do  not  control  it,  it  is 
manifest  that  prices  must  vary  according  to  the  tide  of  bank 
issues,  and  the  value  and  stability  of  property  must  stand  exposed 
to  all  the  uncertainty  which  attends  the  administration  of  institu- 
tions that  are  constantly  liable  to  the  temptation  of  an  interest 
distinct  from  that  of  the  community  in  which  they  are  established. 
The  progress  of  an  expansion,  or  rather  a  depreciation  of  the 
currency,  by  excessive  bank  issues,  is  always  attended  by  a  loss 
to  the  laboring  classes.  This  portion  of  the  community  have 
neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  watch  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  the 
money  market.  Engaged  from  day  to  day  in  their  useful  toils, 
they  do  not  perceive  that,  although  their  wages  are  nominally 
the  same,  or  even  somewhat  higher,  they  are  greatly  reduced,  in 
fact,  by  the  rapid  increase  of  a  spurious  currency,  which,  as  it 
appears  to  make  money  abound,  they  are  at  first  inclined  to  con- 
sider a  blessing.  It  is  not  so  with  the  speculator,  by  whom  this 
operation  is  better  understood,  and  is  made  to  contribute  to  his 
advantage.  It  is  not  until  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
become  so  dear  that  the  laboring  classes  can  not  supply  their 
wants  out  of  their  wages,  that  the  wages  rise,  and  gradually  reach 
a  justly  proportioned  rate  to  that  of  the  products  of  their  labor. 
When  thus,  by  the  depreciation  in  consequence  of  the  quantity 
of  paper  in  circulation,  wages  as  well  as  prices  become  exorbitant, 
it  is  soon  found  that  the  whole  effect  of  adulteration  is  a  tariff  on 
our  home  industry  for  the  benefit  of  the  countries  where  gold 
and  silver  circulate  and  maintain  uniformity  and  moderation  in 
prices.  It  is  then  perceived  that  the  enhancement  of  the  price 
of  land  and  labor  produces  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  price 
of  products,  until  these  products  do  not  sustain  a  competition 
wMth  similar  ones  in  other  countries,  and  thus  both  manufactured 
and  agricultural  productions  cease  to  bear  exportation  from  the 
country  of  the  spurious  currency,  because  'they  can  not  be  sold 
for  cost.  This  is  the  process  by  which  specie  is  banished  by  the 
paper  of  the  banks.  Their  vaults  are  soon  exhausted  to  pay  for 
foreign  commodities ;  the  next  step  is  a  stoppage  of  specie  pay- 
ment— a  total  degradation  of  paper  as  a  currency — unusual  de- 
pression of  prices,  the  ruin  of  debtors,  and  the  accumulation  of 
property  in  the  hands  of  creditors  and  cautious  capitalists. 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  781 

It  was  in  view  of  these  evils,  together  with  the  dangerous  power 
wielded  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  its  repugnance  to  our 
Constitution,  that  I  was  induced  to  exert  the  power  conferred 
upon  rae  by  the  American  people  to  prevent  the  continuance  of 
that  institution.  But  although  various  dangers  to  our  republican 
institutions  have  been  obviated  by  the  failure  of  that  Bank  to 
extort  from  tlje  Government  a  renewal  of  its  charter,  it  is  obvious 
that  little  has  been  accomplished,  except  a  salutary  change  of 
public  opinion,  toward  restoring  to  the  country  the  sound  currency 
provided  for  in  the  Constitution.  In  the  acts  of  several  of  the 
States  prohibiting  circulation  of  small  notes,  and  the  auxiliary 
enactments  of  Congress  at  the  last  session,  forbidding  their  re- 
ception or  payment  on  public  account,  the  true  policy  of  the 
country  has  been  advanced,  and  a  larger  portion  of  the  precious 
metals  infused  into  our  circulating  medium.  These  measures 
will  probably  be  followed  up  in  due  time  by  the  enactments  of 
State  laws  banishing  from  circulation  bank-notes  of  still  higher 
denominations ;  and  the  object  may  be  materially  promoted  by 
further  acts  of  Congress,  forbidding  the  employment,  as  fiscal 
agents,  of  such  banks  as  continue  to  issue  notes  of  low  denomina- 
tions, and  throw  impediments  in  the  way  of  the  circulation  of 
gold  and  silver. 

The  effects  of  an  extension  of  bank  credit  and  over-issues  of 
bank  paper  have  been  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  sales  of  the 
public  lands.  From  the  returns  made  by  the  various  registers 
and  receivers  in  the  early  part  of  last  summer,  it  was  perceived 
that  the  receipts  arising  from  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  were 
increasing  to  an  unprecedented  amount.  In  effect,  however, 
these  receipts  amounted  to  nothing  more  than  credits  in  banks. 
The  banks  lent  out  their  notes  to  speculators ;  they  were  paid  to 
the  receivers,  and  immediately  returned  to  the  banks  to  be  lent 
out  again  and  again,  being  mere  instruments  to  transfer  to  specu- 
lators the  most  valuable  public  land,  and  pay  the  Government  by 
a  credit  on  the  books  of  the  banks.  Those  credits  on  the  books 
of  some  of  the  Western  banks,  usually  called  deposits,  were 
already  greatly  beyond  their  immediate  means  of  payment,  and 
were  rapidly  increasing.  Indeed,  each  speculation  furnished 
means  for  another  ;  for  no  sooner  had  one  individual  or  company 
paid  in  the  notes,  than  they  were  immediately  lent  to  another 
for  a  like  purpose  ;  and  the  banks  were  extending  their  business 
and   their  issues   so   largely,  as   to  alarm   considerate   men,  and 


782  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

render  it  doubtful  whether  these  bank  credits,  if  permitted  to 
accumulate,  would  ultimately  be  of  the  least  value  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  spirit  of  expansion  and  speculation  was  not  con- 
fined to  deposit  banks,  but  pervaded  the  whole  multitude  of 
banks  throughout  the  Union,  and  was  giving  rise  to  new  institu- 
tions to  aggravate  the  evil. 

The  safety  of  the  public  funds  and  the  interest  of  the  people 
generally,  required  that  these  operations  should  be  checked  ;  and 
it  became  the  duty  of  every  branch  of  the  General  and  State 
Governments  to  adopt  all  legitimate  and  proper  means  to  produce 
the  salutary  effect.  Under  this  view  of  my  duty,  I  directed  the 
issuing  of  the  order  which  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  requiring  payment  for  the  public  lands  to 
be  sold,  to  be  made  in  specie,  with  an  exception,  until  the  fifteenth 
of  the  present  month,  in  favor  of  actual  settlers.  This  measure 
has  produced  many  salutary  consequences.  It  checked  the  career 
of  the  Western  banks  and  gave  them  additional  strength,  in  an- 
ticipation of  the  pressure  which  has  since  pervaded  our  Eastern 
as  well  as  the  European  commercial  cities.  By  preventing  the 
extension  of  the  credit  system,  it  measurably  cut  off  the  means 
of  speculation,  and  retarded  its  progress  in  monopolizing  the 
most  valuable  of  the  public  lands.  It  has  tended  to  save  the 
new  States  from  a  non-resident  proprietorship,  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  to  the  advancement  of  a  new  country,  and  the  prosperity 
of  an  old  one.  It  has  tended  to  keep  open  the  public  lands  for 
entry  by  emigrants  at  government  prices,  instead  of  their  being 
compelled  to  purchase  of  speculators  at  double  or  treble  prices. 
And  it  is  conveying  into  the  interior  large  sums  in  silver  and 
gold,  there  to  enter  permanently  into  the  currency  of  the  country, 
and  place  it  on  a  firmer  foundation.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  the  country  will  find,  in  the  motives  which  induced  that 
order,  and  the  happy  consequences  which  will  have  ensued,  much 
to  commend  and  nothing  to  condemn. 

It  remains  for  Congress,  if  they  approve  the  policy  which  dic- 
tated this  order,  to  follow  it  up  in  its  various  bearings.  INIuch 
good,  in  my  judgment,  would  be  produced  by  prohibiting  sales 
of  the  public  lands,  except  to  actual  settlers  at  a  reasonable  re- 
duction of  price,  and  to  limit  the  quantity  which  shall  be  sold  to 
them.  Although  it  is  believed  the  General  Government  never 
ought  to  receive  any  thing  but  the  Constitutional  currency  in  ex- 
change for  the  public   lands,  that   point  would   be  of  less  impor- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  783 

tauce  if  the  lands  were  sold  for  immediate  settlement  and  culti- 
vation. Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  mischief  arising  out  of  our 
present  land  system,  including  the  accumulating  surplus  of 
revenue,  which  would  not  be  remedied  at  once  by  a  restriction 
on  land  sales  to  actual  settlers ;  and  it  promises  other  advantages 
to  the  country  in  general,  and  to  the  new  States  in  particular, 
which  can  not  fail  to  receive  the  most  profound  consideration  of 
Congress.  * 

Experience  continues  to  realize  the  expectations  entertained 
as  to  the  capacity  of  the  State  banks  to  perform  the  duties  of 
fiscal  agents  for  the  Government,  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of 
the  deposits.  It  was  alleged  by  the  advocates  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  that  the  State  banks,  whatever  might  be  the 
regulations  of  the  Treasury  Department,  could  not  make  the 
transfers  required  by  the  Government,  or  negotiate  the  domestic 
exchanges  of  the  country.  It  is  now  well  ascertained  that 
the  real  domestic  exchanges,  performed  through  discounts 
by  the  United  States  Bank  and  its  twenty-five  branches, 
were  at  least  one-third  less  than  those  of  the  deposit  banks  for  an 
equal  period  of  time ;  and  if  a  comparison  be  instituted  between 
the  amounts  of  service  rendered  by  these  institutions  on  the 
broader  basis  which  has  been  used  by  the  advocates  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  in  estimating  what  they  consider  the  domestic  ex- 
changes transacted  by  it,  the  result  will  be  still  more  favorable  to 
the  deposit  banks. 

The  whole  amount  of  public  money  transferred  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  in  1832  was  sixteen  millions  of  dollars. 
The  amount  transferred  and  actually  paid  by  the  deposit  banks 
in  the  year  ending  the  1st  of  October  last  was  thii'ty-nine  mill- 
ions three  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  dollars ;  the  amount  transferred  and  paid  between 
that  period  and  the  6th  of  November  was  five  millions  three 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousand  dollars ;  and  the  amount  of 
transfer  warrants  outstanding  on  that  day  was  fourteen  millions 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars;  making  an  aggregate 
of  fifty-nine  millions  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  ninety-four  dollars.  These  enormous  sums  of  money 
first  mentioned,  have  been  transferred  with  the  greatest  prompti- 
tude and  regularity ;  and  the  rates  at  which  the  exchanges  have 
been  negotiated  previously  to  the  passage  of  the  deposit  act,  were 
generally  below  those  charged  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 


784  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Independently  of  these  services,  whicli  are  far  greater  than  those 
rendered  by  the  United  States  Bank  and  its  twenty-five  branches, 
a  number  of  deposit  banks  have,  with  a  commendable  zeal  to  aid 
in  the  improvement  of  the  currency,  imported  from  abroad,  at 
their  own  expense,  large  sums  of  the  precious  metals  for  coinage 
and  circulation. 

In  the  same  manner  have  nearly  all  the  predictions  turned 
out  in  respect  to  the  effect  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits — a  step 
unquestionably  necessary  to  prevent  the  evils  which  it  was  fore- 
seen the  Bank  itself  would  endeavor  to  create  in  a  final  struggle 
to  procure  the  renewal  of  its  charter.  It  may  be  thus,  too,  in 
some  degree,  with  the  further  steps  which  may  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent the  excessive  issues  of  other  bank  paper ;  but  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  nothing  will  now  deter  the  Federal  and  State  author- 
ities from  the  firm  and  vigorous  performance  of  their  duties  to 
themselves  and  to  the  people  in  this  respect. 

In  reducing  the  revenue  to  the  wants  of  the  Government, 
your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  those  articles  which  consti- 
tute the  necessaries  of  life.  The  duty  on  salt  was  laid  as  a  war 
tax,  and  was  no  doubt  continued  to  assist  iu  providing  for  the 
payment  of  the  war  debt.  There  is  no  article  the  release  of 
which  from  taxation  would  be  felt  so  generally  and  so  beneficially. 
To  this  may  be  added  all  kinds  of  fuel  and  provisions.  Justice 
and  benevolence  unite  in  favor  of  releasing  the  poor  of  our 
cities  from  burdens  which  are  not  necessary  to  the  support  of 
our  Government,  and  tend  only  to  increase  the  wants  of  the 
destitute. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  the  accompanying  documents,  that  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  has  made  no  payment  on  account  of  the  stock  held  by  the 
Government  in  that  institution,  although  urged  to  pay  any  por- 
tion which  might  suit  its  convenience ;  and  that  it  has  given  no 
information  when  payment  may  be  expected.  Nor,  although  re- 
peatedly requested,  has  it  furnished  the  information  in  relation 
to  its  condition,  which  Congress  authorized  the  Secretary  to  collect 
at  their  last  session.  Such  measures  as  are  within  the  power  of 
the  Executive  have  been  taken  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the 
stock,  and  procure  the  payment  as  early  as  possible. 

The  conduct  and  present  condition  of  that  Bank,  and  the 
great  amount  of  capital  vested  in  it  by  the  United  States,  require 
your  careful  attention.     Its  charter  expired  on  the  3d  day  of 


ANDRP:W  JACKSON.  785 

March  last,  and  it  has  now  no  power  but  that  given  in  the  21st 
section,  to  use  "  the  corporate  name,  style,  and  capacity,  for  the 
purpose  of  suits  for  the  final  settlement  and  liquidation  of  the 
affairs  and  accounts  of  the  corporation,  and  for  the  sale  and  dis- 
position of  their  estate,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  but  not  for  any 
other  purpose  or  in  any  other  manner  whatsoever,  nor  for  a  period 
exceeding  two  years  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of  in- 
corporation." Before  the  expiration  of  the  charter,  the  stock- 
holders of  the  Bank  obtained  an  act  of  incorporation  from  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  excluding  only  the  United  States. 
Instead  of  proceeding  to  wind  up  their  concerns,  and  pay  over  to 
the  United  States  the  amount  due  on  account  of  the  stock  held 
by  them,  the  president  and  directors  of  the  old  Bank  appear  to 
have  transferred  the  books,  papers,  notes,  obligations,  and  most 
or  all  of  its  property,  to  this  new  corporation,  which  entered  upon 
business  as  a  continuation  of  the  old  concern.  Among  other  acts 
of  questionable  validity,  the  notes  of  the  expired  corporation  are 
known  to  have  been  used  as  its  own,  and  again  put  in  circula- 
tion. That  the  old  Bank  had  no  right  to  issue  or  reissue  its  notes 
after  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  can  not  be  denied ;  and  that 
it  could  not  confer  any  such  right  on  its  substitute  any  more  than 
exercise  it  itself,  is  equally  plain.  In  law  and  honesty,  the  notes 
of  the  Bank  in  circulation,  at  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  should 
have  been  called  in  by  public  advertisement,  paid  up  as  presented, 
and,  together  with  those  on  hand,  canceled  and  destroyed.  Their 
reissue  is  sanctioned  by  no  law,  and  warranted  by  no  necessity. 
If  the  United  States  be  responsible  in  their  stock  for  the  payment 
of  these  notes,  their  reissue  by  the  new  corporation,  for  their  own 
profit,  is  a  fraud  on  the  Government.  If  the  United  States  is  not 
responsible,  then  there  is  no  legal  responsibility  in  any  quarter, 
and  it  is  a  fraud  on  the  country.  They  are  the  redeemed  notes 
of  a  dissolved  partnership,  but,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  re- 
tiring partner,  and  without  his  consent,  are  again  reissued  and 
circulated. 

It  is  the  high  and  peculiar  duty  of  Congress  to  decide  whether 
any  further  legislation  be  necessary  for  the  security  of  the  large 
amount  of  public  property  now  held  and  in  use  by  the  new  Bank, 
and  for  vindicating  the  rights  of  the  Government,  and  compelling 
a  speedy  and  honest  settlement  with  all  the  creditors  of  the  old 
Bank,  public  and  private ;  or  whether  the  subject  shall  be  left  to 
the  power  now  possessed  by  the  Executive  and  judiciary.     It 

50-G 


786  LIFE  AXD  TIMES  OF 

remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  persons  who,  as  managers  of  tte  old 
Bank,  undertook  to  control  the  Government,  retained  the  public 
dividends,  shut  their  doors  upon  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  filled  the  country  with  panic  to  accomplish 
their  own  sinister  objects,  may  now,  as  managers  of  a  new  Bank, 
continue  with  impunity  to  flood  the  country  with  a  spurious  cur- 
rency, use  the  seven  millions  of  Government  stock  for  their  own 
profit,  and  refuse  to  the  United  States  all  information  as  to  the 
present  condition  of  their  own  property,  and  the  prospect  of  re- 
covering it  into  their  own  possession. 

The  lesson  taught  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  can  not 
well  be  lost  upon  the  American  people.  They  will  take  care  never 
again  to  place  so  tremendous  a  power  in  irresponsible  hands ; 
and  it  will  be  fortunate  if  they  seriously  consider  the  conse- 
quences which  are  likely  to  result  on  a  smaller  scale,  from  the 
facility  with  which  corporate  powers  are  granted  by  their  State 
governments. 

It  is  believed  that  the  laAV  of  the  last  session,  regulating  the 
deposit  banks,  operates  onerously  and  unjustly  upon  them  in 
many  respects;  and  it  is  hoped  that  Congress,  on  proper  repre- 
sentation, will  adopt  the  modifications  which  are  necessary  to  pre- 
vent this  consequence. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  and  the  accom- 
panying documents,  all  of  which  are  herewith  laid  before  you, 
will  give  you  a  full  view  of  the  diversified  and  important  opera- 
tions of  that  Department  during  the  past  year. 

The  military  movements  rendered  necessary  by  the  aggressions 
of  the  hostile  portions  of  the  Seminole  and  Creek  tribes  of  In- 
dians, and  by  other  circumstances,  have  required  the  active  em- 
ployment of  nearly  our  whole  regular  force,  including  the  marine 
corps,  and  of  large  bodies  of  militia  and  volunteers.  With  all 
these  events,  so  far  as  they  were  known  at  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment before  the  termination  of  your  last  session,  you  are  already 
acquainted  ;  and  it  is  therefore  only  needful  in  this  place  to  lay 
before  you  a  brief  summary  of  what  has  since  occurred. 

The  war  with  the  Semiuoles  during  the  summer,  was  on  our 
part  chiefly  confined  to  the  protection  of  our  frontier  settlements 
from  the  incursions  of  the  enemy  ;  and,  as  a  necessary  and  impor- 
tant means  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  end,  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  posts  previously  established.  In  the  course  of  this 
duty,  several  actions  took   place,   in  which  the  bravery  and  dis- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  787 

cipline  of  both  officers  and  men  were  conspicuously  displayed,  and 
which  I  have  deemed  it  proper  to  notice,  in  respect  to  the  former, 
by  the  granting  of  brevet  rank  for  gallant  services  in  the  field. 
But  as  the  force  of  the  Indians  was  not  so  far  weakened  by  these 
partial  successes  as  to  lead  them  to  submit,  and  as  their  savage  in- 
roads were  frequently  repeated,  early  measures  were  taken  for 
placing  at  the  disposal  of  Governor  Call,  who,  as  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Territorial  militia,  had  been  temporarily  invested  with 
the  command,  an  ample  force  for  the  purpose  of  resuming  offen- 
sive operations  in  the  most  efficient  manner  so  soon  as  the  season 
should  permit.  Major-General  Jesup  was  also  directed,  on  the 
conclusion  of  his  duties  in  the  Creek  country,  to  repair  to  Florida 
and  assume  the  commaud. 

The  result  of  the  first  movement  made  by  the  forces  under 
the  direction  of  Governor  Call,  in  October  last,  as  detailed  in  the 
accompanying  papers,  excited  much  surprise  and  disappointment. 
A  full  explanation  has  been  required  of  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  failure  of  that  movement,  but  has  not  yet  been  received.  In 
the  meantime  it  was  feared  that  the  health  of  Governor  Call,  who 
was  understood  to  have  suffered  much  from  sickness,  might  not 
be  adequate  to  the  crisis,  and  as  Major-General  Jesup  was  known 
to  have  reached  Florida,  that  officer  was  directed  to  assume  the 
command,  and  to  prosecute  all  needful  operations  with  the  utmost 
promptitude  and  vigor.  From  the  force  at  his  disposal,  and  the 
dispositions  he  has  made,  and  is  instructed  to  make,  and  from  the 
very  efficient  measures  which  it  is  since  ascertained  have  been 
taken  by  Governor  Call,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  they  will 
soon  be  enabled  to  reduce  the  enemy  to  subjection.  In  the  mean- 
time, as  you  will  perceive  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary,  there 
is  urgent  necessity  for  further  appropriations  to  suppress  these 
hostilities. 

Happily  for  the  interests  of  humanity,  the  hostilities  with 
the  Creeks  have  been  brought  to  a  close  soon  after  your  adjourn- 
ment, without  that  effusion  of  blood  which  at  one  time  was  ap- 
prehended as  inevitable.  The  unconditional  submission  of  the 
hostile  party  was  followed  by  their  speedy  removal  to  the  country 
assigned  them  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  inquiry  as  to  al- 
leged frauds  in  the  purchase  of  the  reservations  of  these  Indians, 
and  the  causes  of  these  hostilities,  requested  by  the  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  1st  of  July  last,  to  be  made 
to  the  President,  is  now  going  on,  through  the  agency  of  commis- 


788  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

sioners  appointed  for  that  purpose.     Their  report  may  be  expected 
during  the  present  session. 

The  difficulties  apprehended  in  the  Cherokee  country  have 
been  prevented,  and  the  peace  and  safety  of  that  region  and  its 
vicinity  effectually  secured,  by  the  timely  measures  taken  by  the 
War  Department,  and  still  continued. 

The  discretionary  authority  given  to  General  Gaines  to  cross 
the  Sabine,  and  to  occupy  a  position  as  far  west  as  Nacogdoches, 
in  case  he  should  deem  such  a  step  necessary  to  the  protection  of 
the  frontier,  and  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  stipulations  contained 
in  our  treaty  with  Mexico,  and  the  movement  subsequently  made 
by  that  officer,  have  been  alluded  to  in  a  former  part  of  this 
message.  At  the  date  of  the  latest  intelligence  from  Nacogdoches, 
our  troops  were  yet  at  that  station,  but  the  officer  who  has  suc- 
ceeded General  Gaines  has  recently  been  advised,  that,  from  the 
facts  known  at  the  seat  of  Government,  there  would  seem  to  be 
no  adequate  cause  for  any  longer  maintaining  that  position ;  and 
he  was  accordingly  instructed,  in  case  the  troops  were  not  already 
withdrawn  under  the  discretionary  powers  before  possessed  by 
him,  to  give  the  requisite  orders  for  that  purpose,  on  the  receipt 
of  the  instructions,  unless  he  shall  then  have  in  his  possession 
such  information  as  shall  satisfy  him  that  the  maintenance  of  the 
post  is  essential  to  the  protection  of  our  frontiers,  and  to  the 
due  execution  of  our  treaty  stipulations,  as  previously  explained 
to  him. 

While  the  necessities  existing  during  the  present  year,  for  the 
service  of  militia  and  volunteers,  have  furnished  new  proofs  of 
the  patriotism  of  our  fellow-citizens,  they  have  also  strongly  illus- 
trated the  importance  of  an  increase  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
regular  army.  The  views  of  this  subject,  submitted  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  in  his  report,  meet  my  entire  concurrence,  and  are 
earnestly  commended  to  the  deliberate  attention  of  Congress.  In 
this  connection  it  is  also  proper  to  remind  you  that  the  defects  in 
our  present  militia  system  are  every  day  rendered  more  apparent. 
The  duty  of  making  further  provision  by  law  for  organizing,  arm- 
ing, and  disciplining  this  armed  defense,  has  been  so  repeatedly 
presented  to  Congress,  by  myself  and  my  predecessors,  that  I  deem 
it  sufficient  on  this  occasion  to  refer  to  the  last  annual  message 
and  to  former  Executive  communications,  in  which  the  subject 
has  been  discussed. 

It  appears  from  the  reports  of  the  officers  charged  with  muster- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  789 

ing  into  service  the  volunteers  called  for  under  the  act  of  Congress 
of  the  last  session,  that  more  presented  themselves  at  the  place  of 
rendezvous  in  Tennessee  than  were  sufficient  to  meet  the  requisi- 
tion which  had  been  made  by  the  Secretary  of  War  upon  the  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State.  This  was  occasioned  by  the  omission  of  the 
Governor  to  apportion  the  requisition  to  the  different  regiments  of 
militia,  so  as  to  obtain  the  proper  number  of  troops  and  no  more. 
It  seems  but  just  to  the  patriotic  citizens  who  repaired  to  the  gen- 
eral rendezvous,  under  circumstances  authorizing  them  to  believe 
that  their  services  were  needed,  and  would  be  accepted,  that  the 
expenses  incurred  by  them,  while  absent  from  their  homes,  should 
be  paid  by  the.  Government.  I  accordingly  recommend  that  a  law 
to  this  effect  be  passed  by  Congress,  giving  them  a  compensation 
which  will  cover  their  expenses  on  the  march  to  and  from  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  and  while  there;  in  connection  with  which, 
it  will  also  be  proper  to  make  provision  for  such  other  equitable 
claims,  growing  out  of  the  service  of  the  militia,  as  may  not  be 
embraced  in  the  existing  laws. 

On  the  unexpected  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in  Florida,  Ala- 
bama, and  Georgia,  it  became  necessary,  in  some  cases,  to  take 
the  property  of  individuals  for  public  use.  Provision  should  be 
made  by  law  for  indemnifying  the  owners;  and  I  would  also  re- 
spectfully suggest  whether  some  provision  may  not  be  made,  con- 
sistently with  the  principles  of  our  Government,  for' the  relief  of 
the  sufferers  by  Indian  depredations,  or  by  the  operations  of  our 
own  troops. 

No  time  was  lost  after  the  making  of  the  requisite  appropria- 
tions, in  resuming  the  great  national  work  of  completing  the  un- 
finished fortificatifjus  on  our  sea-board,  and  of  placing  them  in  a 
proper  state  of  defense.  In  consequence,  however,  of  the  very 
late  day  at  which  those  bills  were  passed,  but  little  progress  could 
be  made  during  the  season  which  has  just  closed.  A  very  large 
amount  of  the  moneys  granted  at  your  last  session  accordingly 
remains  unexpended ;  but  as  the  work  will  be  again  resumed  at 
the  earliest  moment  in  the  coming  spring,  the  balance  of  the  exist- 
iig  appropriations,  and  in  several  cases  which  will  be  laid  before 
you,  with  the  proper  estimates,  further  sums  for  the  like  objects, 
may  be  usefully  expended  during  the  next  year. 

The  recommendations  of  an  increase  in  the  engineer  corps, 
and  for  a  reorganization  of  the  topographical  corps,  submitted  to 
you  in  my  last  annual  message,  derive  additional  strength  from 


790  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  great  embarrassments  experienced  during  the  present  year  in 
those  branches  of  the  service,  and  under  which  they  are  now  suf- 
fering. Several  of  the  most  important  surveys  and  constructions, 
directed  by  recent  laws,  have  been  suspended  in  consequence  of 
the  want  of  adequate  force  in  these  corps. 

The  like  observations  may  be  applied  to  the  ordnance  corps 
and  the  general  staff,  the  operations  of  which,  as  they  are  now  or- 
ganized, must  either  be  frequently  interrupted,  or  performed  by 
officers  taken  from  the  line  of  the  army,  to  the  great  prejudice  of 
the  service. 

For  a  general  view  of  the  condition  of  the  military  academy, 
and  of  other  branches  of  the  military  service  not  already  noticed, 
as  well  as  for  fuller  illustrations  of  those  which  have  been  men- 
tioned, I  refer  you  to  the  accompanying  documents ;  and  among 
the  various  proposals  contained  therein,  for  legislative  action,  I 
would  particularly  notice  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  for  the  revision  of  the  pay  of  the  army,  as  entitled  to  your 
favorable  regard. 

The  national  policy,  founded  alike  in  interest  and  in  humanity, 
so  long  and  so  steadily  pursued  by  this  Government,  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  Indian  tribes  originally  settled  on  this  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  the  west  of  that  river,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
consummated  by  the  conclusion  of  the  late  treaty  with  the  Chero- 
kees.  The  measures  taken  in  the  execution  of  that  treaty,  and  in 
relation  to  our  Indian  affairs  generally,  will  fully  appear  by  refer- 
ring to  the  accompanying  papers.  Witho.ut  dwelling  on  the  nu- 
merous and  important  topics  embraced  in  them,  I  again  invite  your 
attention  to  the  importance  of  providing  a  well-digested  and  com- 
prehensive system  for  the  protection,  supervision,  and  improve- 
ment of  the  various  tribes  now  planted  in  the  Indian  country. 
The  suggestions  submitted  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs, and  enforced  by  the  Secretary  on  this  subject,  and  also  in 
regard  to  the  establishment  of  additional  military  posts  in  the 
Indian  country,  are  entitled  to  your  profound  consideration. 
Both  measures  are  necessary,  for  the  double  purpose  of  protecting 
the  Indians  from  intestine  war,  and  in  other  respects  complying 
with  our  engagements  to  them,  and  of  securing  our  western 
frontier  against  incursions  which  otherwise  will  assuredly  be  made 
on  it.  The  best  hopes  of  humanity  in  regard  to  the  aboriginal 
race,  the  welfare  of  our  rapidly  extending  settlements,  and  the 
honor  of  the  United  States,  are  all  deeply  involved  in  the  rela- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  791 

tions  existing  between  this  Government  and  the  emigrating  tribes. 
I  trust,  therefore,  that  the  various  matters  submitted  in  the  ac- 
companyiug  documents  in  respect  to  those  relations,  will  receive 
your  early  and  mature  deliberations ;  and  that  it  may  issue  in  the 
adoption  of  legislative  measures  adapted  to  the  circumstances 
and  duties  of  the  present  crisis. 

You  are  referred  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
for  a  satisfactory  view  of  the  operations  of  the  Department  under 
his  charge,  during  the  present  year.  In  the  construction  of  ves- 
sels at  the  different  navy-yards,  and  in  the  employment  of  our 
ships  and  squadrons  at  sea,  that  branch  of  the  service  has  been 
actively  and  usefully  employed.  While  the  situation  of  our 
commercial  interests  in  the  West  Indies  required  a  greater  num- 
ber than  usual  of  armed  vessels  to  be  kept  on  that  station,  it  is 
gratifying  to  perceive  that  the  protection  due  to  our  commerce  in 
other  quarters  of  the  world  has  not  proved  insufficient.  Every 
effort  has  been  made  to  facilitate  the  equipment  of  the  exploring 
expedition  authorized  by  the  act  of  the  last  session,  but  all  the 
preparation  necessary  to  enable  it  to  sail  has  not  yet  been  com- 
pleted. No  means  will  be  spared  by  the  Government  to  fit  out 
the  expedition  on  a  scale  corresponding  with  the  liberal  appro- 
priation for  the  purpose,  and  with  the  elevated  character  of  the 
objects  which  are  to  be  effected  by  it. 

I  beg  leave  to  renew  the  recommendation  made  in  my  last 
annual  message,  respecting  the  enlistment  of  boys  in  our  naval 
service ;  and  to  urge  upon  your  attention  the  necessity  of  further 
appropriations  to  increase  the  number  of  ships  afloat,  and  to  en- 
large generally  the  capacity  and  force  of  the  navy.  The  increase 
of  our  commerce,  and  our  position  in  regard  to  the  other  powers 
of  the  world,  will  always  make  it  our  policy  and  interest  to  cher- 
ish the  great  naval  resources  of  our  country. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General  presents  a  gratifying 
picture  of  the  condition  of  the  Post-office  Department.  Its  reve- 
nues for  the  year  ending  the  30th  of  June  last  were  three  mill- 
ions three  hundred  and  ninety-eight  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty-five  dollars  and  nineteen-  cents,  showing  an  increase  of  reve- 
nue over  that  of  the  preceding  year,  of  four  hundred  and  four 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight  dollars  and  fifty-three 
cents,  or  more  than  thirteen  per  cent.  The  expenditures  for  the 
same  year  were  two  millions  seven  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand 
six    hundred    and   twenty-three   dollars    and    seventy-six   cents, 


792  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

exhibiting  a  surplus  of  six  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-one  dollars  forty-three  cents.  The  Depart- 
ment has  been  redeemed  from  embarrassment  and  debt;  has  ac- 
cumulated a  surplus  exceeding  half  a  million  of  dollars;  has 
largely  extended,  and  is  preparing  still  further  to  extend,  the 
mail  service ;  and  recommends  a  reduction  of  postages  equal  to 
about  twenty  per  cent.  It  is  practicing  upon  the  great  principle 
which  should  control  every  branch  of  our  Government,  of  ren- 
dering to  the  public  the  greatest  good  possible  with  the  least 
possible  taxation  to  the  people. 

The  scale  of  postages  suggested  by  the  Postmaster-General, 
recommends  itself,  not  only  by  the  reduction  it  proposes,  but  by 
the  simplicity  of  its  arrangement,  its  conformity  with  the  Federal 
currency,  and  the  improvement  it  will  introduce  into  the  accounts 
of  the  Department  and  its  agents. 

Your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  subject  of  mail  con- 
tracts with  railroad  companies.  The  present  laws  providing  for 
the  making  of  contracts  are  based  upon  the  presumption  that  compe- 
tition among  bidders  will  secure  the  service  at  a  fair  price.  But 
on  most  of  the  railroad  lines,  there  is  no  competition  in  that  kind 
of  transportation,  and  advertising  is  therefore  useless.  No  con- 
tract can  now  be  made  with  them,  except  such  as  shall  be  nego- 
tiated before  the  time  of  offering  or  afterward,  and  the  power  of 
the  Postmaster-General  to  pay  them  high  prices  is  practically 
without  limitation.  It  would  be  a  relief  to  him,  and  no  doubt 
would  conduce  to  the  public  interest,  to  prescribe  by  law  some 
equitable  basis  upon  which  such  contracts  shall  rest,  and  restrict 
him  by  a  fixed  rule  of  allowance.  Under  a  liberal  act  of  that 
sort,  he  would  undoubtedly  be  able  to  secure  the  services  of  most 
of  the  railroad  companies,  and  the  interest  of  the  Department 
would  be  thus  advanced. 

The  correspondence  between  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  the  European  nations,  and  particularly  with  the  British 
Islands,  has  become  very  extensive,  and  requires  the  interposition 
of  Congress  to  give  it  security.  No  obstacle  is  perceived  to  an 
interchange  of  mails  between  New  York  and  Liverpool,  or  other 
foreign  ports,  as  proposed  by  the  Postmaster-General.  On  the 
contrary  it  promises,  by  the  security  it  will  afford,  to  facili- 
tate commercial  transactions,  and  give  rise  to  an  enlarged 
intercourse  among  the  people  of  different  nations,  which  can  not 
but  have  a  happy  effect.     Through  the  city  of  New  York  most 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  793 

of  the  corresjiondence  between  the  Canadas  and  Europe  is  now 
carried  on,  and  urgent  representations  have  been  received  from 
the  head  of  the  provincial  post-office,  asking  the  interposition  of 
the  United  States  to  guard  it  from  the  accidents  and  losses  to 
which  it  is  now  subjected.  Some  legislation  appears  to  be  called 
for,  as  well  by  our  own  interest,  as  by  comity  to  the  adjoining 
British  provinces. 

The  expediency  of  providing  a  fire-proof  building  for  the  im- 
portant books  and  papers  of  the  .Post-office  Department  is  worthy 
of  consideration.  In  the  present  condition  of  our  Treasury  it  is 
neither  necessary  nor  wise  to  leave  essential  public  interests  ex- 
posed to  so  much  danger,  when  they  can  so  readily  be  made  se- 
cure. There  are  weighty  considerations  in  the  location  of  a  new 
building  for  that  department,  in  favor  of  placing  it  near  the 
other  executive  buildings. 

The  important  subjects  of  a  survey  of  the  coast,  and  the  man- 
ufacture of  a  standai'd  of  weights  and  measures  for  the  different 
custom-houses,  have  been  in  progress  for  some  years,  under  the 
general  direction  of  the  Executive,  and  the  immediate  superin- 
tendence of  a  gentleman  possessing  high  scientific  attainments. 
At  the  last  session  of  Congress,  the  making  of  a  set  of  weights 
and  measures  for  each  State  in  the  Union  was  added  to  the 
others  by  a  joint  resolution. 

The  care  and  correspondence  as  to  all  these  subjects  have 
been  devolved  on  the  Treasury  Department  during  the  last  year. 
A  special  report  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  soon  be 
communicated  to  Congress,  which  will  show  what  has  been  ac- 
complished as  to  the  whole — the  number  and  compensation  of 
the  persons  now  employed  in  these  duties,  and  the  progress  ex- 
pected to  be  made  during  the  ensuing  year — with  a  copy  of  the 
various  correspondence  deemed  necessary  to  throw  light  on  the 
subjects  which  seem  to  require  additional  legislation.  Claims 
have  been  made  for  retrospective  allowances  in  behalf  of  the 
superintendent  and  some  of  his  assistants,  which  I  did  not  feel 
justified  in  granting ;  other  claims  have  been  made  for  large  in- 
creases in  compensation,  which,  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  several  cases,  I  declined  making  without  the  express  sanction 
of  Congress.  In  order  to  obtain  that  sanction,  the  subject  was, 
at  the  last  session,  on  my  suggestion,  and  by  request  of  the  im- 
mediate superintendent,  submitted  by  the  Treasury  Department 
to  the  Committee  of  Commerce  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


794  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

But  no  legislative  action  having  taken  place,  the  early  attention 
of  Congress  is  now  invited  to  the  enactment  of  some  express  and 
detailed  provisions  in  relation  to  the  various  claims  made  for  the 
past,  and  to  the  compensation  and  allowances  deemed  proper  for 
the  future. 

It  is  further  respectfully  recommended  that,  such  being  the 
inconvenience  of  attention  to  these  duties  by.  the  Chief  Magistrate, 
and  such  the  great  pressure  of  business  on  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, the  general  supervision  of  the  coast  survey,  and  the  com- 
pletion of  the  weights  and  measures,*  if  the  works  are  kept  united, 
should  be  devolved  on  a  board  of  officers  organized  especially 
for  that  purpose,  or  on  the  navy  board  attached  to  the  Navy 
Department. 

All  my  experience  and  reflection  confirm  the  conviction  I 
have  so  often  expressed  to  Congress  in  favor  of  an  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  which  will  prevent,  in  any  event,  the  election 
of  the  President  and  Vice-Pi-esident  of  the  United  States  devolv- 
ing on  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate ;  and  I 
therefore  beg  leave  again  to  solicit  your  attention  to  the  subject. 
There  were  various  other  suggestions  in  my  last  annual  message 
not  acted  upon,  particularly  that  relating  to  the  want  of  uni- 
formity in  the  laws  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  that  are  deemed 
worthy  of  your  favorable  consideration. 

Before  concluding  this  paper,  I  think  it  due  to  the  various 
Executive  Departments  to  bear  testimony  to  their  prosperous 
condition,  and  to  the  ability  and  integrity  with  which  they  have 
been  conducted.  It  has  been  my  aim  to  enforce  in  all  of  them 
a  vigilant  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  public  business,  and  it  is 
gratifying  to  me  to  believe  that  there  is  no  just  cause  of  com- 
plaint from  any  quarter  at  the  manner  in  which  they  have  ful- 
filled the  objects  of  their  creation. 

Having  now  finished  the  observations  deemed  proper  on  this, 
the  last  occasion  I  shall  have  of  communicating  with  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress  at  their  meeting,  I  can  not  omit  an  expression 
of  the  gratitude  which  is  due  to  the  great  body  of  my  fellow- 
citizens,  in  whose  partiality  and  indulgence  I  have  found  encour- 
agement and  support  in  the  many  difficult  and  trying  scenes 
through  wiiich  it  has  been  ray  lot  to  pass  during  my  public 
career.  Though  deeply  sensible  that  my  exertions  have  not  been 
crowned  with  a  success  corresponding  to  the  degree  of  favor  be- 
stowed upon  me,  I  am  sure  that  .they  will  be  considered  as  having 


ANDREW  JAUKSON.  795 

been  directed  by  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  good  of  my 
country ;  and  I  am  consoled  by  the  persuasion,  that  whatever 
errors  have  been  committed,  will  find  a  corrective  in  the  intelli- 
gence and  patriotism  of  those  who  will  succeed  us.  All  that  has 
occurred  during  my  Administration  is  calculated  to  inspire  me 
with  increased  confidence  in  the  stability  of  our  institutions;  and 
should  I  be  spared  to  enter  upon  that  retirement  which  is  so 
suitable  to  my  age  and  infirm  health,  and  so  much  desired  by 
me  in  other  respects,  I  shall  not  cease  to  invoke  that  beneficent 
Being,  to  whose  providence  we  are  already  so  signally  indebted, 
for  the  continuance  of  his  blessings  on  our  beloved  country. 

The  President  puts  great  stress  upon  what  had 
been  accomplished  especially  under  his  Administration 
in  bringing  about  cordial  relations  with  foreign  gov- 
ernments. He  now  recognized  the  lurking  danger  per- 
ceivable in  the  financial  condition  of  the  country,  and 
admits  a  change  in  his  mind.  For  General  Jackson  to 
admit  that  he  ever  could  be  wrong  in  anything,  was 
enough  to  throw  the  country  into  a  panic.  He  now 
opposed  the  plan  of  distributing  surplus  revenue, 
either  among  the  people  or  the  States,  and  argued 
that  the  way  out  of  the  whole  difficulty  was  to  ar- 
range the  revenue  systena  so  that  the  income  would 
merely  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  Govern- 
ment. He  again  defends  his  course  as  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  but  acknowledges  that  no  great 
good  had  yet  been  effected,  and  deplores  the  great 
evils  arising  from  the  excessive  paper  circulation  from 
the  State  deposit  and  other  banks,  and  clearly  indi- 
cates that  the  great  work  before  Congress  was  to 
provide  a  remedy  for  this  unfortunate  state  of  affairs. 
He  recommends  his  specie  order  to  Congress,  and 
shows  how  the  land  speculations  had  been  arrested,  to 
ponie  extent,  by  it.  It  was  one  of  his  first  and  last 
thoughts    that   the   public   land   sliould   be   turned  to 


796  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

actual  settlement ;  that  men  who  wanted  to  live  on  the 
lands  and  cultivate  them  should  be  benefited  by  them; 
hence  the  clause  of  his  specie  circular  making  an  ex- 
ception in  favor  of  actual  settlers  against  speculators, 
as  to  the  payment  of  specie  for  lands. 

Under  his  leadership  a  system  of  banking,  of 
finances,  had  come  into  existence  which  had  filled  the 
country  with  paper  currency,  with  the  wildest  and 
most  ruinous  speculation  and  inflation,  and  which  now 
seriously  threatened  the  overthrow  of  business  and 
social  prosperity.  His  great  desire  now  was  to  crush 
the  new  and  more  powerful  monster  which  was  rap- 
idly coiling  itself  around  the  country.  He  saw  too 
plainly  the  unfortunate  result  of  his  good  purposes. 
But  it  was  too  late  to  avert  the  calamity,  if  the  way 
had  been  clear.  The  basis  of  all  his  arguments  now 
was  gold,  gold,  silver,  silver.  In  all  the  latter  day 
financial  troubles,  and  all  other  fancied  troubles,  and 
the  thousand  elaborate  and  wise  panaceas,  no  better 
presentation  of  the  case  can  be  found  than  is  given  in 
this  message.  Some  of  the  wild  political  heirs  of 
General  Jackson,  and  the  descendants  of  the  inflation- 
ists of  the  last  term  of  his  Presidency  have  never 
been  answered  more  ably  and  honestly  than  is  done 
in  this  message,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the 
Executive  papers.  The  President  takes  occasion  to 
extol  all  the  Departments  of  his  Administration,  ac- 
cording to  an  old  army  practice  with  him,  and  com- 
mit the  whole,  with  confidence  to  the  country.  It 
must  not  be  overlooked  that  now  for  the  eighth  time 
he  did  not  neglect  to  press  upon  Congress  the  neces- 
sity of  removing  all  possibilities  of  having  a  Presi- 
dential election  thrown  into  that  body.     The  idea  of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  797 

having  either  House  resolved  into  an  uncertain  Elec- 
toral College  was  never  to  his  taste  after  1825. 

President  Jackson's  long  term  of  office  had  been 
stormy.  There  had  not  been  a  solitary  moment  of 
peace  to  him,  and  little  to  the  country  from  the  day 
he  took  the  oath  of  office  to  the  present  time,  nor  was 
he  destined  to  see  any  now.  The  very  things  he  con- 
gratulated himself  and  the  country  upon,  were  excep- 
tionable to  Congress.  The  integrity  and  ability  of 
the  employes  under  him  were  questioned,  and  bitter 
investigations  ordered.  The  condition  of  the  country 
was  too  feverish  to  be  peaceful.  It  was  not  the 
nature  of  the  elements  concerned  to  be  peaceful  before 
a  storm,  if  it  ever  is  so. 

The  old  quarrel  between  Calhoun  and  the  Presi- 
dent broke  out  towards  the  close  of  this  session.  Mr. 
Calhoun  had  been  charged  with  including  him  among  the 
land  speculators.  It  was  a  rule  of  Jackson's  life  to 
allow  nothing  to  go  unanswered  or  unpunished.  He 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Calhoun  telling  him  to  have 
justice  done  or  he  would  take  the  matter  into  his  own 
hands,  and  publish  that  letter,  again  exposing  him 
before  leaving  the  city.  Mr.  Calhoun  treated  the 
whole  matter  in  a  way,  he  said,  to  show  his  pity  and 
contempt  for  the  old  man.  The  letter  was  read  to  the 
Senate,  and  the  matter  was  never  heard  of  again. 

The  great  event  of  this  session  to  Jackson  was  his 
final  triumph  over  the  Senate  in  having  the  act  of 
1834,  censuring  his  conduct  in  removing  the  deposits 
from  the  Bank,  and  treatment  of  W.  J.  Duane,  "  ex- 
punged "  from  the  record  of  that  body.  Soon  after 
the  act  of  censure  was  passed  Mr.  Benton  had  started 
the  movement  for  its  repeal  or  expurgation,  and  now, 


798  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

as  the  end  approached,  he  pushed  his  purpose  with 
great  skill  and  determination.  At  last,  on  the  16th 
of  Jannary,  1837,  the  opposition  becoming  indifferent, 
and  seeing  that  the  friends  of  the  President  would 
win,  gave  way,  and  amidst  the  groans  and  hisses  from 
the  galleries  the  sentence  of  censure  was  canceled  on 
the  Senate  record  by  a  vote  of  24  to  19. 

The  President's,  or  what  was  the  same  thing,  the 
Treasury,  specie  circular  of  the  last  year  was  not  at 
all  satisfactory  to  Congress;  and  notwithstanding  the 
majority  of  Administration  members,  towards  the  end 
of  the  session  a  bill  was  passed  by  a  large  majority 
rescinding  the  specie  circular,  and  providing  that  bank 
bills  be  a  legal  tender  under  certain  conditions.  At 
quarter  before  12  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  3d  of 
March,  1837,  the  President  virtually  killed  the  meas- 
ure by  briefly  stating  to  Congress  that  he  did  not 
deem  the  bill  wise,  and  hence  retained  it  without 
further  action.  This  was  General  Jackson's  last  offi- 
cial act,  a  "  pocket  veto." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  799 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

END  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON'S  ADMINISTRATION— FAREWELL 

ADDRESS— IMITATES  WASHINGTON— RECEPTION 

BY  THE  PEOPLE. 

ON  the  4th,  General  Jackson  attended  the  inaugu- 
ration of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  three  days  after- 
wards started  for  his  home  in  Tennessee.  He  was 
not  the  man  to  lose  an  opportunity  to  make  himself 
felt  at  all  times.  He  thought  as  well  of  his  own 
career  as  did  his  most  enthusiastic  admirers.  If  abil- 
ity to  execute  his  own  will,  and  be  almost  absolute  in 
bending  men  and  things  to  his  purposes  constitute 
greatness,  then  he  was  great,  and  the  only  great  man 
known  in  the  history  of  this  country.  He  had  claimed 
great  devotion  to  the  people.  His  career  had  been 
varied,  and  valuable,  and  at  every  point  remarkable. 
He  had  really  founded  a  party  of  which  he  was 
yet  the  oracle.  He  had  introduced  politics  directly 
into  the  affairs  of  the  National  Administration,  and 
laid  tte  foundation  for  the  everlasting  contest  of  par- 
ties for  the  spoils  of  office.  The  adulations  of  his 
friends  favored  his  own  inclinations  to  imitate  one  who 
had  gone  before  him,  and  believing  that  his  principles 
should  be  eternally  practiced  in  this  country,  having 
great  faith  in  the  permanent  attachment  of  the  people 
to  himself,  and  believing  that  his  voice  would  be 
heeded  then  and  in  after  times,  he  prepared  and  issued 


800  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

on  the  last  day  of  his  official  career  an  address  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  Much  of  this  document 
may  be  found  substantially  in  his  messages  and  other 
papers,  and  is  a  statement  of  the  Jacksonian  principles 
of  government,  and  of  the  sentiments  which  had 
actuated  him  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
country.     The  following  is  the 

FAREWELL  ADDRESS. 

March  3,  1837. 

Fellow-citizens, — Being  about  to  retire  finally  from  public 
life,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  many 
proofs  of  kindness  and  confidence  which  I  have  received  at  your 
hands.  It  has  been  my  fortune,  in  the  discharge  of  public 
duties,  civil  and  military,  frequently  to  have  found  myself  in 
difiicult  and  trying  situations,  where  prompt  decision  and  ener- 
getic action  were  necessary,  and  where  the  interest  of  the  coun- 
try required  that  high  responsibilities  should  be  fearlessly  encoun- 
tered ;  and  it  is  with  the  deepest  emotions  of  gratitude  that  I 
acknowledge  the  continued  and  unbroken  confidence  with  which 
you  have  sustained  me  in  every  trial.  My  public  life  has  been 
a  long  one,  and  I  can  not  hope  that  it  has  at  all  times  been  free 
from  errors.  But  I  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  if  mis- 
takes have  been  committed,  they  have  not  seriously  injured  the 
country  I  so  anxiously  endeavored  to  serve;  and  at  the  moment 
when  I  surrender  my  last  public  trust,  I  leave  this  great  peo- 
ple prosperous  and  happy ;  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  liberty  and 
peace ;  and'honored  and  respected  by  every  nation  in  the  world. 

If  my  humble  efforts  have,  in  any  degree,  contributed  to  pre- 
serve to  you  these  blessings,  I  have  been  more  than  rewarded  by 
honors  you  have  heaped  upon  me ;  and,  above  all,  by  the  generous 
confidence  with  which  you  have  supported  me  in  every  peril,  and 
with  which  you  have  continued  to  animate  and  cheer  my  path  to 
the  closing  hour  of  my  political  life.  The  time  has  now  come 
when  advanced  age  and  a  broken  frame  warn  me  to  retire  from 
public  concerns ;  but  the  recollection  of  the  many  favors  you  have 
bestowed  upon  me  is  engraven  upon  my  heart,  and  I  have  felt 
that  I  could  not  part  from  your  service  without  making  this 
public  acknowledgment  of  the  gratitude  I  owe  you.     And  if  I 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  801 

use  the  occasion  to  offer  to  you  the  counsels  of  age  and  expe- 
rience, you  will,  I  trust,  receive  them  with  the  same  indulgent 
kindness  which  you  have  so  often  extended  to  me;  and  will,  at 
least,  see  in  them  an  earnest  desire  to  perpetuate,  in  this  favored 
land,  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  equal  laws. 

We  have  now  lived  almost  fifty  years  under  the  Constitutiou 
framed  by  the  sages  and  patriots  of  the  Revolution.  The  con- 
flicts in  which  the  nations  of  Europe  were  engaged  during  a  great 
pai't  of  this  period;  the  spirit  in  which  they  waged  war  against 
each  other;  and  our  intimate  commercial  connections  with  every 
part  of  the  civilized  world,  rendered  it  a  time  of  much  difficulty 
for  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  We  have  had  our 
seasons  of  peace  and  of  war,  with  all  the  evils  which  precede  or 
follow  a  state  of  hostility  with  powerful  nations.  We  encoun- 
tered these  trials  with  our  Constitution  yet  in  its  infancy,  and 
under  the  disadvantages  which  a  new  and  Untried  government 
must  always  feel,  when  it  is  called  upon  to  put  fortK  its  whole 
strength,  without  the  lights  of  experience  to  guide  it,  or  the 
weight  of  precedents  to  justify  its  measures.  But  we  have 
passed  triumphantly  through  all  these  difficulties.  Our  Constitu- 
tion is  no  longer  a  doubtful  experiment;  and  at  the  end  of  nearly 
half  a  century,  we  find  that  it  has  preserved  unimpaired  the  lib- 
erties of  the  people,  secured  the  rights  of  property,  and  that  our 
country  has  improved,  and  is  flourishing  beyond  any  former  ex- 
ample in  the  history  of  nations. 

In  our  domestic  concerns,  there  is  everything  to  encourage  us ; 
and  if  you  are  true  to  yourselves,  nothing  can  impede  your 
march  to  the  highest  point  of  national  prosperity.  The  States 
which  had  so  long  been  retarded  in  their  improvements  by  the 
Indian  tribes  residing  in  the  midst  of  them,  are  at  length  relieved 
from  the  evil ;  and  this  unhappy  race,  the  original  dwellers  in 
our  land,  are  now  placed  in  a  situation  where  we  may  well  hope 
that  they  will  share  in  the  blessings  of  civilization,  and  be  saved 
from  that  degradation  and  destruction  to  which  they  were  rapidly 
hastening  while  they  remained  in  the  States;  and  while  the  safety 
and  comfort  of  our  own  citizens  have  been  greatly  promoted  by 
their  removal,  the  philanthropist  will  rejoice  that  the  remnant  of 
this  ill-fated  race  has  been  at  length  placed  beyond  the  reach  of 
injury  or  oppression,  and  that  the  paternal  care  of  the  General 
Government  will  hereafter  watch  over  them  and  protect  them. 

If  we  turn  to  our  relations  with  foreign  powers,  we  find  our 

51— G 


802  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

condition  equally  gratifying.  Actuated  by  the  sincere  desire  to 
do  justice  to  every  nation,  and  to  preserve  the  blessings  of  peace, 
our  intercourse  with  them  has  been  conducted  on  the  part  of  this 
Government  in  the  spirit  of  frankness,  and  I  take  pleasure  in 
saying  that  it  has  generally  been  met  in  a  corresponding  temper. 
Difficulties  of  old  standing  have  been  surmounted  by  friendly 
discussion,  and  a  mutual  desire  to  be  just;  and  the  claims  of  our 
citizens,  which  had  been  long  withheld,  have  at  length  been 
acknowledged  and  adjusted,  and  satisfactory  arrangements  made 
for  their  final  payment;  and  with  a  limited,  and  I  trust  a  tempo- 
rary exception,  our  relations  with  every  foreign  power  are  now 
of  the  most  friendly  character,  our  commerce  continually  expand- 
ing, and  our  flag  respected  in  every  quarter  of  the  world. 

These  cheering  and  grateful  prospects,  and  these  multiplied 
favors,  we  owe,  under  Providence,  to  the  adoption  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution,  It  is  no  longer  a  q^uestion  whether  this  great 
country  can  remain  happily  united,  and  flourish  under  our 
present  form  of  government.  Experience,  the  unerring  test  of 
all  human  undertakings,  has  shown  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of 
those  who  formed  it;  and  has  proved,  that  in  the  Union  of 
these  States  there  is  a  sure  foundation  for  the  brightest  hopes  of 
freedom,  and  for  the  happiness  of  the  people.  At  every  hazard, 
and  by  every  sacrifice,  this  Union  must  be  preserved. 

The  necessity  of  watching  with  jealous  anxiety  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union,  was  earnestly  pressed  upon  his  fellow-citi- 
zens by  the  father  of  his  country,  in  his  Farewell  Address.  He 
has  there  told  us,  that  "while  experience  shall  not  have  demon- 
strated its  impracticability,  there  will  always  be  reason  to  distrust 
the  patriotism  of  those  who,  in  any  quarter,  may  endeavor  to 
weaken  its  bonds;"  and  he  has  cautioned  us  in  the  strongest 
terms  against  the  formation  of  parties  on  geographical  discrim- 
inations, as  one  of  the  means  which  might  disturb  our  Union, 
and  to  which  designing  men  would  be  likely  to  resort. 

The  lessons  contained  in  this  invaluable  legacy  of  Washington 
to  his  countrymen,  should  be  cherished  in  the  heart  of  every 
citizen  to  the  latest  generation  ;  and,  perhaps,  at  no  period  of 
time  could  they  be  more  usefully  remembered  than  at  the  present 
moment.  For  when  we  look  upon  the  scenes  that  are  passing 
around  us,  and  dwell  upon  the  pages  of  his  parting  address,  his 
paternal  counsels  would  seem  to  be,  not  merely  the  offspring  of 
wisdom    and    foresight,    but    the   voice   of  prophecy   foretelling 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  803 

events  and  warning  us  of  the  evil  to  come.  Forty  years  liave 
passed  since  this  imperishable  document  was  given  to  his  coun- 
trymen. The  Federal  Constitution  was  then  regarded  by  him  as 
an  experiment,  and  he  so  speaks  of  it  in  his  address,  but  an  ex- 
periment upon  the  success  of  which  the  best  hopes  of  his  country 
depended,  and  we  all  know  that  he  was  prepared  to  lay  down 
his  life,  if  necessary,  to  secure  to  it  a  full  and  fair  trial.  The 
trial  has  been  made.  It  has  succeeded  beyond  the  proudest 
hopes  of  those  who  framed  it.  Every  quarter  of  this  widely  ex- 
tended Nation  has  felt  its  blessings,  and  shared  in  the  general 
prosperity  produced  by  its  adoption.  But  amid  this  general 
prosperity  and  splendid  success,  the  dangers  of  which  he  warned 
us  are  becoming  every  day  more  evident,  and  the  signs  of  evil 
are  sufficiently  apparent  to  awaken  the  deepest  anxiety  in  the 
bosom  of  the  patriot.  We  behold  systematic  efforts  publicly 
made  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  different  parts  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  place  party  divisions  directly  upon 
geographical  distinctions;  to  excite  the  South  against  the  North, 
and  the  North  against  the  South,  and  to  force  into  the  controversy 
the  most  delicate  and  exciting  topics  upon  which  it  is  impossible 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  Union  can  ever  speak  without  strong 
emotions.  Appeals,  tbo,  are  constantly  made  to  sectional  interests, 
in  order  to  influence  the  election  of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  as  if 
it  were  desired  that  he  should  favor  a  particular  quarter  of  the 
country,  instead  of  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  station  with  impar- 
tial justice  to  all ;  and  the  possible  dissolution  of  the  Union  has 
at  length  become  an  ordinary  and  familiar  subject  of  discussion. 
Has  the  warning  voice  of  Washington  been  forgotten  ?  or  have 
designs  already  been  formed  to  sever  the  Union?  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  I  impute  to  all  of  those  who  have  taken  an  active 
part  in  these  unwise  and  unprofitable  discussions,  a  want  of 
patriotism  or  of  public  virtue.  The  honorable  feelings  of  State 
pride  and  local  attachment  find  a  place  in  the  bosoms  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  pure.  But  while  such  men  are  conscious  of 
their  own  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose,  they  ought  never  to 
forget  that  the  citizens  of  other  States  are  their  political  breth- 
ren ;  and  that,  however  mistaken  they  may  be  in  their  views,  the 
great  body  of  them  are  equally  honest  and  upright  with  them- 
selves. Mutual  suspicion  and  reproaches  may  in  time  create 
mutual  hostility,  and  artful  and  designing  men  will  always  be 
found,   who  are  ready   to  foment   these  fatal  divisions,   and  to 


804  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

inflame  the  natural  jealousies  of  different  sections  of  the  country. 
The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  such  examples,  and  especially 
the  history  of  republics. 

What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and  dissension?  Delude 
not  yourselves  with  the  belief  that  a  breach  once  made  may  be 
afterward  repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once  severed,  the  line  of 
separation  will  grow  wider  and  wider,  and  the  controversies 
which  are  now  debated  and  settled  in  the  halls  of  legislation, 
will  then  be  tried  in  fields  of  battle,  and  determined  by  the 
sword.  Neither  should  you  deceive  yourselves  with  the  hope 
that  the  first  line  of  separation  would  be  the  permanent  one,  and 
that  nothing  but  harmony  and  concord  would  be  found  in  the 
new  associations  formed  upon  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Local 
interests  would  still  be  found  there,  and  unchastened  ambition. 
And  if  the  recollection  of  common  dangers,  in  which  the  people 
of  these  United  States  stood  side  by  side  against  the  common 
foe;  the  memory  of  victories  won  by  their  united  valor;  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  they  have  enjoyed  under  the  present 
Constitution ;  the  proud  name  they  bear  as  citizens  of  this  great 
Republic ;  if  all  these  recollections  and  proofs  of  common  interest 
are  not  strong  enough  to  bind  us  together  as  one  people,  what  tie 
will  hold  united  the  new  divisions  of  empire  when  these  bonds 
have  been  broken,  and  this  Union  dissevered  ?  The  first  line  of 
separation  would  not  last  for  a  single  generation ;  new  fragments 
would  be  torn  off;  new  leaders  would  spring  up ;  and  this  great 
and  glorious  Republic  would  soon  be  broken  into  a  multitude  of 
petty  States,  without  commerce,  without  credit,  jealous  of  one 
another,  armed  for  mutual  aggressions,  loaded  with  taxes  to  pay 
armies  and  leaders,  seeking  aid  against  each  other  from  foreign 
powers,  insulted  and  trampled  upon  by  the  nations  of  Europe, 
until,  harassed  with  conflicts  and  humbled  and  debased  in  spirit, 
they  would  be  ready  to  submit  to  the  absolute  dominion  of  any 
military  adventurer,  and  surrender  their  liberty  for  the  sake  of 
repose.  It  is  impossible  to  look  on  the  consequences  that  would 
inevitably  follow  the  destruction  of  this  Government,  and  not 
feel  indignant  when  we  hear  cold  calculations  about  the  value  of 
the  Union,  and  have  so  constantly  before  us  a  line  of  conduct  so 
well  calculated  to  weaken  its  ties. 

There  is  too  much  at  stake  to  allow  pride  or  passion  to  influ- 
ence your  decision.  Never  for  a  moment  believe  that  the  great 
body  of  the  citizens  of  any  State  or  States  can  deliberately  intend  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  805 

do  wrong.  They  may,  under  the  influence  of  temporary  excite- 
ment or  misguided  opinions,  commit  mistakes ;  they  may  be  mis- 
led for  a  time  by  the  suggestions  of  self-interest ;  but  in  a  com- 
munity so  enlightened  and  patriotic  as  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  argument  will  soon  make  them  sensible  of  their  errors, 
and  when  convinced,  they  will  be  ready  to  repair  them.  If  they 
have  no  higher  or  better  motives  to  govern  them,  they  will  at 
least  perceive  that  their  own  interest  requires  them  to  be  just  to 
others  as  they  hope  to  receive  justice  at  their  hands. 

But  in  order  to  maintain  the  Union  unimpaired,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  the  laws  passed  by  the  constituted  authori- 
ties should  be  faithfully  executed  in  every  part  of  the  country, 
and  that  every  good  citizen  should,  at  all  times  stand  ready  to 
put  down,  with  the  combined  force  of  the  Nation,  every  attempt 
at  unlawful  resistance,  under  whatever  pretext  it  may  be  made, 
or  whatever  shape  it  may  assume.  Unconstitutional  or  oppress- 
ive laws  may  no  doubt  be  passed  by  Congress,  either  from 
erroneous  views  or  the  want  of  due  consideration ;  if  they  are 
within  reach  of  judicial  authority,  the  remedy  is  easy  and 
peaceful ;  and  if,  from  the  character  of  the  law,  it  is  an  abuse 
of  power  not  within  the  control  of  the  judiciary,  then  free  dis- 
cussion and  calm  appeals  to  reason  and  to  the  justice  of  the  people 
will  not  fail  to  redress  the  wrong.  But  until  the  law  shall  be 
declared  void  by  the  courts,  or  repealed  by  Congress,  no  individ- 
ual or  combination  of  individuals  can  be  justified  in  forcibly 
resisting  its  execution.  It  is  impossible  that  any  government 
can  continue  to  exist  upon  any  other  principles.  It  would  cease 
to  be  a  government  and  be  unworthy  of  the  name,  if  it  had  not 
the  power  to  enforce  the  execution  of  its  own  laws  within  its  own 
sphere  of  action. 

It  is  true  that  cases  may  be  imagined  disclosing  such  a  settled 
purpose  of  usurpation  and  oppression,  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, as  would  justify  an  appeal  to  arms.  These,  however,  are 
extreme  cases,  which  we  have  no  reason  to  apprehend  in  a  gov- 
ernment where  the  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a  patriotic  people  ; 
and  no  citizen  who  loves  his  country  would,  in  any  case  what- 
ever, resort  to  forcible  resistance,  unless  he  clearly  saw  that  the 
time  had  come  when  a  freeman  should  prefer  death  to  submission  ; 
for  if  such  a  struggle  is  once  begun,  and  the  citizens  of  one  sec- 
tion of  the  country  arrayed  in  arms  against  those  of  another,  in 
doubtful  conflict,  let  the  battle  result  as  it  may,  there  will  be  an 


806  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

end  of  the  Union,  and  with  it  an  end  of  the  hopes  of  freedom. 
The  victory  of  the  injured  would  not  secure  to  them  the  blessings 
of  liberty ;  it  would  avenge  their  wrongs,  but  they  would  them- 
selves share  in  the  common  ruin. 

But  the  Constitution  can  not  be  maintained,  nor  the  Union 
preserved,  in  opposition  to  public  feeling,  by  the  mere  exertion 
of  the  coercive  powers  confided  to  the  General  Government.  The 
foundations  must  be  laid  in  the  affections  of  the  people ;  in  the 
security  it  gives  to  life,  liberty,  character,  and  property,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  country ;  and  in  the  fraternal  attachments  which 
the  citizens  of  the  several  States  bear  to  one  another,  as  members 
of  one  political  family,  mutually  contributing  to  promote  the  haji- 
piness  of  each  other.  Hence  the  citizens  of  every  State  should 
studiously  avoid  everything  calculated  to  wound  the  sensibility 
or  offend  the  just  pride  of  the  people  of  other  States;  and  they 
should  frown  upon  any  proceedings  within  their  own  borders  likely 
to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  their  political  brethren  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  Union.  In  a  country  so  extensive  as  the  United 
States,  and  with  pursuits  so  varied,  the  internal  regulations  of  the 
several  States  must  frequently  differ  from  one  another  in  important 
particulars ;  and  this  difference  is  unavoidably  increased  by  the 
varying  principles  upon  which  the  American  colonies  were  origi- 
nally planted  ;  principles  which  had  taken  deep  root  in  their  social 
relations  before  the  Revolution,  and  therefore,  of  necessity,  influ- 
encing their  policy  since  they  became  free  and  independent  States. 
But  each  State  has  the  unquestionable  right  to  regulate  its  own  in- 
ternal concerns  according  to  its  own  pleasure ;  and  while  it  does 
not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the  people  of  other  States,  or  the 
rights  of  the  Union,  every  State  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  the 
measures  proper  to  secure  the  safety  of  its  citizens  and  promote 
their  happiness  ;  and  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  other 
States  to  cast  odium  upon  their  institutions,  and  all  measures  cal- 
culated to  disturb  their  rights  of  property,  or  to  put  in  jeopardy 
their  peace  and  internal  tranquillity,  are  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
spirit  in  which  the  Union  was  formed,  and  must  endanger  its 
safety.  Motives  of  philanthropy  may  be  assigned  for  this  unwar- 
rantable interference  ;  and  weak  men  may  persuade  themselves  for 
a  moment  that  they  are  laboring  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  and 
asserting  the  rights  of  the  human  race  ;  but  every  one,  upon  sober 
reflection,  will  see  that  nothing  but  mischief  can  come  from  these 
improper  assaults  upon  the  feelings   and  rights  of  others.     Rest 


ANDREW  JACKSON.*  807 

assured,  that  the  men  found  busy  in  this  work  of  discord  are 
not  worthy  of  your  confidence,  and  deserve  your  strongest  repro- 
bation. 

In  the  legislation  of  Congress,  also,  and  in  every  measure  of 
the  General  Government,  justice  to  every  portion  of  the  United 
States  should  be  faithfully  observed.  No  free  government  can 
stand  without  virtue  in  the  people,  and  a  lofty  spirit  of  patriot- 
ism ;  and  if  the  sordid  feelings  of  mere  selfishness  shall  usurp  the 
place  which  ought  to  be  filled  with  public  spirit,  the  legislation 
of  Congress  will  soon  be  converted  into  a  scramble  for  personal 
and  sectional  advantages.  Under  our  free  institutions,  the  citi- 
zens of  every  quarter  of  our  country  are  capable  of  attaining  a 
high  degree  of  prosperity  and  happiness,  without  seeking  to  profit 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  others ;  and  every  such  attempt 
must  in  the  end  fail  to  succeed,  for  the  people  in  every  part  of 
the  United  States  are  too  enlightened  not  to  understand  their 
own  rights  and  interests,  and  to  detect  and  defeat  every  effort  to 
gain  undue  advantages  over  them;  and  when  such  designs  are 
discovered,  it  naturally  provokes  resentments  which  can  not  al- 
ways be  allayed.  Justice,  full  and  ample  justice,  to  every  portion 
of  the  United  States,  should  be  the  ruling  principle  of  every  free- 
man, and  should  guide  the  deliberations  of  every  public  body, 
whether  it  be  State  or  national. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  have  always  been  those  among  us 
who  wish  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  General  Government ;  and 
experience  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  is  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  this  Government  to  overstep  the  boundaries  marked  out 
for  it  by  the  Constitution.  Its  legitimate  authority  is  abundantly 
sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  created  ;  and  its 
powers  being  expressly  enumerated,  there  can  be  no  justification 
for  claiming  anything  beyond  them.  Every  attempt  to  exercise 
power  beyond  these  limits  should  be  promptly  and  firmly  opposed. 
For  one  evil  example  will  lead  to  other  measures  still  more  mis- 
chievous ;  and  if  the  principle  of  constructive  powers,  or  supposed 
advantages,  or  temporary  circumstances,  shall  ever  be  permitted 
to  justify  the  assumption  of  a  power  not  given  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  General  Government  will  before  long  absorb  all  the 
powers  of  legislation,  and  you  will  have,  in  effect,  but  one  con- 
solidated Government.  From  the  extent  of  our  country,  its  di- 
versified interests,  different  pursuits,  and  diflferent  habits,  it  is  too 
obvious  for   argument   that   a    single    consolidated    Government 


808  "LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

would  be  wholly  inadequate  to  watch  over  and  protect  its  inter- 
ests ;  and  every  friend  of  our  free  institutions  should  be  always 
prepared  to  maintain  unimpaired  and  in  full  vigor  the  rights  and 
sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  to  confine  the  action  of  the  Gen- 
eral Government  strictly  to  the  sphere  of  its  appropriate  duties. 
There  is,  perhaps,  no  one  of  the  powers  conferred  on  the  Fed- 
eral Government  so  liable  to  abuse  as  the  taxing  power.  The 
most  productive  and  convenient  sources  of  revenue  were  neces- 
sarily given  to  it,  that  it  might  be  able  to  perform  the  important 
duties  imposed  upon  it;  and  the  taxes  which  it  lays  upon  com- 
merce being  concealed  from  the  real  payer  in  the  price  of  the 
article,  they  do  not  so  readily  attract  the  attention  of  the  people 
as  smaller  sums  demanded  from  them  directly  by  the  tax-gatherer. 
But  the  tax  imposed  on  goods,  enhances  by  so  much  the  price  of 
the  commodity  to  the  consumer ;  and  as  many  of  these  duties  are 
imposed  on  articles  of  necessity  which  are  daily  used  by  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  the  money  raised  by  these  imposts  is  drawn 
from  their  pockets.  Congress  has  no  right  under  the  Constitution 
to  take  money  from  the  people  unless  it  is  required  to  execute 
some  one  of  the  specific  powers  intrusted  to  the  Government ;  and 
if  they  raise  more  than  is  necessary  for  such  purposes,  it  is  an 
abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation,  and  unjust  and  oppressive.  It 
may  indeed  happen  that  the  revenue  will  sometimes  exceed  the 
amount  anticipated  when  the  taxes  were  laid.  When,  however, 
this  is  ascertained,  it  is  easy  to  reduce  them  ;  and,  in  such  a  case, 
it  is  unquestionably  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  reduce  them, 
for  no  circumstances  can  justify  it  in  assuming  a  power  not 
given  to  it  by  the  Constitution,  nor  in  taking  away  the  money 
of  the  people  when  it  is  not  needed  for  the  legitimate  wants  of 
the  Government. 

Plain  as  these  principles  appear  to  be,  you  will  yet  find  that 
there  is  a  constant  eflfbrt  to  induce  the  General  Government  to  go 
beyond  the  limits  of  its  taxing  power,  and  to  impose  unnecessary 
burdens  upon  the  people.  Many  powerful  interests  are  continu- 
ally at  work  to  procure  heavy  duties  on  commerce,  and  to  swell 
the  revenue  beyond  the  real  necessities  of  the  public  service ;  and 
the  country  has  already  felt  the  injurious  effects  of  their  combined 
influence.  They  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  tarilf  of  duties  bearing 
most  oppressively  on  the  agricultural  and  laboring  classes  of  so- 
ciety, and  producing  a  revenue  that  could  not  be  usefully  em- 
ployed within  the  range  of  the  powers  conferred  upon  Congress ; 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  809 

and,  in  order  to  fasten  upon  the  people  this  unjust  and  unequal 
system  of  taxation,  extravagant  schemes  of  internal  improvement 
were  got  up  in  various  quarters,  to  squander  the  money  and  to 
purchase  support.  Thus,  one  unconstitutional  measure  was  in- 
tended to  be  upheld  by  another,  and  the  abuse  of  the  power  of 
taxation  was  to  be  maintained  by  usurping  the  power  of  expend- 
ing the  money  in  internal  improvements.  You  can  not  have  for- 
gotten the  severe  and  doubtful  struggle  through  which  we  passed 
when  the  Executive  Department  of  the  Government,  by  its  veto, 
endeavored  to  arrest  the  prodigal  scheme  of  injustice,  and  to  bring 
back  the  legislation  of  Congress  to  the  boundaries  prescribed  by 
the  Constitution.  The  good  sense  and  practical  judgment  of  the 
people,  when  the  subject  was  brought  before  them,  sustained  the 
course  of  the  Executive,  and  this  plan  of  unconstitutional  expen- 
diture for  the  purposes  of  corrupt  influence  is,  I  trust,  finally 
overthrown. 

The  result  of  this  decision  has  been  felt  in  the  rapid  extin- 
guishment of  the  public  debt,  and  the  large  accumulation  of  a 
surplus  in  the  Treasury,  notwithstanding  the  tariff"  was  reduced, 
and  is  now  far  below  the  amount  originally  contemplated  by  its 
advocates.  But,  rely  upon  it,  the  design  to  collect  an  extrava- 
gant revenue,  and  to  burden  you  with  taxes  beyond  the  econom- 
ical wants  of  the  Government,  is  not  yet  abandoned.  The  various 
interests  which  have  combined  together  to  impose  a  heavy  tariff", 
and  to  produce  an  overflowing  Treasury,  are  too  strong,  and  have 
too  much  at  stake,  to  surrender  the  contest.  The  corporations 
and  wealthy  individuals  who  are  engaged  in  large  manufacturing 
establishments,  desire  a  high  tariff*  to  increase  their  gains.  De- 
signing politicians  will  support  it,  to  conciliate  their  favor,  and 
to  obtain  the  means  of  profuse  expenditure,  for  the  purpose  of 
purchasing  influence  in  other  quarters ;  and  since  the  people  have 
decided  that  the  Federal  Government  can  not  be  permitted  to 
employ  its  income  in  internal  improvements,  efforts  will  be  made 
to  seduce  and  mislead  the  citizens  of  the  several  States,  by  hold- 
ing out  to  them  the  deceitful  prospect  of  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  a  surplus  revenue  collected  by  the  General  Government, 
and  annually  divided  among  the  States.  And  if,  encouraged  by 
these  fallacious  hopes,  the  States  should  disregard  the  principles 
of  economy  which  ought  to  characterize  every  republican  Govern- 
ment, and  should  indulge  in  lavish  expenditures  exceeding  their 
resources,  they  will,  before  long,  find  themselves  oppressed  with 


810  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

debts  which  they  are  unable  to  pay,  and  the  temptation  will  be- 
come irresistible  to  support  a  high  tariff,  in  order  to  obtain  a  sur- 
plus distribution.  Do  not  allow  yourselves,  my  fellow-citizens,  to 
be  misled  on  this  subject.  The  Federal  Government  can  not  col- 
lect a  surplus  for  such  purposes,  without  violating  the  principles 
of  the  Constitution,  and  assuming  powers  which  have  not  been 
granted.  It  is,  moreover,  a  system  of  injustice,  and,  if  persisted 
in,  will  inevitably  lead  to  corruption,  and  must  end  in  ruin.  The 
surplus  revenue  will  be  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  the  people — 
from  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  laboring  classes  of  society  ; 
but  who  will  receive  it  when  distributed  among  the  States,  where 
it  is  to  be  disposed  of  by  leading  State  politicians,  who  have 
friends  to  favor,  and  political  partisans  to  gratify?  It  will  cer- 
tainly not  be  returned  to  those  who  paid  it,  and  who  have  most 
need  of  it,  and  are  honestly  entitled  to  it.  There  is  but  one  safe 
rule,  and  that  is,  to  confine  the  General  Government  rigidly 
within  the  sphere  of  its  appropriate  duties.  It  has  no  power  to 
raise  a  revenue,  or  impose  taxes,  except  for  the  purposes  enu- 
merated in  the  Constitution ;  and  if  its  income  is  found  to  exceed 
these  wanfs,  it  should  be  forthwith  reduced,  and  the  burdens  of 
the  people  so  far  lightened. 

In  reviewing  the  conflicts  which  have  taken  place  between 
different  interests  in  the  United  States,  and  the  policy  pursued 
since  the  adoption  of  our  present  form  of  Government,  we  find 
nothing  that  has  produced  such  deep-seated  evil  as  the  course  of 
legislation  in  relation  to  the  currency.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  unquestionably  intended  to  secure  the  people  a  cir- 
culating medium  of  gold  and  silver.  But  the  establishment  of  a 
National  Bank  by  Congress,  with  the  privilege  of  issuing  paper 
money  receivable  in  payment  of  the  public  dues,  and  the  unfortu- 
nate cause  of  legislation  in  the  several  States  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject, drove  from  general  circulation  the  Constitutional  currency, 
and  substituted  one  of  paper  in  its  place. 

It  was  not  easy  for  men  engaged  in  the  ordinary  pursuits  of 
business,  whose  attention  had  not  been  particularly  drawn  to  the 
subject,  to  foresee  all  the  consequences  of  a  currency  exclusively 
of  paper ;  and  we  ought  not,  on  that  account,  to  be  surprised  at 
tlie  fixcility  with  which  laws  were  obtained  to  carry  into  effect  the 
paper  system.  Honest,  and  even  enlightened  men,  are  sometimes 
misled  by  the  specious  and  plausible  statements  of  the  designing. 
But  experience  has  now  proved  the   mischiefs  and   dangers  of  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  811 

paper  currency,  and  it  rests  with  you  to  determine  whether  the 
proper  remedy  shall  be  applied. 

The  paper  system  being  founded  on  public  confidence,  and 
having  of  itself  no  intrinsic  value,  it  is  liable  to  great  and  sud- 
den fluctuations,  thereby  rendering  property  insecure,  and  the 
wages  of  labor  unsteady  and  uncertain.  The  corporations  which 
create  the  paper  money  can  not  be  relied  upon  to  keep  the  circu- 
lating medium  uniform  in  amount.  In  times  of  prosperity,  when 
confidence  is  high,  they  are  tempted  by  the  prospect  of  gain,  or 
by  the  influence  of  those  who  hope  to  profit  by  it,  to  extend  their 
issues  of  paper  beyond  the  bounds  of  discretion  and  the  reason- 
able demands  of  business.  And  when  these  issues  have  been 
pushed  on  from  day  to  day,  until  public  confidence  is  at  length 
shaken,  then  a  reaction  takes  place,  and  they  immediately  with- 
draw the  credits  they  have  given ;  suddenly  curtail  their  issues, 
and  produce  an  unexpected  and  ruinous  contraction  of  the  circu- 
lating medium,  which  is  felt  by  the  whole  community.  The  banks 
by  this  means  save  themselves,  and  the  mischievous  consequences 
of  their  imprudence  or  cupidity  are  visited  upon  the  public.  Nor 
does  the  evil  stop  here.  These  ebbs  and  flows  of  the  currency,  and 
these  indiscreet  extensions  of  credit,  naturally  engender  a  spirit 
of 'speculation  injurious  to  the  habits  and  character  of  the  people. 
We  have  already  seen  its  effects  in  the  wild  spirit  of  speculation 
in  the  public  lands,  and  various  kinds  of  stock,  which,  within  the 
last  year  or  two,  seized  upon  such  a  multitude  of  our  citizens, 
and  threatened  to  pervade  all  classes  of  society,  and  to  withdraw 
their  attention  from  the  sober  pursuits  of  honest  industry.  It  is 
not  by  encouraging  this  spirit  that  we  shall  preserve  public  vir- 
tue, and  promote  the  true  interests  of  our  country.  But  if  your 
currency  continues  as  exclusively  paper  as  it  now  is,  it  will  fos- 
ter this  eager  desire  to  amass  wealth  without  labor  ;  it  will  mul- 
tiply the  number  of  dependents  on  bank  accommodations  and  bank 
favors ;  the  temptation  to  obtain  money  at  any  sacrifice  will  be- 
come stronger  and  stronger,  and  inevitably  lead  to  corruption, 
which  will  find  its  way  into  your  public  councils,  and  destroy, 
at  no  distant  day,  the  purity  of  your  Government.  Some  of 
the  evils  which  arise  from  this  system  of  paper  press  with  peculiar 
hardship  upon  the  class  of  society  least  able  to  bear  it.  A  por- 
tion of  this  currency  frequently  becomes  depreciated  or  worth- 
less, and  all  of  it  is  easily  counterfeited,  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  require  peculiar  skill  and  much  experience  to  distinguish  the 
counterfeit  from  the  genuine  notes. 


812  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

These  frauds  are  most  generally  perpetrated  in  the  smaller 
notes,  which  are  used  in  the  daily  transactions  of  ordinary  busi- 
ness ;  and  the  losses  occasioned  by  them  are  commonly  thrown 
upon  the  laboring  classes  of  society,  whose  situation  and  pursuits 
put  it  out  of  their  power  to  guard  themselves  from  these  imposi- 
tions, and  whose  daily  wages  are  necessary  for  their  subsistence. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  government  so  to  regulate  its  currency  as 
to  protect  this  numerous  class,  as  far  as  practicable,  from  the 
impositions  of  avarice  and  fraud.  It  is  more  especially  the  duty 
of  the  United  States,  where  the  Government  is  emphatically  the 
government  of  the  people,  and  where  this  respectable  portion  of 
our  citizens  are  so  proudly  distinguished  from  the  laboring  classes 
of  all  other  nations  by  their  independent  spirit,  their  love  of 
liberty,  their  intelligence,  and  their  high  tone  of  moral  character. 
Their  industry  in  peace  is  the  source  of  our  wealth,  their  bravery 
in  war  has  covered  us  with  glory ;  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  will  but  ill  discharge  its  duties,  if  it  leaves  them  a 
prey  to  such  dishonest  impositions.  Yet  it  is  evident  that  their 
interests  can  not  be  effectually  protected,  unless  silver  and  gold 
are  restored  to  circulation. 

These  views  alone  of  the  paper  currency  are  sufficient  to  call 
for  immediate  reform;  but  there  is  another  consideration  which 
should  still  more  strongly  press  it  upon  your  attention. 

Recent  events  have  proved  that  the  paper-money  system  of 
this  country  may  be  used  as  an  engine  to  undermine  your  free  in- 
stitutions ;  and  that  those  who  desire  to  engross  all  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  and  to  govern  by  corruption  or  force,  are  aware 
of  its  power,  and  prepared  to  employ  it.  Your  banks  now  furnish 
your  only  circulating  medium,  and  money  is  plenty  or  scarce,  ac- 
cording to  the  quantity  of  notes  issued  by  them.  While  they 
have  capitals  not  greatly  disproportionate  to  each  other,  they  are 
competitors  in  business,  and  no  one  of  them  can  exercise  dominion 
over  the  rest ;  and  although,  in  the  present  state  of  the  currency, 
these  banks  may  and  do  operate  injuriously  upon  the  habits  of 
business,  the  pecuniary  concerns,  and  the  moral  tone  of  society, 
yet,  from  their  number  and  dispersed  situation,  they  can  not 
combine  for  the  purposes  of  political  influence ;  and  whatever  may 
be  the  dispositions  of  some  of  them,  their  power  of  mischief  must 
necessarily  be  confined  to  a  narrow  space,  and  felt  only  in  their 
immediate  neighborhoods. 

But  when  the  charter  for  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  813 

obtained  from  Congress,  it  perfected  the  schemes  of  the  paper 
system,  and  gave  to  its  advocates  the  position  they  have  struggled 
to  obtain  from  the  commencement  of  the  Federal  Government 
down  to  the  present  hour.  The  immense  capital  and  peculiar 
privileges  bestowed  upon  it  enabled  it  to  exercise  despotic  sway 
over  the  other  banks  in  every  part  of  the  country.  From  its 
superior  strength,  it  could  seriously  injure,  if  not  destroy,  the 
business  of  any  one  of  them  which  might  incur  its  resentment ; 
and  it  openly  claimed  for  itself  the  power  of  regulating  the  cur- 
rency throughout  the  United  States!  In  other  words,  it  asserted 
(and  undoubtedly  possessed)  the  power  to  make  money  plenty 
or  scarce  at  its  pleasure,  at  any  time  and  in  any  quarter  of  the 
Union,  by  controlling  the  issues  of  other  banks,  and  permitting 
an  expansion,  or  compelling  a  general  contraction,  of  the  circu- 
lating medium,  according  to  its  own  will.  The  other  banking 
institutions  were  sensible  of  its  strength,  and  they  soon  generally 
became  its  obedient  instruments,  ready  at  all  times  to  execute  its 
mandates;  and  with  the  banks,  necessarily,  went  also  that  nu- 
merous class  of  persons  in  our  commercial  cities  who  depend  alto- 
gether on  bank  credits  for  their  solvency  and  means  of  business ; 
and  who  are,  therefore,  obliged,  for  their  own  safety,  to  propitiate 
the  favor  of  the  money  power  by  distinguished  zeal  and  devotion 
in  its  service.  The  result  of  the  ill-advised  legislation  which  es- 
tablished this  great  monopoly  was  to  concentrate  the  whole 
moneyed  power  of  the  Union,  with  its  boundless  means  of  cor- 
ruption, and  its  numerous  dependents,  under  the  direction  and 
command  of  one  acknowledged  head ;  thus  organizing  this  par- 
ticular interest  as  one  body,  and  securing  to  it  unity  and  concert 
of  action  throughout  the  United  States,  and  enabling  it  to  bring 
forward,  upon  any  occasion,  its  entire  and  undivided  strength  to 
support  or  defeat  any  measure  of  the  Government.  In  the  hands 
of  this  formidable  power,  thus  perfectly  organized,  w\as  also 
placed  unlimited  dominion  over  the  amount  of  the  circulating 
medium,  giving  it  the  power  to  regulate  the  value  of  property 
and  the  fruits  of  labor  in  every  quarter  of  the  Union ;  and  to 
bestow  prosperity,  or  bring  ruin  upon  any  city  or  section  of  the 
country,  as  might  best  comport  with  its  own  interest  or  policy. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture  how  the  moneyed  power,  thus 
organized,  and  with  such  a  weapon  in  its  hands,  would  be  likely 
to  use  it.  The  distress  and  alarm  which  pervaded  and  agitated 
the  whole  country,  when  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  waged 


814  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

war  upon  the  people  in  order  to  compel  them  to  submit  to  its 
demands,  can  not  yet  be  forgotten.  The  ruthless  and  unsparing 
temper  with  which  whole  cities  and  communities  were  oppressed, 
individuals  impoverished  and  ruined,  and  a  scene  of  cheerful 
prosperity  suddenly  changed  into  one  of  gloom  and  despondency, 
ought  to  be  indelibly  impressed  on  the  memory  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States.  If  such  was  its  power  in  a  time  of  peace, 
what  would  it  not  have  been  in  a  season  of  war,  with  an  enemy 
at  your  doors  ?  No  nation  but  the  freemen  of  the  United  States 
could  have  come  out  victorioiis  from  such  a  contest ;  yet,  if  you 
had  not  conquered,  the  Government  would  have  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  many  to  the  hands  of  the  few ;  and  this  organized 
money  power,  from  its  secret  conclave,  would  have  dictated  the 
choice  of  your  highest  officers,  and  compelled  you  to  make  peace 
or  war,  as  best  suited  their  own  wishes.  The  forms  of  your 
Government  might  for  a  time  have  remained,  but  its  living 
spirit  would  have  departed  from  it. 

The  distress  and  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  people  by  the  Bank 
are  some  of  the  fruits  of  that  system  of  policy  which  is  continu- 
ally striving  to  enlarge  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government 
beyond  the  limits  fixed  by  the  Constitution.  The  powers  enu- 
merated in  that  instrument  do  not  confer  on  Congress  the  right 
to  establish  such  a  corporation  as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ; 
and  the  evil  consequences  which  followed  may  warn  us  of  the 
danger  of  departing  from  the  true  rule  of  construction,  and  of 
permitting  temporary  circumstances,  or  the  hope  of  better  pro- 
moting the  public  w'elfare,  to  influence  in  any  degree  our  de- 
cisions upon  the  extent  of  the  authority  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment. Let  us  abide  by  the  Constitution  as  it  is  written,  or 
amend  it  in  the  Constitutional  mode,  if  it  is  found  to  be 
defective. 

The  severe  lessons  of  experience  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  sufficient 
to  prevent  Congress  from  again  chartering  such  a  monopoly, 
even  if  the  Constitution  did  not  present  an  insuperable  objection 
to  it.  But  you  must  remember,  my  fellow-citizens,  that  eternal 
vigilance  by  the  people  is  the  price  of  liberty;  and  that  you 
must  pay  the  price  if  you  wish  to  secure  the  blessing.  It  be- 
hooves you,  therefore,  to  be  watchful  in  your  States,  as  well  as 
in  the  Federal  Government.  The  power  which  the  moneyed  in- 
terest can  exercise,  when  concentrated  under  a  single  head  and 
■with    our    present    system  of  currency,  was    sufficiently    demon- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  815 

strated  in  the  struggle  made  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 
Defeated  in  the  General  Government,  the  same  class  of  intriguers 
and  politicians  will  now  resort  to  the  States,  and  endeavor  to 
obtain  there  the  same  organization,  which  they  failed  to  perpetuate 
in  the  Union  ;  and  with  specious  and  deceitful  plans  of  public  ad- 
vantages, and  State  interests,  and  State  pride,  they  will  endeavor 
to  establish,  in  the  different  States,  one  moneyed  institution  with 
overgrown  capital,  and  exclusive  privileges  sufficient  to  enable  it 
to  control  the  operations  of  the  other  banks.  Such  an  institution 
will  be  pregnant  with  the  same  evils  produced  by  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  although  its  sphere  of  action  is  more  confined; 
and  in  the  State  in  which  it  is  chartered,  the  money  power  will 
be  able  to  embody  its  whole  strength,  and  to  move  together  with 
undivided  force,  to  accomplish  any  object  it  may  wish  to  attain. 
You  have  already  had  abundant  evidence  of  its  power  to  inflict 
injury  upon  the  agricultural,  mechanical,  and  laboring  classes  of 
society;  and  over  those  whose  engagements  in  trade  or  specula- 
tion render  them  dependent  on  bank  facilities,  the  dominion  of 
the  State  monopoly  will  be  absolute,  and  their  obedience  un- 
limited. With  such  a  bank,  and  a  paper  currency,  the  money 
power  would  in  a  few  years  govern  the  State  and  control  its 
measures  ;  and  if  a  sufficient  number  of  States  can  be  induced  to 
create  such  establishments,  the  time  will  soon  come  when  it  will 
again  take  the  field  against  the  United  States,  and  succeed  in 
perfecting  and  perpetuating  its  organization  by  a  charter  from 
Congress. 

It  is  one  of  the  serious  evils  of  our  present  system  of  banking, 
that  it  enables  one  class  of  society — and  that  by  no  means  a  nu- 
merous one — by  its  control  over  the  currency,  to  act  injuriously 
upon  the  interests  of  all  the  others,  and  to  exercise  more  than  its 
just  proportion  of  influence  in  political  afl^airs.  The  agricultural, 
the  mechanical,  and  the  laboring  classes  have  little  or  no  share 
in  the  direction  of  the  great  moneyed  corporations;  and  from 
their  habits  and  the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  they  are  incapable 
of  forming  extensive  combinations  to  act  together  with  united 
force.  Such  concert  of  action  may  sometimes  be  produced  in  a 
single  city,  or  in  a  small  district  of  country,  by  means  of  personal 
communications  with  each  other;  but  they  have  no  regular  or 
active  correspondence  with  those  who  are  engaged  in  similar  pur- 
suits in  distant  places ;  they  have  but  little  patronage  to  give  to 
the  press,  and  exercise  but  a   small  share  of  influence  over  it ; 


816  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

they  have  no  crowd  of  dependents  about  them,  who  hope  to  grow 
rich  without  labor,  by  their  countenance  and  favor,  and  who  are, 
therefore,  always  ready  to  execute  their  wishes.  The  planter, 
the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  laborer,  all  know  that  their  suc- 
cess depends  upon  their  own  industry  and  economy,  and  that  they 
must  not  expect  to  become  suddenly  rich  by  the  fruits  of  their 
toil.  Yet  these  classes  of  society  form  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States ;  they  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
country ;  men  who  love  liberty,  and  desire  nothing  but  equal 
rights  and  equal  laws,  and  who,  moreover,  hold  the  great  mass 
of  our  National  wealth,  although  it  is  distributed  in  moderate 
amounts  among  the  millions  of  freemen  who  possess  it.  But 
with  overwhelming  numbers  and  wealth  on  their  side,  they  are  in 
constant  danger  of  losing  their  fair  influence  in  the  Government, 
and  with  difficulty  maintain  their  just  rights  against  the  incessant 
efforts  daily  made  to  encroach  upon  them. 

The  mischief  springs  from  the  power  which  the  moneyed  in- 
terest derives  from  a  paper  currency  which  they  are  able  to 
control,  from  the  multitude  of  corporations  with  exclusive  privi- 
leges, which  they  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  in  the  different 
States,  and  which  are  employed  altogether  for  their  benefit ;  and 
unless  you  become  more  watchful  in  your  States,  and  check  this 
spirit  of  monopoly  and  thirst  for  exclusive  privileges,  you  will,  in 
the  end,  find  that  the  most  important  powers  of  Government 
have  been  given  or  bartered  away,  and  the  control  over  your 
dearest  interests  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  these  corporations. 

The  paper-money  system,  and  its  natural  associates,  monopoly 
and  exclusive  privileges,  have  already  struck  their  roots  deep  in 
the  soil ;  and  it  will  require  all  your  efl^orts  to  check  its  further 
growth,  and  to  eradicate  the  evil.  The  men  who  profit  by  the 
abuses,  and  desire  to  perpetuate  them,  will  continue  to  besiege 
the  halls  of  legislation  in  the  General  Government,  as  well  as  in 
the  States,  and  will  seek,  by  every  artifice,  to  mislead  and  deceive 
the  public  servants.  It  is  to  yourselves  that  you  must  look  for 
safety  and  the  means  of  guarding  and  perpetuating  your  free  in- 
stitutions. In  your  hands  is  rightfully  placed  the  sovereignty  of 
the  country,  and  to  you,  every  one  placed  in  authority  is  ulti- 
mately responsible.  It  is  always  in  your  power  to  see  that  the 
wishes  of  the  people  are  carried  into  faithful  execution,  and  their 
will,  when  once  made  known,  must  sooner  or  later  be  obeyed. 
And  while  the  people  remain,  as  I   trust   they  ever  will,  uncor- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  817 

rupted  and  incorruptible,  and  continue  watchful  and  jealous  of 
their  rights,  the  Government  is  safe,  and  the  cause  of  freedom 
will  continue  to  triumph  over  all  its  enemies. 

But  it  will  require  steady  and  persevering  exertions  on  your 
part  to  rid  yourself  of  the  iniquities  and  mischiefs  of  the  paper 
system,  and  to  check  the  spirit  of  monopoly  and  other  abuses 
which  have  sprung  up  with  it,  and  of  which  it  is  the  main  support. 
So  many  interests  are  united  to  resist  all  reform  on  this  subject, 
that  you  most  not  hope  the  conflict  will  be  a  short  one,  nor  success 
easy.  My  humble  efforts  have  not  been  spared,  during  my  ad- 
ministration of  the  Government,  to  restore  the  Constitutional 
currency  of  gold  and  silver;  and  something,  I  trust,  has  been 
done  toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  most  desirable  object. 
But  enough  yet  remains  to  require  all  your  energy  and  perse- 
verance. The  power,  however,  is  in  your  hands,  and  the  remedy 
must  and  will  be  applied,  if  you  determine  upon  it. 

While  I  am  thus  endeavoring  to  press  upon  your  attention 
the  principles  which  I  deem  of  vital  importance  to  the  domestic 
concerns  of  the  country,  I  ought  not  to  pass  over  without  notice 
the  important  considerations  which  should  govern  your  policy 
toward  foreign  powers.  It  is  unquestionably  our  true  interest  to 
cultivate  the  most  friendly  understanding  with  every  nation,  and 
to  avoid,  by  every  honorable  means,  the  calamities  of  war;  and 
we  shall  best  attain  this  object  by  frankness  and  sincerity  in  our 
foreign  intercourse,  by  the  prompt  and  faithful  execution  of 
treaties,  and  by  justice  and  impartiality  in  our  conduct  to  all. 
But  no  nation,  however  desirous  of  peace,  can  hope  to  escape 
collisions  with  other  powers;  and  the  soundest  dictates  of  policy 
require  that  we  should  place  ourselves  in  a  condition  to  assert  our 
rights,  if  a  resort  to  force  should  ever  become  necessary.  Our 
local  situation,  our  long  line  of  sea-coast,  indented  by  numerous 
bays,  with  deep  rivers  opening  into  the  interior,  as  well  as  our 
extended  and  still  increasing  commerce,  point  to  the  navy  as  our 
natural  means  of  defense.  It  will,  in  the  end,  be  found  to  be 
the  cheapest  and  most  effectual ;  and  now  is  the  time,  in  the 
season  of  peace,  and  with  an  overflowing  revenue,  that  we  can, 
year  after  year,  add  to  its  strength,  without  increasing  the  bur- 
dens of  the  people.  It  is  your  true  policy.  For  your  navy  will 
not  only  protect  your  rich  and  flourishing  commerce  in  distant 
seas,  but  enable  you  to  reach  and  annoy  the  enemy,  and  will 
give  to  defense  its  greatest  eflSciency,    by  meeting  danger  at  a 

52— G 


818  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

distance  from  home.  It  is  impossible,  by  any  line  of  fortifications, 
to  guard  every  point  from  attack  against  a  hostile  force  advanc- 
ing from  the  ocean  and  selecting  its  object;  but  they  are  indis- 
pensable to  protect  cities  from  bombardment ;  dock-yards  and  navy 
arsenals  from  destruction ;  to  give  shelter  to  merchant-vessels  in 
time  of  war,  and  to  single  ships  or  weaker  squadrons  Avhen 
pressed  by  superior  force.  Fortifications  of  this  description  can 
not  be  too  soon  completed  and  armed,  and  placed  in  a  condition 
of  the  most  perfeet  preparation.  The  abundant  means  we  now 
possess  can  not  be  applied  in  any  manner  more  useful  to  the 
country ;  and  when  this  is  done,  and  our  naval  force  sufficiently 
strengthened,  and  our  militia  armed,  we  need  not  fear  that  any 
nation  will  wantonly  insult  us,  or  needlessly  provoke  hostilities. 
We  shall  more  certainly  preserve  peace,  when  it  is  well  under- 
stood that  we  are  prepared  for  war. 

In  presenting  to  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  these  parting  coun- 
sels, I  have  brought  before  you  the  leading  principles  upon  which 
I  endeavored  to  administer  the  Government  in  the  high  office 
with  which  you  twice  honored  me.  Knowing  that  the  path 
of  freedom  is  continually  beset  by  enemies,  who  often  assume 
the  disguise  of  friends,  I  have  devoted  the  last  hours  of  my 
public  life  to  warn  you  of  the  dangers.  The  progress  of  the 
United  States,  under  our  free  and  happy  institutions,  has  sur- 
passed the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  the  founders  of  the  Republic. 
Our  growth  has  been  rapid  beyond  all  former  example,  in  num- 
bers, in  wealth,  in  knowledge,  and  all  the  useful  arts  which  con- 
tribute to  the  comforts  and  convenience  of  man ;  and  from  the 
earliest  ages  of  history  to  the  present  day,  there  never  have  been 
thirteen  millions  of  people  associated  together  in  one  political 
body  who  enjoyed  so  much  freedom  and  happiness  as  the  people 
of  these  United  States.  You  have  no  longer  any  cause  to  fear 
danger  from  abroad ;  your  strength  and  power  are  well  known 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  as  well  as  the  high  and  gallant 
bearing  of  your  sons.  It  is  from  within,  among  yourselves,  from 
cupidity,  from  corruption,  from  disappointed  ambition,  and  inordi- 
nate thirst  for  power,  that  factions  will  be  formed  and  liberty  endan- 
gered. It  is  against  such  designs,  whatever  disguise  the  actors  may 
assume,  that  you  have  especially  to  guard  yourselves.  You  have  the 
highest  of  human  trusts  committed  to  your  care.  Providence  has 
showered  on  this  favored  land  blessings  without  number,  and  has 
chosen  you  as  the  guardians  of  freedom,  to  preserve  it  for  the  benefit 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  819 

of  the  human  race.  May  He  who  holds  in  his  hands  the  destinies 
of  nations  make  you  worthy  of  the  favors  he  has  bestowed,  and 
enable  you,  with  pure  hearts,  and  pure  hands,  and  sleepless  vigi- 
lance, to  guard  and  defend,  to  the  end  of  time,  the  great  charge 
he  has  committed  to  your  keeping. 

My  own  race  is  nearly  run ;  advanced  age  and  failing  health 
warn  me  that  before  long  I  must  pass  beyond  the  reach  of  human 
events,  and  cease  to  feel  the  vicissitudes  of  human  affairs.  I 
thank  God  that  my  life  has  been  spent  in  a  land  of  liberty,  and 
that  he  has  given  me  a  heart  to  love  my  country  with  the  affec- 
tion of  a  son.  And  filled  with  gratitude  for  your  constant  and 
unwavering  kindness,  I  bid  you  a  last  and  affectionate  farewell. 

On  a  former  page  it  is  said  that  there  was  no  peace 
for  General  Jackson  as  President.  But  only  in  a 
political  sense  was  this  true.  He  was  not  the  kind 
of  man  to  be  weighed  down  by  public  turmoil,  and  he 
was  too  generally  a  conqueror  to  feel  the  effects  of 
disappointments  in  his  private  hours.  He  was  not  a 
philosopher,  in  any  sense,  yet  in  his  family  relations 
he  was  fortunate,  and  was  nearly  always  happy.  The 
attentions  shown  to  General  Jackson  on  quitting  the 
White  House  were  as  marked  as  had  distinguished  his 
entrance.  His  journey  to  Tennessee  was  made  agree- 
able by  the  public  demonstrations  of  respect  which 
he  knew  so  well  how  to  bear.  His  reception  in  his 
own  State  was  all  the  old  patriot  could  have  desired 
with  all  his  abnormal  faculty  for  flattery  and  praise. 
But  there  the  praise  was,  no  doubt,  most  sincere,  and 
accordingly  was  felt  most  deeply  by  him.  He  had 
come  to  the  end  of  all  public  turmoil,  and  nearly  to 
the  end  of  life,  and  full  of  pains  and  weakness,  he  felt 
that  the  last  scene  was  not  far  distant.  His  official 
salary  had  not  met  his  expenses  at  the  White  House, 
and  he  now  returned  to  the  Hermitage  a  poorer  man 
than  when  he  had  left  it  eight  years  before.     Yet  he 


820      '  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

had  a  fine,  productive  farm  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
negroes,  and  poverty  never  stood  in  the  way  of  his 
making  the  Hermitage  a  noted  seat  of  hospitality, 
which  it  continued  to  be  long  after  his  death.  After 
his  retirement  this  place  became  almost  as  noted  as 
Mount  Vernon.  He  had  gathered  about  it  many 
objects  of  peculiar  interest  to  visitors  and  travelers, 
and  although  some  of  these  were  destroyed  by  a  fire 
in  1836,  yet  it  always  was  rich  with  strange  and  valu- 
able relics  of  his  wonderful  life.  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  after  he  became  a  Christian  and  was  tottering  to 
the  grave,  he  exhibited  among  the  objects  of  interest 
to  strangers  at  the  Hermitage,  his  dueling  pistols. 
Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  sight  of  them  ever  sad- 
dened his  memory  of  the  past.  If  it  did  he  had  lived 
it  down  quietly  in  the  new  life.  To  forgive  his  ene- 
mies was  perhaps  the  hardest  and  most  unreasonable 
requisition  ever  made  upon  Andrew  Jackson.  It  was 
only  through  the  kind  sophistry  that  Thy  ways  are 
my  ways,  that  Andrew  Jackson  began  to  see  and 
feel  that  "  My  ways  are  not  thy  way."  But  of  this 
again. 

Politics  did  not  lose  their  charm  to  General  Jack- 
son. He  wrote  many  letters  to  President  Van  Buren, 
and  did  all  he  could  to  secure  his  re-election  in  1840. 
He  wrote  a  letter  in  favor  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  at  this 
time,  which  was  widely  published,  with  the  hope  of 
advancing  the  interests  of  his  favorite. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  821 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  LITTLE  CHURCH  AT  THE  HERMITAGE-THE  END-LAST 
WORDS-DEATH-THE  GRAVE  OF  GENERAL  JACKSON. 

MR.  Polk  was  strongly  in  favor  of  annexation,  and 
the  General's  influence  was  exerted  for  his  suc- 
cess. So  gratified  was  he  with  the  result  of  the 
election  in  1844  that  he  gave  a  great  out-door 
feast  near  the  Hermitage  in  honor  of  it.  Although 
the  elevation  of  his  little  friend  was  a  source  of 
great  pleasure  to  him,  he  was  not  at  all  satisfied 
with  the  course  of  some  events,  or  the  unceremonious 
manner  in  which  some  of  his  friends  were  treated.  He 
never  did  understand  why  Mr.  Blair  and  "  The  Globe  " 
ceased  immediately  to  be  the  tongue  of  the  Polk  Ad- 
ministration. To  Mr.  Blair  he  wrote  :  "  How  loath- 
some it  is  to  me  to  see  an  old  friend  laid  aside,  prin- 
ciples of  justice  and  friendship  forgotten,  and  all  for  the 
sake  of  policy,  and  the  great  Democratic  party  divided 
or  endangered  for  policy!"  The  General  forgot  that 
he  had  introduced  this  loathsome  laying  aside  of  trusted 
officers,  and  that  the  whole  country  was  filled  with  a 
wail  of  the  same  kind  in  1829. 

Blair  had,  indeed,  been  a  faithful  friend  to  him. 
Blair  went  to  Washington  broken  in  fortune,  and  the 
name  and  power  of  Jackson  had  turned  everything  he 
touched  into  gold,  and  when  the  General  was  hard 
pressed  by  the  ruinous  speculations  of  Andrew,  Jr.,  in 


822  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

1842,  Blair  and  Rives  came  to  his  assistance  with 
$10,000,  and  even  desired  to  make  it  a  gift.  But  to 
this  the  old  man  would  not  listen,  and  although  he  did 
not  live  to  repay  this  money,  he  made  provision  for  it 
in  his  will. 

Two  or  three  years  after  the  expiration  of  his  official 
career.  General  Jackson  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
His  parents  and  relatives  in  the  Carolinas  were  Pres- 
byterians, and  he  had  always  been  a  Presbyterian  on 
general  principles  himself.  In  his  most  extravagant 
and  reckless  moments  these  principles  often  asserted 
themselves.  In  fact  he  would  swear  for  his  religion, 
and  was  as  determined  about  that  as  any  thing  else,  at 
all  times  of  his  life.  As  he  considered  himself  per- 
fectly competent  to  manage  the  finances  of  a  great 
country,  and  exercised  not  the  least  degree  of  hesitancy 
on  the  difficult  subject,  so  he  was  a  theologian,  and 
decided  the  most  stupendous  points  of  interest  with  the 
same  autocratic  irrevocability  which  he  assumed  in 
politics  and  war.  On  a  certain  occasion  in  his  own 
house  when  a  young  would-be  infidel  sprig  of  the  law 
was  attempting  to  draw  Peter  Cartwright  into  an  un- 
timely wrangle  on  the  future  of  the  wicked,  Jackson 
furiously  stepped  in  with  the  declaration  that  he  be- 
lieved in  a  hell,  and  thanked  God  for  it.  Being  asked 
in  a  bantering  way  by  the  young  lawyer  why  he  wanted 
such  a  place  of  torment,  he  answered  :  "  To  put  such 
rascals  as  you  are  in,  that  oppose  and  vilify  the  Chris- 
tian religion."  The  reason  was  valid.  That,  of  course, 
settled  the  controversy,  greatly  to  the  amusement  of 
Cartwright,  who  was  not  at  all  averse  to  the  General's 
way  of  putting  to  flight  his  theological  enemies.  That 
lawyer  never  could  have  gotten  an  office  under  Jackson. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  823 

A  young  clerk  belonging  to  the  State  Department  was 
about  to  be  selected  as  a  secretary  to  a  foreign  mission, 
when  the  General  interposed  his  objection.     He  said 
the  young  man  had  sat  near  him  in  a  Methodist  church 
while  one  of  the  best  sermons  was  preached  that  he 
ever  heard,  and  on  his  asking  the  young  man  when  on 
an  errand  to  the  White  House  one  day,  how  he  liked 
the  sermon,  he  had  gone  into  a  great  tirade  on  its  ut- 
ter worthlessness  and  falsity,  and  the  inability  of  the 
preacher,  and  although  he  had  said  and  done  nothing 
at  the  time,  he  now  took  the  opportunity  to  say  that 
a  person  who  could  not  tell  a  good  sermon  when  he 
heard  one  should  not  be  attached  to  a  foreign  legation. 
Then,  too,  he  thought   if  Mr.  Van   Buren  had   recom- 
mended  the  fellow  to  be  taken  from   his  Department 
while  he  asserted  that  his  services  were  so  valuable, 
there  must  be  some  reason  to  suspect  that  he  was  unfit 
even  for  the  place  he   had.     Before  1820,  the  General 
had  built  the  little  church  on  the  Hermitage  farm  for 
his  wife,  who  had  found  the  better  way  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  "dear  Mr.  Blackburn."     He  kept  up  this 
little  church  mainly  at  his  own  expense,  and  when  at 
home  he  always  attended  preaching  in   it   on  Sabbath 
morning,   by  the  side  of  "Aunt  Rachel."     He  never 
had  a  compunction  about  her  becoming  too  "  religious  " 
for  him.     He  encouraged  her  at  every  step,  nor  was  it 
possible  for  her  to  be  too  radical  for  him  in  the   path 
she   had   chosen  ;   thus  presenting  one  of  the  most  ad- 
mirable  pictures  in  his  life.     He   even   promised   her 
that  when  he  was  free  from  politics,  in  which,  of  course, 
there  was  no  God,  he  would  follow  her  in  the   "  strait 
and  narrow  way."     When  he  was  in  Washington,   the 
little   church   was    neglected,   but,  not   long  after  his 


824  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

retirement,  it  was  again  put  in  order,  and  preaching 
and  Sunday-school  regularly  held  in  it. 

In  1839  or  1840,  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  be- 
coming actively  concerned  about  her  spiritual  interests, 
the  Hermitage  became  more  of  a  resort  of  ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  as  it  had  been  in  the  days  of  "  Aunt 
Rachel."  At  a  "revival"  meeting  held  in  the  little 
church  about  this  time,  the  General  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  no  political  fuss  could  be  made  over  the 
step  he  had  long  contemplated,  of  joining  the  Church. 
Mr.  Edgar,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Nashville, 
was  conducting  the  meeting,  and  observing  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  more  than  commonly  earnest  for  him, 
turned  his  illustrations  mainly  upon  the  varied  and 
successful  career  of  the  old  hero  in  a  manner  too  clear 
for  the  General  not  to  see  the  application.  The  sub- 
ject had  been  chosen  for  the  purpose,  the  hand  of 
Providence  in  the  affairs  of  men.  Whether  from  habit 
or  a  sort  of  extraneous  faith,  the  General  had  always 
attributed  his  escapes  and  successes  to  that  Hand, 
while  he  thought,  or  felt  rather,  for  he  was  hardly  a 
reasoning  man,  that  Andrew  Jackson  was  at  any  rate 
the  next  most  important  factor  in  the  many  good 
events  connected  with  him  and  his  country.  Yet  this 
feeling  of  personal  power  never  conflicted  with  his 
reverence  for  the  Omnipotent  One.  If  it  ever  ap- 
peared to  do  so,  it  was  one  of  his  misfortunes  of  lan- 
guage and  temper.  He  was  always  reverent  in  a 
high  degree.  He  would  have  suffered  the  loss  of  his 
right  hand  or  right  eye  before  even  seeming  to  show 
irreverence  for  the  Providence  that  doeth  all  things 
well.  Profanity  never  meant  irreverence  with  Andrew 
Jackson,  even  at  his  worst  stages. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  825 

Mr.  Edgar  instanced  the  career  of  just  such  a  man 
as  General  Jackson,  whose  escapes  had  been  wonder- 
ful, and  whose  life  had  been  a  miracle  at  almost  every 
point.  God  had  been  on  his  side.  His  ways  were 
identical  with  the  ways  of  God.  If  God  had  been 
such  a  friend  to  him,  why,  he  would  give  his  life  to 
Him.  That  was  Jacksonian.  The  meeting  drew  to  a 
close.  On  the  walk  home  the  General  invited  the 
clergyman,  with  peculiar  emphasis,  to  stay  with  him 
that  night.  Not  being  able  to  do  this  the  preacher 
promised  to  return  to  the  Hermitage  the  next  morning. 
That  night,  the  General  fought,  single-handed,  appar- 
ently, with  his  greatest  enemy,  the  individual  and 
aggregate  evils  of  his  life,  the  devil.  And  when  the 
preacher  came  on  Sunday  morning,  as  in  everything 
else,  he  found  that  the  old  man  had  been  successful. 
But  the  way  of  this  warfare  was  new  to  him.  To 
conquer  an  enemy  by  repenting  of  his  own  misdeeds, 
his  hatreds,  his  prejudices,  his  passions,  his  enmities, 
was  hard  and  exceptional  to  him.  His  daughter, 
Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  had  passed  some  part  of 
the  night  with  the  old  man  in  his  sorrow,  and  they 
had  actually  prayed  together.  He  proposed  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Church  that  day  with  his  daughter,  as 
he  called  the  wife  of  his  adopted  son.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  most  impossible  and  unreasonable  thing 
that  Andrew  Jackson  could  ev-er  be  asked  to  do  was 
to  forgive  his  enemies.  This  good  preacher,  laboring 
under  the  conviction  that  the  General's  greatest  burden 
lay  in  th?,t  direction,  asked  him  at  once,  if  he  was 
ready  to  forgive  his  enemies.  He  thought  he  was,  at 
all  events  certain  classes  of  them,  political  enemies 
very  readily;    but  others,  those  who  had  abused   his 


826  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

well-meant  services  to  his  country  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle and  elsewhere,  he  was  not  so  ready  on  that  point. 
But  he  finally  came  up  to  this,  and  thought  he  could  for- 
give all  of  them,  the  whole  dirty  race,  without  exception. 
The  little  plain  Hermitage  church  was  crowded 
that  day.  It  was  to  be  its  greatest  day.  When  the 
time  came,  the  General  stood  up,  and  leaning  on  his 
long  cane,  with  tears  streaming  from  his  eyes,  made 
the  necessary  public  declaration.  His  noble  daughter 
stood  by  his  side  for  the  same  purpose,  and  when  the 
word  was  spoken  that  proclaimed  him  a  member  of  the 
Church,  the  people  in  the  house,  the  negroes  in  the 
door  and  windows,  wept  and  shouted  for  joy.  It  was 
the  supreme  moment  of  General  Jackson's  life.  He 
had,  it  must  be  supposed,  now  conquered  himself,  a 
thing  all  other  men  had  failed  to  do,  and  until  now 
he  had  failed  to  do  it  himself.  This  has  always  been 
the  most  difficult  of  all  earthly  feats.  How  far  the 
General  was  absolutely  successful  the  reader  must  de- 
cide from  what  followed  that  moment  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  He  made  the  Bible  his  daily  companion,  and 
read  it  twice  through  before  he  died,  which  is  more 
than  can  be  said  of  any  other  book,  and  of  most  other 
distinguished  men.  Of  the  Bible,  he  left  this  testi- 
mony :  "  This  book,  sir,  is  the  bulwark  of  our  repub- 
lican institutions,  the  anchor  of  our  present  and  future 
safety.  .  .  .  The  Bible  is  true.  Upon  that  sacred 
volume  I  rest  my  hope  of  eternal  salvation."  So  must 
every  man,  if  he  has,  indubitably,  any  such  hope. 
Not  long  after  this  greatest  event  in  Jackson's  life,  he 
made  a  new  will,  to  correspond  better,  as  he  felt,  with 
the  misfortunes  of  his  adopted  son,  giving  him  nearly 
all  of  his  property. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  827 

Not  one  of  all  the  faithful  negroes  was  to  be  free, 
not  even  George  and  Hannah  were  mentioned.  If  there 
was  a  great  moral  question  in  slavery,  General  Jack- 
son had  never  perceived  it.  He  never  passed  an 
hour's  reflection  on  the  subject.  He  bought  and  sold 
negroes  as  he  did  horses,  but  treated  them  well. 
Beyond  this  he  never  got.  That  was  well  enough  for 
him.  The  change  in  the  General's  life  did  not  prevent 
his  taking  a  very  active  interest  in  the  Presidential 
campaign  of  1844.  Nor  could  he  forget  his  old  foe, 
Henry  Clay. 

Although  John  Q.  Adams  had  declared  that,  before 
Heaven,  Mr.  Clay  was  clear  of  any  bargain  or  crime 
in  the  election  in  the  House  in  1825,  and  although 
the  most  direct  and  open  defense  had  been  made  by 
Mr.  Clay,  and  the  whole  exploded  slander  had  long 
ago  been  set  down  as  merely  an  electioneering  scheme, 
yet  the  General  now  published  anew  his  old  cry  of 
bargain  and  corruption  against  Mr.  Clay. 

He  gave  a  great  deal  of  his  time  to  aiding  Mr. 
Kendall  on  his  history  of  Jackson.  Mr.  Kendall  was 
publishing  it  in  numbers,  and  becoming  interested  in 
telegraphy,  finally  abandoned  the  work,  after  issuing 
about  seven  numbers.  At  least  five  of  these  were 
published  before  the  death  of  the  General.  These  he 
read,  and  many  of  his  letters  written  at  this  period 
were  concerning  the  points  in  his  life  which  Mr.  Ken- 
dall needed  to  have  elucidated.  He  was  greatly  beset 
by  office-seekers  after  the  election,  for  his  good  word 
to  Mr.  Polk.  This  he  most  frequently  refused  to 
give.  But  politics  he  never  abandoned.  Only  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  when  asked  what  he  would  have 
done    with    Calhoun   and   other   leading    nullifiers,   if 


828  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

things  had  come  to  the  worst,  he  answered  that  he 
would  have  hanged  them.  He  would  have  made  their 
fate  a  terror  to  all  traitors,  in  all  time.  This  the 
General  then  thought,  but  it  is  a  point  about  which 
there  may  well  be  some  doubt. 

The  end  was  now  at  hand.  For  many  years  he 
had  had  bleeding  of  the  lungs.  One  of  his  lungs  was 
entirely  wasted  away.  He  coughed  continually.  He 
had  the  "consumption."  The  last  months  of  his  life 
he  was  dropsical,  and  had  other  complications.  His 
medical  practice  was  simply  abominable  and  suicidal. 
For  every  difficulty  he  resorted  to  blood-letting,  and 
when  he  could  not  get  a  physician  to  bleed  him,  he 
did  it  himself.  He  thus  sapped  the  little  strength  of 
his  declining  days.  Calomel  was  his  alternate  panacea. 
With  these  and  all  the  other  evils,  his  gaunt  body 
puffed  up  like  a  bladder,  his  cough,  and  his  number- 
less pains,  with 'all  of  these,  the  last  days  of  the 
courageous  old  man  were  dreadful  enough.  But  he 
bore  up  under  it  as  a  soldier,  a  soldier  of  the  Cross. 
Sunday  morning,  the  8th  of  June,  1845,  came  at  last. 
The  day  passed  slowly  and  hardly  away.  The  mo- 
ment had  arrived.  At  a  little  after  five  o'clock,  his 
family,  friends,  and  servants  were  weeping  around 
him.  He  had  already  talked  with  and  blessed  all  his 
family.  In  answer  to  the  foolish  question,  "  Do  you 
know  me?"  he  said,  "Yes,  I  know  you,"  and  added: 
"God  will  take  care  of  you  for  me.  I  am  my  God's. 
I  belong  to  him.  I  go  but  a  short  time  before  you, 
and  I  want  to  meet  you  all,  white  and  black,  in 
Heaven."  He  then  said,  "  What  is  the  matter  with 
my  dear  children  ?  Have  I  alarmed  you?  Oh !  do  not 
cry !     Be   good   children,    and    we    shall   all    meet    in 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  829 

Heaven."  These  were  the  last  words  of  General  Jack- 
son. Were  they  not  his  best,  however  often  similar 
ones  are  in  the  mouths  of  others,  at  the  same  inter- 
esting moment?  At  six  o'clock  his  head  fell,  he 
breathed  for  the  last  time,  and  without  an  effort  was 
gone. 

On  the  10th  they  laid  his  decayed  and  now  worth- 
less body  in  the  garden  by  that  of  his  best  earthly 
friend.  Shortly  afterwards  one  of  his  eulogists 
said : — 

"He  was  always  a  brave  man,  but  he  achieved  his  greatest 
triumph  when  he  humbled  his  pride  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and 
gained  a  hope  which  gave  him  victory  over  death. 

"His  civil  and  military  renown  may  fade  amid  the  mists  of 
coming  ages ;  but  God  grant  that  his  noble  and  impressive  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  and  value  of  the  Christian  religion  may  live 
in  the  hearts  of  men  until  the  pillars  of  this  great  globe  shall 
crumble,  and  time  itself  be  no  more!     Amen." 

So  say  I.  The  following  description,  found  re- 
cently in  the  columns  of  "  The  Cincinnati  Enquirer," 
is  from  the  pen  of  a  well-known  and  ready  writer:  — 

"  The  President's  tomb  is  said  to  have  been  a  copy  of  some 
mausoleum  left  by  the  Romans.  It  is  made  of  limestone,  and  is 
in  effect  a  stone  circular  dome,  supported  on  columns.  Beneath 
the  tomb  is  a  kind  of  pedestal  containing  no  inscription ;  on  each 
side  of  it  is  a  limestone  slab,  the  one  to  Jackson  and  the  other  to 
his  wife.  His  adopted  son  is  buried  under  a  plain,  upright  slab 
near  by.  Old  Earl,  the  painter,  also  lies  there.  There  are 
graves  of  some  infants. 

"Just  over  the  fence  is  a  field  of  cotton  in  full  bloom.  Some 
magnolia-trees,  with  varnished,  shining  leaves  surround  the  place. 
Having  read  the  inscriptions,  I  looked  with  some  pity  on  the  lit- 
tleness of  the  associations  of  so  great  fame.  Here  were  dusty 
walks,,  stony  soil,  the  want  of  vegetable  bloom,  flat  ground, 
and  decaying  fences.  Here  was  no  stewardship,  scarcely  any 
ownership. 

"  In  the  general  political  decay  of  the  once  strong  and  hearty 


830  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

State  which  produced  three  of  our  Presidents,  Jackson  seemed  to 
be  disassociated,  almost  forgotten,  alid  a  very  humble  object. 
"The  following  are  the  inscriptions; — 


GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON, 

Born    March    15,  1767. 

Died  June  8.  1845. 


'"Here  lie  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson,  who  died  the 
22d  of  December,  1828,  aged  61. 

" '  Her  face  M'as  fair,  her  person  pleasing,  her  temper  amiable,  and 
her  heart  kind.  She  delighted  in  relieving  the  wants  of  her  fellow- 
creatures,  and  cultivated  that  Divine  pleasure  by  the  most  liberal  and 
unpretending  methods.  To  the  poor  she  was  a  benefactor,  to  the  rich 
an  example,  to  the  wretched  a  comforter,  to  the  prosperous  an  orna- 
ment ;  her  piety  went  hand  in  hand  with  her  benevolence,  and  she 
thanked  her  Creator  for  being  permitted  to  do  good.  A  being  so 
gentle,  and  yet  so  virtuous,  slander  might  wound  but  could  not  dis- 
honor. Even  Death,  when  he  tore  her  from  the  arms  of  her  husband, 
could  but  transport  her  to  the  bosom  of  her  God.' 

Andrew  Jackson, 

Adopted  Son  of  General  Andrew  Jackson, 

Who  died  at  the  Hermitage, 

April  17,  1865, 

In  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

Thou  hast  gained  a  brighter  land. 

And  death's  cold  stream  is  past; 
These  are  the  joys  at  God's  right  hand 

That  shall  forever  last. 

[Erected  by  his  wife.] 

In  Memory  of  R.  E.  W.  Earl, 

Artist,  Friend,  and  Companion  of  General  Andrew  Jackson, 

Who  died  at  the  Hermitage  the  16th  of  September,  1837. 

Captain  Samuel  Jackson, 

Son  of  Andrew  and  Sarah  Jackson, 

Born  at  the  Hermitage,  June  9,  1837. 

Died  September  29,  1863, 

Of  wounds  received  at  the  Battle  of  Chickamauga. 

Mrs.  Marian  Adams, 
Born  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  July  23,  1805. 

Died  June  28,  1877.  Gath." 

Among  the  last  letters  written  by  General  Jackson 
was  the  following  drawn  out  by  the  enthusiasm  of  old 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  831 

Commodore  Elliott,  who  had  brought  from  Palestine  a 
sarcophagus,  which  he  believed  had  once  contained  the 
body  of  Alexander  Severus,  a  Roman  emperor. 

Elliott  wanted  the  General  to  consent,  to  have  his 
remains  deposited  in  this  sarcophagus,  and  wrote :  "  I 
pray  you.  General,  to  live  on  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord ; 
dying  the  death  of  a  Roman  soldier,  an  emperor's 
coffin  awaits  you." 

The  General  replied  : — 

"Hermitage,  March  27,  1845. 

"Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  of  the  18th  instant,  together  with 
the  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  National  Institute,  furnished 
me  by  their  Corresponding  Secretary,  on  the  presentation,  by 
you,  of  the  sarcophagus  for  their  acceptance  on  condition  it  shall 
be  preserved  in  honor  of  my  memory,  have  been  received,  and 
are  now  before  me. 

"  Although  laboring  under  great  debility  and  affliction,  from 
a  severe  attack  from  which  I  may  not  recover,  I  raise  my  pen 
and  endeavor  to  reply.  The  steadiness  of  my  nerves  may  per- 
haps lead  you  to  conclude  my  prostration  of  strength  is  not  so 
great  as  is  here  expressed.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  my  nerves 
are  as  steady  as  they  were  forty  years  gone  by ;  whilst,  from  de- 
bility and  affliction,  I  am  gasping  for  breath. 

"I  have  read  the  whole  proceedings  of  the  presentation,  by 
you,  of  the  sarcophagus,  and  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  Board 
of  Directors,  so  honorable  to  my  fame,  with  sensations  and  feel- 
ings more  easily  to  be  conjectured  than  by  me  expressed.  The 
whole  proceedings  call  for  my  most  grateful  thanks,  which  are 
hereby  tendered  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  president  and 
directors  of  the  National  Institute.  But  with  the  warmest  sen- 
sations that  can  inspire  a  grateful  heart,  I  must  decline  accepting 
the  honor  intended  to  be  bestowed.  I  can  not  consent  that  my 
mortal  body  shall  be  laid  in  a  repository  prepared  for  an  emperor 
or  king.  My  republican  feelings  and  principles  forbid  it;  the 
simplicity  of  our  system  of  government  forbids  it.  Every  monu- 
ment erected  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  our  heroes  and  states- 
men ought  to  bear  evidence  of  the  economy  and  simplicity  of  our 
republican  institutions,  and  the  plainness  of  our  republican  citizens, 
who  are  the  sovereigns  of  our  glorious  Union,  and  whose  virtue 


832  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

it  is  to  perpetuate  it.  True  virtue  can  not  exist  where  pomp  and 
parade  are  the  governing  passions;  it  can  only  dwell  with  the 
people,  the  great  laboring  and  producing  classes  that  form  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  our  Confederacy. 

' '  For  these  reasons  I  can  not  accept  the  honor  you  and  the 
president  and  directors  of  the  National  Institute  intended  to  be- 
stow. I  can  not  permit  my  remains  to  be  the  first  in  these 
United  States  to  be  deposited  in  a  sarcophagus  made  for  an  em- 
peror or  king.  I  again  repeat,  please  accept  for  yourself,  and 
convey  to  the  president  and  directors  of  the  National  Institute, 
my  most  profound  respects  for  the  honor  you  and  they  intended 
to  bestow.  I  have  prepared  an  humble  depository  for  my  mortal 
body  beside  that  wherein  lies  my  beloved  wife,  where,  without 
any  pomp  or  parade,  I  have  requested,  when  my  God  calls  me  to 
sleep  with  my  fathers,  to  be  laid;  for  both  of  us  there  to  remain 
until  the  last  trump  sounds  to  call  the  dead  to  judgment,  when 
we,  I  hope,  shall  rise  together,  clothed  with  that  heavenly  body 
promised  to  all  who  believe  in  our  glorious  Redeemer,  who  died 
for  us  that  we  might  live,  and  by  whose  atonement  I  hope  for  a 
blessed  immortality. 

"I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  friend  and  fellow-citizen, 

"Andrew  Jackson. 

"  To  Commodore  J.  D.  Elliott,  United  States  Navy." 

When  the  General's  death  was  announced  in  Wash- 
ington City,  the  President  ordered  the  departments  to 
be  closed,  and  in  the  army  and  navy  the  occasion  was 
especially  honored. 

In  the  chief  towns  of  the  United  States  there  were 
orations  and  other  ceremonies  in  his  memory.  In 
many  of  the  large  cities  the  ceremonies  were  very  ex- 
tensive ;  and  some  of  the  most  noted  orations  pro- 
nounced on  this  occasion  were  published  in  book  form, 
and  hundreds  in  the  newspapers.  But  the  sorrow  by 
reason  of  his  death  was  by  no  means  general.  Nor 
did  the  opposition  party  papers  refrain  from  a  free  and 
not  very  favorable  expression  of  their  opinions. 
General    Jackson    had   attacked    them    until    he    had 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  833 

approached  the  very  gates  of  death,  and  now  they 
continued  to  strike  back  when  no  reply  was  returned. 

Mr.  Parton  gives  the  following  colloquy  between  a 
New  York  broker  and  a  merchant,  which  very  well 
illustrates  the  General's  posthumous  standing: 

''Merchant  (with  a  sigh)— Well,  the  old  General  is 
dead. 

''Broker  (with  a  shrug)— Yes,  he  's  gone  at  last. 

"Merchant  (not  appreciating  the  shrug) — Well,  sir, 
he  was  a  good  man. 

"Broker  (with  shrug  more  pronounced) — I  don't 
know  about  that. 

"Merchant  (energetically) — He  was  a  good  man,  sir. 
If  any  man  has  gone  to  heaven,  General  Jackson  has 
gone  to  heaven. 

"Broker  (doggedly) — I  do  n't  know  about  that. 

"Merchant — Well,  sir,  I  tell  you  that  if  Andrew 
Jackson  had  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  heaven,  you 
may  depend  upon  it  he's  there." 

53— G 


834  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

ANDREW  JACKSON,  THE  MAN— HIS  CHARACTER  AND 
SERVICES. 

ROBERT  MAYO  says,  in  his  "  Political  Sketches 
of  Eight  Years  in  Washington,"  in  speaking  of 
a  portentous  list  of  calamities  which  had  recently 
befallen  the  country  : — 

"I  do  not  pretend  to  attribute  these  consequences  to  the  de- 
liberate purposes  with  which  General  Jackson  commenced  his 
official  career;  that  would  be  to  disrobe  him  entirely  of  the  ex- 
tenuating grace  of  '  good  intentions/  which  I  would  gladly  award 
him  on  all  occasions,  were  it  not  impossible."  "But,"  Mr.  Mayo 
continues,  "  whoever  Avill  make  a  dispassionate  survey  of  General 
Jackson's  Administration,  in  contrast  with  others,  will  be  con- 
vinced, with  irresistible  force,  that  he  set  out  with  the  invidious, 
not  to  say  malignant,  ambition  to  cast  all  his  predecessors  into 
the  shades  of  obscurity,  by  the  dazzling  effulgence  of  his  own 
meteoric  projections.  The  inflated  air  and  confidence  of  his  first 
inaugural  address,  and  of  all  his  annual  messages,  his  vetoes, 
and  his  protests,  fully  attest  this.  Their  enormous  length,  with- 
out a  single  exception,  is  another  proof  of  this  engrossing  emu- 
lation. Take  his  first  or  his  second  annual,  and  either  of  them 
will  be  found  to  be  more  wordy  than  all  the  eight  annuals  of 
General  Washington,  and  within  a  fraction  of  the  eight  annuals 
of  Mr.  JeflTerson,  or  the  annuals  of  Mr.  Adams.  And  his  Farewell 
Address,  patterning  after  that  of  General  Washington  only  in  name, 
is  more  than  double  its  volume.  But  the  vast  range  of  measures 
he  urged  upon  Congress,  with  the  circumstantiality,  almost,  of 
bills  reported  for  law,  is  still  more  striking  than  the  unmerciful 
length  of  all  his  State  papers." 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  835 

Mr.  Mayo  accuses  General  Jackson  of  insincerity 
in  all  his  diplomatic  affairs,  and  especially  in  reference 
to  Mexico.  General  Jackson's  letter  to  Wm.  Fulton, 
December  10,  1830,  denies  his  knowledge  of  any  in- 
tention on  the  part  of  Houston  against  Mexico,  and 
although  the  evidence  is  not  entirely  favorable  to  that 
view,  certainly  not  at  a  later  date,  it  may  be  held  as 
a  matter  of  little  doubt  that  the  General  knew  com- 
paratively nothing  of  Houston's  plans  in  1830,  and  was 
only  anxious  about  his  friend's  welfare,  and  ready  to 
do  any  thing  in  justice  to  forward  it. 

Of  Jackson  and  his  Administration  John  Quincy 
Adams  wrote  : — 

"Jackson  came  in  on  the  trumpet  tongue  of  military  achieve- 
ment. His  Presidency  has  been  the  reign  of  subaltern  knaves, 
fattening  upon  land  jobs  and  money  jobs,  who  have  made  him 
believe  that  it  was  a  heroic  conception  of  his  own  to  destroy  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  who  under  color  of  this,  have  got 
into  their  own  hands  the  use  of  the  public  moneys,  at  a  time 
when  there  is  a  surplus  of  forty  millions  of  dollars  in  the  Treasury. 
Two  political  swindlers,  Amos  Kendall  and  Reuben  M.  Whitney, 
were  the  Erapson  and  Dudley  of  our  Solomon,  and,  by  playing 
upon  his  vanity  and  his  thirst  of  petty  revenge,  have  got  into 
their  own  hands  the  overflowing  revenue  of  the  country;  with 
the  temporary  and  illegal  use  of  which  they  are  replenishing  their 
own  coffers  and  making  princely  fortunes.  Jackson  has  wearied 
out  the  sordid  subserviency  of  his  supporters,  and  Van  Buren  has 
had  the  address  to  persuade  him  that  he  (Van  Buren)  is  the  only 
man  who  can  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  principles  of  liis  Ad- 
ministration." 

"  Oliver  Oldschool,"  one  of  the  most  attractive  po- 
litical writers  of  his  day,  says  of  this  remarkable  man  : — 

"  General  Jackson's  whole  Presidential  term  of  eight  years 
was  an  unceasing  conflict  with  Henry  Clay,  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  or,  more  accurately  speaking,  Nicholas  Biddle, 
and   John   C.    Calhoun ;  each    and   all  of  whom    he   overcame, 


836  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

attaining  every  object  he  aimed  at,  even  the  election  of  a  successor 
designated  by  himself,  and  the  expunging  from  the  records  of  the 
Senate  of  the  resolution  of  censure  introduced  by  Mr.  Clay,  sup- 
ported by  Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  passed  by  the  Sen- 
ate, so  obnoxious  to  him. 

"It  may  be  said  that  every  principle  which  General  Jackson 
announced  before  his  election  as  President,  namely,  that  of  '  de- 
stroying the  monster,  party,'  by  selecting  members  of  the  Cabinet 
from  both  parties  indiscriminately,  that  of  holding  the  office  of 
President  for  one  term  only,  that  of  the  non-appointment  of  mem- 
bers of  Congress  to  office  during  the  term  for  which  they  were 
elected  and  for  two  years  thereafter,  and  that  of  not  seeking  the 
office  of  President,  was,  after  his  election,  cast  aside  and  utterly 
disregarded." 

On  the  other  hand,  one  of  his  most  devoted  and 
obsequious  friends,  Amos  Kendall,  wrote  this  opinion 
of  General  Jackson  to  A.  P.  Hayne,  a  United  States 
Senator,  in  1858  : — 

"No  man  ever  excelled  General  Jackson  in  integrity  and  pa- 
triotism. To  save  his  country  by  honest  means  was  the  height 
of  his  ambition.  On  every  subject  which  required  his  official 
action,  he  sought  for  information  in  any  and  every  quarter  from 
which  it  could  be  obtained,  and  listened  with  attention  to  every 
opinion.  Upon  facts  and  opinions  thus  collected,  or  circumstances 
within  his  own  knowledge,  no  mind  was  ever  more  prompt  in  ar- 
riving at  correct  and  safe  conclusions.  He  never  stopped  to  cal- 
culate political  consequences." 

General  Jackson  had  a  heroic  way  of  putting  an 
enemy  beneath  his  feet.  It  was  the  method  of  the 
prize-ring,  by  conquest,  not  compromise  or  forgiveness. 
Never,  perhaps,  by  magnanimity.  He  possessed  little 
of  that  quality.  He  took  no  delight  in  forgiving  an 
enemy,  but  only  in  conquering  him.  This  "  the  people  " 
admired.  It  was  his  unconquerable  heroism  which 
bound  the  "  masses  "  to  him.  He  knew  them  well, 
knew   how    to   captivate   them.     He  never  addressed 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  837 

"  the  people "  but  through  their  prejudices  and  pas- 
sions, but  through  those  forms  and  terms  which  pointed 
to  these  defects  of  human  nature,  or  tended  to  inflame 
them.  No  political  conjurer  stood  above  him  in  this 
species  of  contemptible  demagogism.  With  all  his 
startling  aggressiveness  and  bold  measures,  he  was 
certainly  a  skillful  politician.  With  all  the  traits 
which  made  him  the  man  of  "  the  people,"  he  was  still 
not  lost  in  the  President's  Mansion.  If  he  was  not 
always  dignified,  he  prided  himself  on  his  ability  to  be 
so,  and  from  a,  lack  of  courtly  manners  and  ceremony, 
the  country  did  not  suffer  much  at  his  hand.  He  en- 
tered every  position,  and  undertook  every  task,  with 
the  same  self-confidence.  Whatever  he  did  "  the 
people"  applauded.  He  taught  them  to  think  and  act 
as  if  it  was  dangerous  to  stand  against  him.  Politi- 
cians, merely,  took  his  side  for  safety  as  well  as  gain. 
The  spoils  system  which  he  inaugurated,  ever  since  the 
most  corrupting  engine  of  party,  was  his  most  direct 
road  to  the  support  and  affection  of  politicians.  He 
struck  the  State  Rights  dogma  its  first  stab,  but  he 
could  not  kill  it.  It  was  the  only  thing  that  ever  es- 
caped him.  But  his  heart  was  not  so  deeply  enlisted 
in  this  abstraction,  this  phantasm.  The  Bank  was  a 
tangible  object,  and  Nicholas  Biddle  was  his  enemy. 
He  killed  them  both.  In  the  spring  of  1839,  poor 
Biddle  resigned  his  connection  with  the  sinking  institu- 
tion, and  after  failing  twice  the  Bank  itself  finally  went 
down  in  February,  1841. 

On  paDer  General  Jackson  usually  looked  well.  He 
knew  how  to  touch  the  most  accessible  points  in  the 
people.  His  cry  of  reform  was  addressed  to  them  with 
great    adroitness.     He    called  every  thing  by  a  name 


838  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

suited  to  the  popular  whim.  Monopoly  has  always 
been  a  monster  to  the  people.  He  said  the  Bank  was 
a  monopoly.  When  the  people  complained  of  hard 
times,  and  were  catching  at  straws,  he  said  the  Bank 
did  it.  "  Go  to  Nicholas  Biddle,  go  to  Nicholas  Biddle  ! 
He  has  all  the  money."  Although  this  was  villainous 
quackery,  the  people  believed  it,  as  they  do  all  other 
kinds  of  quackery.  The  "  Pet  Banks  "  were  notably 
a  failure,  and  the  country  hardly  recovered  in  a  quarter 
of  a  century  from  the  great  crash  that  followed  the 
stream  of  irredeemable  paper  which  they  and  their  allies 
p.oured  upon  it.  The  awful  crash  came  quickly,  and 
by  his  own  act.  He  cast  out  his  specie  circular,  mak- 
ing payment  of  Grovernment  claims,  especially  for  lands, 
except  to  actual  settlers,  payable  in  specie.  He  was 
dealing  with  the  present.  The  future  he  took  no  note 
of.  He  was  unable  to  see  or  think  far  ahead.  The 
specie  circular  checked  speculation,  stopped  the  tide  of 
inflation.  Specie  could  not  be  paid.  The  whole  system 
was  foundationless  and  rotten.  Ruin  was  inevitable. 
At  the  Hermitage  the  old  man's  power  soon  waned. 
The  first  Presidential  election  revealed  this  fact  too 
plainly.  "  The  people  "  were  giving  up  their  old  idol, 
and  wanted  a  change.  The  whole  country  went  wild 
over  something  new.  The  hickory  brooms  of  1828 
were  not  comparable  with  the  coon-skins  and  hard 
cider.  The  log-cabin  campaign  disgusted  him.  He 
raised  his  feeble  voice  against  it.  But  it  had  lost  its 
old  ring  and  power.  With  amazement  he  saw  the  de- 
feat of  his  friend,  that  is,  of  himself.  Even  at  Nash- 
ville, Mr.  Clay  had  borne  off  the  plaudits  of  his  old 
adherents.  His  power  was  virtually  gone.  The  world 
was  bowing  to  a  new  image. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  839 

It  has  been  claimed  that  General  Jackson  did  all 
that  he  did  alone,  that  he  was  peculiarly  the  builder 
of  his  own  fortune  at  every  step.  But  in  a  great 
sense,  this  is  a  mistake.  No  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  lived  to  execute  a  measure,  was  ever  so 
dependent  upon  his  friends  at  all  times.  He  taught 
his  friends  to  be  dependent  upon  himself,  and  he  ex- 
pected them  to  serve  him  to  the  death.  This  was  an 
animal  instinct.  There  was  no  question  of  right  or 
wrong  in  it.  He  never  could  forgive  a  friend  who  for- 
sook him ;  enemies,  perhaps,  sometimes,  but  friends 
never.  When  Major  Eaton  and  others  left  him  in  1840 
and  at  a  later  date,  in  politics,  the  burden  of  his  mourn- 
ful story  became  friendship,  friendship,  friendship,  dis- 
carded friendship,  the  trials  of  deserted  friendship.  At 
every  step  of  his  life  his  friends  kept  their  tongues 
and  pens  sharpened  for  his  defense.  Adams  defended 
his  outlandish  conduct  in  the  Seminole  campaign,  and 
again  in  his  brief,  mad  career  as  organizer  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Florida,  and  in  the  defense  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  his  Presidency.  His  very  army  reports  and 
orders,  his  public  letters,  his  magnificent  messages, 
even  his  Nullification  Proclamation,  and  Farewell  Ad- 
dress, every  thing,  every  thing,  were  the  works  of  his 
friends.  Alone  with  his  sword,  or,  more  especially, 
his  pen,  Andrew  Jackson  was  and  would  have  been  a 
vastly  different  man.  More  than  any  other  distin- 
guished man,  he  operated  by  mediums.  He  did  not 
come  directly,  with  his  own  colors,  upon  the  public 
mind.  He  was  absolutely  dependent  on  his  friends, 
into  whom  he  infused  his  own  daring  and  energy.  But 
even  this  was  a  wonderful  performance.  Here  was  his 
greatness,   if  such   a  power  may  be  called  greatness. 


840  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Accident  achieved  little  or  nothing  for  him.  It  was 
will,  energy,  power  to  handle  men  for  his  purposes, 
and  their  willingness  to  be  used  in  the  way  which  led 
most  certainly  to  their  own  advantage  or  advancement, 
by  a  man  who  staked  on  faithfulness,  and  whose 
friendship  was  deathless.  Thus  situated  he  founded  a 
new  party,  or  added  new  and  unheard-of  things  to  the 
old  one.  He  pushed  this  party  forward  in  a  long  ca- 
reer, and  lives  in  it  to-day  with  greater  strength  than 
Jefferson. 

As  a  public  man,  his  life  was  largely  made  up  of 
extremes,  of  evils  and  their  antidotes.  Whatever  of 
evil  there  was  in  his  career  was  largely  compensated 
for  by  his  conduct  of  the  Creek  war ;  his  immortal  sen- 
timent, "  The  Federal  Union  :  it  must  be  preserved  ;" 
and  his  Nullification  Proclamation,  to  say  nothing  of 
many  other  things,  if  the  doubtful  doctrine  of  compen- 
sations be  admitted  at  all. 

Although  General  Jackson  was  in  a  certain  remark- 
able way  greatly  subject  to  the  influence  of  personal 
friends,  in  the  end,  at  all  times,  his  domineering  will 
was  uppermost ;  and  especially  was  the  last  term  of  his 
Presidency  an  autocratic  reign.  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
was  his  model.  It  was  a  period  of  almost  absolute 
tyranny  in  the  administration  of  national  affairs.  Most 
of  those  who  exercised  any  control  over  his  actions, 
did  so  through  an  easy  sycophancy,  from  Isaac  Hill 
and  Roger  B.  Taney  down  to  Amos  Kendall  and  Fran- 
cis P.  Blair.  It  was  utterly  impossible  to  have  influ- 
ence with  General  Jackson  on  any  other  ground.  His 
second  election  to  the  Presidency  gave  universal  license 
to  his  disposition.  He  took  it  as  the  direct  and  abso- 
lute indorsement  by  the   people  of  his  character  and 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  841 

conduct  as  a  whole,  of  his  mode  of  administering  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  of  every  act,  good  and  bad,  of  his  life, 
from  his  cock-fighting  days  down  to  his  quarrel  with 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  support  of  Mrs.  Eaton.  A  belief 
like  this  was  dangerous  and  fatal  with  Andrew  Jack- 
son, in  determining  his  course  of  action.  He  now 
deemed  himself  the  will  and  right  hand  of  the  people, 
and  set  about  doing  with  vehemence  what  was  ad- 
dressed to  his  will,  his  passion,  his  enmity,  his  pique, 
his  vanity,  his  whim,  his  prejudice,  his  wisdom,  and 
his  goodness.  The  good  he  did  can  barely  be  sepa- 
rated, at  any  rate  not  without  the  greatest  difficulty, 
from  his  vengeful  prejudice,  his  satanic  will,  his  fiery 
impetuosity,  his  savage  animosities,  his  selfish  friend- 
ships, and  his  chance  thrusts  among  all  these  domineer- 
ing elements. 

One  of  the  new  and  utterly  evil  things  established 
in  his  Presidency  was  an  "  official  organ,"  a  newspaper 
presenting  and  reflecting  his  will,  and  giving  the  cue  for 
the  line  of  obedience  to  his  followers  throughout  the 
country.  This  Administration  organ  was,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  mere  will  of  the  President,  and  exerted  an 
enormous  power  throughout  the  Republic.  Indeed  the 
corrupting  influence  of  this  organ  was  one  of  the  evils 
from  which  the  country  has  never  recovered.  It  was 
the  natural  outcome  of  that  strange  democracy  which 
was  based  upon  the  absolute  will  of  this  American 
Napoleon,  and  the  open  and  avowed  adulation  of  his 
character  and  acts.  That  this  man  was  idolized  by  the 
majority  of  his  countrymen  is  an  interesting  comment 
on  human  nature,  which  is  made  still  more  noticeable 
in  the  fact  that  the  party  and  generation  of  to-day 
have  inherited  most  of  the   adulatory  devotion  which 


842  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

characterized  his  followers.  He  himself  seldom  or 
never  forgot  an  enemy  or  a  friend.  An  enemy  he 
never,  perhaps,  forgave.  In  a  general  way  he  might 
have  done  so,  but  as  individuals  it  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful, akhough  in  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  the  heroic 
Christianity  he  acknowledged  softened  his  stern  nature 
somewhat.  That  he  ever  reflected  about  his  evil  deeds 
much,  or  that  he  ever  deemed  himself  guilty  of  any 
towards  individuals  or  society  as  a  whole,  there  appears 
little  or  no  evidence. 

But  after  all  has  been  written  and  said  which  may 
be,  there  will  ever,  perhaps,  be  a  diversity  of  opinion 
as  to  the  character,  life,  and  services  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son. Richard  Cobbett  and  Francis  P.  Blair  said,  and 
perhaps  believed,  that  General  Jackson  was  the  great- 
est man  who  had  ever  lived  in  the  world.  Few  of  his 
respectable  political  followers  at  this  day  would,  in  all 
probability,  be  forward  in  subscribing  to  this  extrava- 
gant opinion.  Neither  his  habits,  outlandish  practices, 
ignorance,  nor  great  rough-hewn  natural  forces,  pre- 
vented some  of  the  most  scholarly,  brilliant,  and  per- 
haps, refined  men  of  the  times,  becoming  attached  to 
his  person ;  and  the  great  masses  of  those  called  "  the 
people"  were  devoted  unalterably  to  his  fortunes,  and 
their  descendants  to-day  allow  no  name  to  stand  above 
his,  among  men.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  best 
proof  of  General  Jackson's  worth,  as  well  as  his  fitness 
for  public  place,  was  in  the  fact  that  he  was  the  pride, 
favorite,  and  choice  of  "  the  people."  This  is  a  doubt- 
ful standard,  and  the  people  themselves  are  not  unan- 
imous in  its  use.  An  old  man  in  New  York,  who  was 
accustomed  to  go  to  the  polls  among  the  last  voters  at 
the  close  of  the  day,  said  he  pursued  that  course   in 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  843 

the  hope  of  finding  out  how  the  majority  had  voted, 
as  he  always  voted  against  the  majority,  however  the 
case  stood  for  or  against  any  predilection  he  may  have 
had,  having  found  by  a  long  experience  that  the  ma- 
jorities are  usually  wrong  in  all  things.  But  laying 
aside  extremes,  it  is  not  an  easy  undertaking  to  make 
a  fair  and  just  estimate  of  General  Jackson.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  illiterate  men  who  ever  rose  to  such 
prominence  in  this  country.  After  he  became  President, 
however,  he  read  the  newspapers,  at  least,  quite  exten- 
sively, and  was  kept  well  informed  especially  as  to  po- 
litical news  and  the  proceedings  of  Congress.  The 
course  of  Congress  he  watched  like  a  hawk,  with  a 
view  of  knowing  if  his  will  was  done,  or  if  his  protest 
would  be  required.  In  books  and  the  knowledge  to  be 
derived  from  them  he  had  no  great  interest.  The  edu- 
cation derived  from  the  study  of  books  may,  however, 
be  education  only  on  one  side  of  life.  Few  men  knew 
mankind  better  than  did  General  Jackson,  or  was  bet- 
ter able,  at  least,  to  turn  them  to  his  own  account. 
He  was,  by  no  means,  an  ignorant  man,  as  compared 
with  those  among  whom  he  lived  and  associated,  in 
the  ordinary  matters  of  intelligence  ;  and  Josiah  Quincy 
said  that  he  was  the  most  polished,  the  most  courtly 
"gentleman  "  he  had  ever  seen. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Edgar  told  General  Jackson  that 
the  country  would  blame  him  most  for  his  proscription 
of  men  for  opinion's  sake.  But  in  the  face  of  all  the 
facts,  the  General  denied  that  he  had  done  so.  While 
the  assailable  points  in  his  life  are  numerous,  there  are 
many  things  that  go  on  the  other  side  of  the  scale, 
which  met  with  an  enthusiastic  approval  at  the  time, 
and  which  are  taken  as  matters  of  course  to-day.     It 


844  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

required  rare  circumstances,  indeed,  to  put  his  absolute 
will  in  a  subordinate  attitude,  but  he  never  could  be- 
lieve that  he  was  a  tyrant.  Many  of  his  acts  startled 
and  amazed  men  ;  many  of  them  shocked.  No  Amer- 
ican would  have  followed  in  his  tracks,  or  escaped  the 
abjuration  of  mankind,  if  he  had  done  so.  In  private 
life,  unlike  most  men,  he  exhibited  his  finest  qualities, 
while  he  also  made  use  of  his  unattractive  ones.  No 
patriarch  could  have  surpassed  him  in  some  of  these 
private  traits.  As  a  neighbor  he  was  a  model.  If  he 
was  not  a  statesman,  in  a  true  and  elevated  sense,  his 
political  career  was  at  least  striking  and  wonderful, 
having  the  peculiar  property  of  absorbing  and  reflect- 
ing all  the  brilliancy  of  the  bold,  able  men  who  lived 
in  his  shadow. 

If  the  reader  should  take  the  position  that  it  was, 
on  the  whole,  a  mistake  that  General  Jackson  was  ever 
elevated  to  any  public  position,  and  especially  that  of 
the  Presidency,  he  will  find  himself  with  some  respect- 
able companions ;  or  if  he  assume  that  the  General 
was  great,  wise,  good,  and  especially  fitted  for  all  the 
places  which  he  ever  filled  as  lawyer,  judge,  legislator, 
soldier,  and  politician,  even  to  the  extent  of  being 
Providentially  raised  up  for  them,  he  will  still  find 
himself  in  a  large,  enthusiastic,  and  respectable  com- 
pany of  his  fellow-men.  How  well,  in  either  case,  his 
position  will  stand  the  test  of  history,  he  must  judge. 
Fortunate  will  be  the  nation  whose  rulers  are  its  wisest, 
most  upright,  and  able  citizens.  When  "  the  people  " 
select  their  heroes  and  guides  by  reason  of  their  in- 
telligence and  virtue  the  Republic  is  safe. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  845 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

RACHEL  JACKSON— THE  HERMITAGE— THE  WHITE   HOUSE- 
GRAVES  OF  THE  HAPPY  FAMILY— GENERAL  JACKSON 
AND  SWEDENBORG. 

AMONG  the  emigrants  who  arrived  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1780,  at  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Nashville,  was  the  family  of  John  Donelson. 
Donelson,  or  Donaldson,  had  been  a  man  of  some  con- 
sequence in  Virginia.  At  all  events  he  had  carried  on 
some  iron  works  in  Pittsylvania  County,  and  had  been 
a  member  of  the  old  House  of  Burgesses.  But  not 
long  after  his  arrival  in  Tennessee,  Donelson  was  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians,  perhaps,  and  the  interest  attach- 
ing to  his  name  was  centered  in  that  of  his  vivacious 
and  beautiful  daughter,  Rachel.  During  a  season  of 
scarcity  on  the  Cumberland,  Donelson  went  with  his 
family  to  Kentucky,  and  while  there  Rachel  was  mar- 
ried to  Lewis  Robards,  a  worthless  fellow  to  whom 
she  gave  her  affection.  She  was  a  sprightly  girl,  and 
attractive  in  person  at  this  age,  although  very  dark  in 
complexion,  and  was  highly  valued  for  her  good  quali- 
ties, among  a  rude  people  where  the  ordinary  means 
of  refinement  were  quite  limited.  After  a  short  and 
unsatisfactory  married  life  she  returned  to  Nashville, 
where  Solicitor  Andrew  Jackson  found  her  when  he 
went  to  live  in  the  boarding-house  kept  by  her  mother, 
the   widow   Donelson.     In   the   course    of .  time    Mrs. 


846  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Robards  was  joined  by  her  husband,  who  soon  crossed 
the  path  of  the  chivakous  lawyer,  Mr.  Jackson,  whom 
he  accused  of  being  unnecessarily  concerned  in  the  wel- 
fare of  his  wife.  This  suspicion  had  barely  reached 
the  ears  of  Attorney  Jackson,  when  Mr.  Robards 
found  it  to  his  interest  to  leave  Nashville  suddenly, 
under  circumstances  before  described,  and  return  to 
Kentucky,  then  a  part  of  Virginia.  Robards  some 
time  afterwards  applied  for  a  divorce  from  his  deserted 
wife,  and  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  provided  for  a 
trial  of  the  case,  but  Robards  proceeded  no  farther 
until  1793,  when  she  had  actually  been  married  to 
General  Jackson  for  two  years. 

The  fact  of  Robards's  application  to  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Virginia  was  announced  at  the  time  as  a 
divorce,  and  was  so  distinctly  understood  in  Kentucky 
and  at  Nashville.  It  was  under  .this  state  of  affairs 
exactly  that  Jackson  sought  Mrs.  Robards  or  Miss 
Donelson  at  Natchez,  and  she  was  married  to  him  in 
1791 ;  and  after  living  near  that  place  for  a  time,  they 
returned  to  Nashville  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  Two 
years  subsequently,  hearing  of  the  true  state  of  the 
case,  and  with  great  mortification,  finding  that  they 
had  been  married  while  Mrs.  Jackson  was  yet  the 
legal  wife  of  Robards,  Jackson  at  once  obtained  a 
license  and  they  were  again  married  in  January,  1794, 
at  Nashville.  While  the  circumstances  were  unfortu- 
nate, the  case  was  entirely  destitute  of  evil  intentions 
on  the  part  of  General  Jackson  and  his  wife,  as  every- 
body at  Nashville  knew.  But  from  this  simple  story, 
painted  readily  in  various  false  colors,  sprang  the 
scandal  which  gave  the  General  many  an  uneasy  mo- 
ment, and  was  the  cause  of  many   a   vengeful   fit   of 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  847 

passion  until  the  grave  shut  the  mouth  of  slander. 
Nothing  ever  made  such  impression  on  General  Jack- 
son as  this  scandal.  All  the  passion  and  frenzy  of 
his  nature  were  aroused  by  the  mention  of  her  name 
with  disrespect,  and  the  man  who  was  rash  enough  to 
call  in  question  her  honor  or  his  in  the  matter  of 
their  courtship  and  marriage,  did  it  at  the  risk  of  his 
life,  on  the  spot.  Any  man  was  Jackson's  enemy  for 
life  who  made  the  slightest  reference  to  this  matter, 
or  cast  the  shadow  of  suspicion  upon  her  character  or 
name.  On  the  other  hand,  kindness  or  admiration 
for  her  secured  for  any  one  the  General's  warmest 
friendship. 

The  following  is  the  step  authorized  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature  in  the  winter  of  1790: — 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  That 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  Lewis  Robards  to  sue  out  of  the 
office  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  district  of  Kentucky,  a  writ 
against  Rachel  Robards,  which  writ  shall  be  framed  by  the  clerk, 
and  express  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  shall  be  published  for 
eight  weeks  successively,  in  the  '  Kentucky  Gazette ;'  whereupon 
the  plaintiff  may  file  his  declaration  in  the  same  cause,  and  the 
defendant  may  appear  and  plead  to  issue,  in  which  case,  or  if 
she  does  not  appear  within  two  months  after  such  publication,  it 
shall  be  set  for  trial  by  the  clerk  on  some  day  in  the  succeeding 
court,  but  may,  for  good  cause  shown  to  the  court,  be  continued 
until  the  succeeding  term. 

"  Sec.  2.  Commissions  to  take  depositions,  and  subpoenas 
to  summon  witnesses,  shall  issue  as  in  other  cases. 

"Sec.  3.  Notice  of  taking  depositions,  published  in  the 
'Kentucky  Gazette,'  shall  be  sufficient. 

"Sec.  4.  A  jury  shall  be  summoned,  who  shall  be  sworn  well 
and  truly  to  inquire  into  the  allegations  contained  in  the  decla- 
ration, or  to  try  the  issue  joined,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  shall 
find  a  verdict  according  to  the  usual  mode ;  and  if  the  jury,  in 
case  of  issue  joined,  shall  find  for  the  plaintiff,  or  in  case  of  in- 
quiry into  the  truth  of  the  allegations  contained  in  the  declaration. 


848  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

shall  find  in  substance,  that  the  defendant  hath  deserted  the 
plaintiff,  and  that  she  hath  lived  in  adultery  with  another  man 
since  such  desertion,  the  said  verdict  shall  be  recorded,  and, 
Thereupon,  the  marriage  between  the  said  Lewis  Robards  and 
Rachel  shall  be  totally  dissolved." 

The  following  record  of  the  trial  was  left  at  Har- 
rodsburg,  Kentucky : — 

"  At  a  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  held  for  Mercer  County,  at 
the  court-house  in  Harrodsburg,  on  the  27th  day  of  September, 
1793,  this  day  came  the  plaintiff,  by  his  attorney,  and  thereupon 
came  also  a  jury,  to  wit:  James  Bradsbery,  Thomas  Smith,  Ga- 
briel Slaughter,  John  Lightfoot,  Samuel  Work,  Harrison  Davis, 
John  Ray,  Obediah  Wright,  John  Miles,  John  Means,  Joseph 
Thomas,  and  Benjamim  Sanless,  who,  being  elected,  tried,  and 
sworn,  well  and  truly  to  inquire  into  the  allegation  in  the  plain- 
tiff's declaration,  specified  upon  oath,  do  say,  that  the  defendant, 
Rachel  Robards,  hath  deserted  the  plaintiff,  Lewis  Robards,  and 
bath  and  still  doth  live  in  adultery  with  another  man.  It  is, 
therefore,  considered  by  the  court  that  the  marriage  between  the 
plaintiff  and  defendant  be  dissolved." 

So  far  as  this  jury  was  concerned  the  ground  of 
this  verdict  was  certainly  true.  Mrs.  Robards  was 
married  to  General  Jackson  while  she  was  the  legal 
wife  of  another.  How  this  came  about,  and  how,  in 
intention,  she  was  wholly  free  from  offense,  has  been 
stated  according  to  the  plain  facts  in  the  case. 

In  General  Jackson's  happy  home  there  were  no 
children,  although  he  and  his  wife  were  very  fond  of  the 
society  and  care  of  children,  and  young  people  of  all 
ages.  In  1809,  they  took  into  their  care  and  adopted 
an  infant  son  of  Savern  Donelson,  a  brother  of  Mrs. 
Jackson.  This  child  they  named  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  made  him  their  heir.  Not  many  years  after- 
wards another  nephew  of  Mrs.  Jackson's,  Andrew 
Jackson  Donelson,  was  taken  into  their  family,  and  he 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  849 

was  raised  and  educated  by  the  side  of  the  adopted 
son.  The  story  of  Lincoyer  and  the  other  Indian  boy 
may  not  be  forgotten. 

While  General  Jackson  was  one  of  the  kindest  and 
best  of  men  to  his  wife,  children,  and  servants,  yet  he 
was  master  in  his  own  home.  Nobody  ever  ventured 
to  dispute  his  position  there.  His  spasms  of  rage 
were,  however,  reserved  for  the  outside  world.  At 
home  there  were  seen  no  displays  of  his  fiery  temper. 
He  was,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  devoted  to  his 
wife  absolutely,  with  the  dignity  of  a  knight,  and 
without  the  vulgar  pretense  often  exhibited  in  such 
matters. 

Mrs.  Jackson  was  a  short,  heavy  woman  with  a 
thick  neck,  and  double-chin,  and  strangely  contrasted 
with  her  tall,  gaunt  husband,  so  attenuated  at  times 
that  an  enemy's  bullet  could  not  find  him  in  a  loose- 
fitting  coat.  But  their  congenial  tempers  and  other 
adaptable  qualities  more  than  compensated  for  phys- 
ical discrepancies.  In  youth,  and  for  many  years  after 
her  marriage,  Mrs.  Jackson  was  "  quite  gay."  She  and 
the  General  were  fond  of  dancing,  and  an  interesting 
figure  they  must  have  cut  in  one  of  the  old-time 
dances.  She  was  fond  of  horse-racing,  too,  and  usually 
attended  at  the  exciting,  inhumane,  and  demoralizing 
races,  especially  if  the  General  was  in  any  way  inter- 
ested. She  was  a  fine  horseback  rider,  and  every- 
body knows  that  General  Jackson  was  a  model  of 
elegance  on  a  horse,  even  in  a  race  of  men  bred  to 
the  saddle.  In  time  Mrs.  Jackson  discarded  all  accom- 
plishments of  this  kind,  and  although  the  General  did 
not  keep  pace  with  her  in  the  way  of  reform,  her 
course  only  more  deeply  established  her  in  his  esteem 

54— Q 


850  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

and  affection.  It  has  been  said  that  only  as  a  gay, 
tale-telling,  reel-dancing,  jolly,  young  blade,  was  Mrs. 
Jackson  a  source  of  joy  to  everybody  she  met.  But 
this  is  a  mistake.  She  was  really  always  this,  as  far 
as  a  non-reading,  uneducated  woman  could  be.  She 
had  little  of  the  refinement  which  comes  from  book 
education,  but  she  could  read  and  write.  Accomplish- 
ments, so-called,  are  not  to  be  considered.  She  was 
simply  a  plain,  open-hearted,  true,  good  woman  of  the 
rough  type,  little  less  frequently  met  in  these  days 
than  in  the  log-cabin  times  of  the  long  ago.  She  was 
singularly  adapted  to  the  tastes  and  wants  of  her  hus- 
band; and  the  great  harmony  of  their  lives  showed 
how  well  he  was  adapted  to  her.  Life  under  the  best 
circumstances  brought  them  both  that  kind  of  culture 
they  appreciated  ;  and  the  ease  and  superiority  of  po- 
sition which  slavery  afforded,  aided  in  establishing  a 
dignity  of  manners  which  could  not  have  belonged 
to  either  of  them  under  other  conditions.  There  was 
no  disparity  in  their  education  and  tastes.  And  while 
the  Greneral  exhibited  to  the  world  some  great,  and 
many  exciting  and  remarkable  traits,  in  their  own 
home  he  and  his  wife  stood  on  the  same  level.  And 
often  an  uninteresting,  unlovable  picture  did  they 
make  as  they  sat  by  the  great  log  fire  in  the  rude 
log  cabin  smoking  their  cob-pipes  with  long  cane 
handles.  Many  a  careless  and  unrefined  old  couple  in 
whom  the  world  could  never  dream  of  taking  any  in- 
terest, pass  their  lives  and  debauch  their  bodies  in  the 
same  way,  even  at  this  day. 

Not  long  after  Mrs.  Jackson's  connection  with  the 
Church,  the  General  built  a  small  brick  church  for  her 
on  the  Hermitage   farm,  and   here    she   attended    the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  861 

preaching  of  the  Gospel  with  great  regularity.  She 
did  not  wish  the  General  to  go  to  Florida,  and  hoped 
when  they  got  back  to  their  home,  to  which  she  was 
so  deeply  attached,  that  an  end  had  come  to  all  pub- 
lic turmoil.  When  the  plans  were  laid  to  make  him 
President,  and  the  playing  at  United  States  Senator 
was  declared  to  be  a  necessary  preparatory  step,  she 
submitted  only  because  she  thought  it  was  the  Gen- 
eral's will  for  her  to  do  so.  In  the  fall  of  1824,  with 
great  reluctance,  she  went  with  him  to  Washington 
City.  Although  she  had  the  appearance  of  being  a 
strong,  vigorous,  healthy  woman,  Mrs.  Jackson  did  not 
enjoy  good  health  while  she  was  at  the  National  Cap- 
ital. She  w^as  disturbed  by  a  disease  of  the  heart. 
This  was  her  only  visit  to  Washington,  and  the  winter 
she  mainly  occupied  in  Church-going  and  religious 
matters,  a  course  which  met  the  hearty  approval  of 
the  General.  On  their  way  home  in  the  spring  of 
1825,  she  received  almost  as  much  attention  from 
"  the  people  "  and  "  the  nobility  "  as  did  the  General, 
and  however  she  chose  to  deport  herself  she  never 
could  displease  him.  Her  religious  scruples  and  prin- 
ciples were  in  exact  accord  with  his  own  life-long  sen- 
timents, and  no  one  sympathized  with  her  so  much  in 
her  determination  to  carry  them  out  as  did  he.  From 
the  first,  and  always,  his  conduct  in  reference  to  this 
matter  was  exceedingly  praiseworthy,  both  as  to  his 
good  sense  and  his  good  heart.  No  eulogy  ever  passed 
upon  General  Jackson  is  equal  to  or  contains  such 
deep  and  real  meaning  as  the  little  old  church  built 
for  Mrs.  Jackson  at  the  Hermitage.  After  their 
return  home  at  this  time  she  urged  the  General  to 
join  the  Church,  and  forsake  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 


852  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

the  devil ;  and  as  they  walked  to  the  little  church  one 
Sunday  morning,  he  promised  that  so  soon  as  he  got 
out  of  politics  this  time  he  would  carry  out  her  wish, 
that  if  he  took  the  step  then  his  enemies  would  ac- 
cuse him  of  being  insincere  and  doing  it  for  effect. 
This  promise  he  kept. 

In  1828,  all  the  partisan  rascality  of  the  country 
was  brought  into  requisition,  and  this  poor  woman 
whose  name  was  unrighteously  dragged  into  the  con- 
flict, came  out  broken-hearted,  with  but  one  thought 
which  gave  her  a  grain  of  satisfaction,  her  husband 
had  succeeded  in  his  greatest  adventure.  Had  General 
Jackson  known  that  she  would  suffer  and  her  life  be 
cut  short  by  this  struggle,  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  noth- 
ing under  heaven  could  have  induced  him  to  make  the 
race  for  the  Presidency,  Although  she  was  nobly 
defended  by  her  neighbor  and  relative,  William  B. 
Lewis,  the  slanderous  assault  upon  her  in  1828  was 
more  than  she  could  bear.  The  excitement  greatly 
aggravated  her  heart  disease.  Every  effort  was  made 
by  the  General  and  his  friends  to  prevent  the  worst 
forms  of  the  newspaper  attacks  upon  her  from  reach- 
ing her  ears,  but  in  this  they  were  not  successful. 
What  the  newspapers  lacked  her  gossip-adoring  sex 
supplied.  In  the  parlor  of  the  hotel  at  Nashville, 
where  she  went  to  rest  when  on  one  of  her  "shop- 
ping" tours  in  1828,  from  an  adjoining  room  she  caught 
the  sweet  strains  which  told  her  listening  heart  how  the 
world  was  stabbing  her,  how  the  whole  race  of  red- 
tongued  scandal-mongers  reveled  in  her  early  history. 

On  the  17th  of  December,  1828,  the  first  fatal  notice 
of  the  inroad  of  the  disease  was  given.  On  that  day, 
while  as  usual  walking  about  the   house,    she   felt  a 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  853 

sudden  pang,  and  struggling  for  breath  fell  into  the 
arms  of  her  old  servant,  Hannah.  The  General  hur- 
ried from  the  field,  and  physicians,  friends,  neighbors, 
and  servants  were  soon  at  her  side.  From  that  time 
until  the  end,  the  General  hardly  left  her  for  a  mo- 
ment. On  the  night  of  the  22d,  she  seemed  much 
improved,  and  urged  him  to  go  into  another  room  and 
sleep  and  rest  to  be  ready  for  the  banquet  to  be  given 
in  his  honor  on  the  following  day  at  Nashville.  After 
he  had  left  the  room,  she  was  removed  to  the  lap  of 
old  Hannah  to  have  her  bed  rearranged,  but  this  ex- 
ertion was  all  that  was  required  to  bring  on  another 
suffocating  attack,  in  which  her  head  sank  upon  the 
old  colored  woman's  shoulder,  and  in  a  moment  she 
was  dead.  What  followed  this  event  at  the  Hermitage, 
may  be  imagined.  All  that  night  by  the  side  of  the 
dead  body  of  this  best  and  truest  of  all  his  earthly 
friends,  sat  the  President  elect  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  morning  the  following  announcement  was  made 
at  Nashville  : — 

"The  committee  appointed  by  the  citizens  of  Nashville  to 
superintend  the  reception  of  General  Jackson  on  this  day,  with 
feelings  of  deep  regx-et  announce  to  the  public  that  Mrs.  Jack- 
son departed  this  life  last  night,  between  the  hours  of  10  and  11 
o'clock. 

"  Respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  and  a  sincere 
condolence  with  him  on  whom  this  providential  affliction  has 
fallen,  forbid  the  manifestation  of  public  regard  intended  for 
the  day. 

"  In  the  further  consideration  of  the  painful  and  unexpected 
occasion  which  has  brought  them  together,  the  committee  feel 
that  it  is  due  to  the  exemplary  virtues  and  exalted  character  of 
the  deceased,  that  some  public  token  should  be  given  of  the 
high  regard  entertained  toward  her  while  living.  They  have, 
therefore, 

"Resolved,    That    it    be    respectfully    recommended    to    their 


854  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

fellow-citizens  of  Nashville,  in  evidence  of  this  feeling,  to  refrain 
on  to-morrow  from  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life." 

The  board  of  aldermen  also  resolved  that 

"The  committee  on  behalf  of  the  citizens,  having  determined 
that  it  is  proper  to  abstain  from  business  on  to-morrow ;  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  Nashville  are  respectfully 
invited  to  abstain  from  their  ordinary  business  on  to-morrow,  as 
a  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  and  that  the 
church  bells  be  tolled  from  one  until  two  o'clock,  being  the  hour 
of  her  funeral." 

From  Nashville  and  the  surrounding  country  a  vast 
number  of  people  gathered  at  the  Hermitage,  and  the 
remains  were  laid  in  a  corner  of  the  garden,  where 
years  afterwards  her  husband's  were  placed  by  her 
side.  The  honest  people  who  knew  this  good  woman 
greatly  esteemed  her,  and  throughout  the  country  the 
better-minded  saw  the  entire  political  character  of  the 
story  that  had  been  told  of  her.  Many  of  the  true 
American  women  deeply  sympathized  with  the  Gen- 
eral in  his  bereavement,  and  from  these  came  many 
letters  of  condolence,  touching  the  tenderest  chord  in 
his  feelings.  The  newspapers,  many  of  them,  con- 
tained highly  eulogistic  statements  touching  her 
character,  and  some  of  them  went  into  mourning  for 
her.  Quite  a  number  of  poems  were  made  commem- 
orating her  virtues,  memorial  sermons  were  preached, 
and  for  a  year  or  two  her  name  was  mentioned  gal- 
lantly and  honorably,  on  the  8th  of  January  celebra- 
tions and  festivals.  General  Jackson  wore  concealed 
on  his  neck  a  miniature  likeness  of  his  wife.  This  he 
did  until  a  few  days  before  his  death,  when  he  placed 
the  chain  bearing  it  on  the  neck  of  his  granddaugh- 
ter, Uachel  Jackson,  the  child  of  his  adopted  son,  and 
asked  her  to  wear   it.     He    survived    his    wife    more 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  855 

than  sixteen  years,  but  he  never  wavered  in  his  affec- 
tion for  her.  This  was  one  of  the  most  admirable 
features  in  his  remarkable  career.  When  General 
Jackson  went  to  Washington  City  to  enter  upon  his 
duties  as  President,  he  appeared  to  be  a  broken-down 
old  man,  so  broken  in  body  and  spirit  that  some  of 
his  intimate  friends  did  not  believe,  for  a  time,  that  he 
M^ould  be  able  to  get  to  the  end  of  a  single  term.  But 
he  soon  rallied,  and  became  the  power  behind  the  most 
extraordinary  Administration  of  this  Government.  His 
friends  gathered  around  him,  and  from  them  the  White 
House  soon  resumed  much  of  its  former  fashion  and  folly. 
Amos  Kendall  gave  the  following  reasons  for  his 
failure  to  finish  his  "  Life  "  of  General  Jackson  :— 

"I  have  sent  for  you,  Mr.  Stickney,  because  I  want  the  pub- 
lic to  know  the  reasons  why  I  never  finished  the  Life  of  Jackson. 
The  first  was  my  poverty.  I  was  too  poor  to  collect  information 
from  all  over  the  country.  Second,  every  person,  with  one  ex- 
ception, who  had  promised  material  for  the  work,  disappointed 
me.     I  could  only  write  what  I  knew  from  personal  knowledge." 

Mr.  Kendall  considered  James  Parton's  "Life"  of 
Jackson  a  caricature,  and  so  late  as  1862,  wrote  to  H. 
S.  Randall,  that  he  still  hoped  to  put  Jackson's  case 
right  and  do  justice  to  Mrs.  Jackson  in  his  completed 
"  Life  "  of  Jackson.  Mr.  Kendall's  idea  of  doing  justice 
was  certainly  not  that  of  James  Parton.  The  latter 
deemed  it  simple  truth-telling,  while  the  former  con- 
sidered it  the  rejection  of  all  truth  which  was  not 
admirable,  and  fulsome  eulogy  of  the  rest.  This  prin- 
ciple Mr.  Kendall  formulated  as  applying  to  himself 
from  the  outset  of  his  own  career  in  these  words : — 

"I  would  not  mention  these  trifles,  were  it  not  my  intention 
to  relate  everything  now,  that  I  have  started  in  the  world,  which 
may  give  a  color  to  my  reputation." 


856  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

The  old  slave  in  whose  arms  Mrs.  Jackson  died, 
and  who  nursed  the  General  in  his  last  illness,  and 
who  bears  the  name  of  Hannah  Jackson,  deserves  a 
passing  notice  here.  I  found  this  old  woman  on  South 
Summer  Street,  Nashville,  and  according  to  her  own 
statement  she  was  eighty-nine  years  old  in  1880,  She 
is  the  mother  of  numerous  children,  and  although  she 
is  evidently  very  old,  she  is  sprightly  as  a  woman  of 
fifty.  She  is  actually  a  midwife,  "  practices  "  on  both 
races,  and  claims  that  she  would  do  "  right  well "  if 
she  could  only  get  people  to  pay  her.  Her  husband, 
Aaron  Jackson,  as  he  was  called,  was  a  Baptist 
preacher,  and  Hannah  says  a  good  one,  although  he 
never  could  read  a  word  in  the  Sacred  Book.  He  also 
bore  the  name  of  General  Jackson,  whose  slave  he 
was.  Hannah  is  very  aristocratic  and  prides  herself 
on  her  "profession"  and  her  family.  She  has  a  son 
living  with  her  who  is  a  drunkard,  and  who,  she  said, 
is  very  low  down,  "  lowest  trash."  Hannah  thinks 
that  the  General  said  just  before  his  death  that  he 
had  provided  for  her,  but  that  was  a  sad  mistake. 
About  the  close  of  the  Rebellion,  Andrew  Jackson, 
Jr.,  called  the  negroes,  then  left  at  the  Hermitage, 
around  him,  and  told  them  that  they  were  free,  and  at 
liberty  to  go  where  they  chose,  or  that  if  they  were 
so  disposed  they  could  remain  with  him.  Most  of 
them  remained  for  a  time  at  the  Hermitage.  But  long 
before  the  war  most  of  the  two  hundred  and  fourteen 
slaves,  left  by  the  General,  had  been  put  on  young 
Andrew's  plantation  in  Mississippi.  Hannah  says  she 
never  heard  General  Jackson  speak  of  slavery  in  any 
way,  only  that  on  his  last  bed  she  thinks  he  told 
some  friends  that  there  would  some  time  be  an  end  to 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  857 

the  institution  in  this  country.     In  this  item  Hannah, 
no  doubt,  drew  entirely  upon  her  imagination. 

"  Aunt "  Hannah  says  that  although  the  old  General 
used  filthy  tobacco  in  all  its  forms,  yet  he  was  not  quite 
so  bad  as  some  of  his  biographers  represent.  Aunt 
Rachel  was  also  good  at  a  smoke,  and  many  a  time 
did  Hannah  light  her  pipe  and  carry  it  to  her.  This 
old  woman,  although  for  seventy  years  a  slave  in  a 
race  of  slaves  without  culture  or  education,  has  never 
used  tobacco  nor  whisky  in  any  shape,  but  says  she 
has  seen  many  a  white  and  many  a  black  "  lady  "  do 
so.  Hannah  maintains  that  the  General  was,  in  his 
swearing,  as  he  was  in  most  other  things,  very  choice 
and  dignified.  When  he  was  crossed  he  seldom  said 
any  thing  else  than  "  By  the  Eternal  God  !"  This  was 
giving  the  habit  a  lofty  Jacksonian  air.  Although  the 
old  General  did  not  free  any  of  his  slaves,  or  leave 
Hannah  provided  for,  as  she  had  reason  to  expect,  she 
holds  that  he  was  a  "  Christian,  if  there  ever  was  one," 
and  in  every  other  way,  perhaps,  the  greatest  man 
who  ever  lived.  Not  even  Amos  Kendall  could  out- 
rank Hannah  as  a  devoted,  unqualified  admirer  and  de- 
fender of  General  Jackson, 

Andrew  Jackson  Donelson  married  his  cousin,  Emily 
Donelson,  the  daughter  of  Captain  John  Donelson, 
brother  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  This  beautiful  young  woman 
became  the  "  Lady  of  the  White  House  "  under  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  while  her  husband  was  the  President's 
private  secretary.  Mrs.  Donelson  had  been  reared 
under  circumstances  which  qualified  her,  to  some  ex- 
tent, to  make  a  favorable  impression  in  the  society  at 
the  Capital,  then  especially  a  Southern  city,  as  well  as 
to  enable  her  to  fill  her  place  at  the  head  of  the  Presi- 


858  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

dent's  family  with  dignity  and  propriety.  The  General 
was  devoted  to  her.  Called  her  his  daughter,  and  ex- 
cepting in  one  naughty,  or  knotty  case,  that  of  Mrs. 
Eaton,  she  was  autocrat  in  her  department  at  the  White 
House.  She  was  one  of  those  stubborn  women  who 
would  not  associate  with  Mrs.  Eaton.  The  General 
tried  his  persuasive  powers,  but  she  was  unalterable, 
and  the  result  was  a  temporary  estrangement,  in  which 
she  returned  to  Tennessee.  But  the  General  soon  re- 
pented, and  she  again  took  her  place  at  the  head  of 
affairs  in  his  house.  Her  four  children  were  born  at 
the  White  House,  the  General  making  the  occasions 
quite  notable.  He  had  them  christened  ceremoniously, 
in  two  instances  being  himself  godfather,  and  in  one 
having  "  Matty,"  as  he  familiarly  called  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
stand  in  that  capacity.  In  the  spring  of  1836,  ill- 
health  induced  Mrs.  Donelson  to  return  to  Tennessee, 
where  she  hoped  to  recover.  Delusive  hope !  how 
many  of  earth's  sojourners  have  entertained  it!  She 
had  "  consumption,"  synonym  for  death,  in  all  these 
cold,  changeable,  damp  climates.  This  young  mother's 
life  had  not  all  been  fashion  and  folly,  a  remark  well 
founded  upon  a  few  words  uttered  by  her  not  long  be- 
fore her  death.  When  sitting  alone  with  one  of  her 
children  one  day,  a  little  bird  entered  the  room,  and 
perched  a  moment  on  the  back  of  her  chair.  To  her 
child  she  said,  as  she  gazed  upon  the  little  winged 
messenger : — 

"  Do  not  disturb  it,  darling ;  may  be  it  comes  to  bid 
me  prepare  for  my  flight  to  another  world.  I  leave 
you  here,  but  the  Heavenly  Father,  who  shelters  and 
provides  for  this  poor  little  bird  this  wintry  day,  will 
also  watch  and  take  care  of  you  all,  when  I  am  gone. 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  859 

Don't  forget  mamma ;  love  her  always,  and  try  to  live 
so  that  we  may  all  meet  again  in  Heaven." 

Mary  Easton,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  was  a  com- 
panion of  Mrs.  Donelson  at  the  White  House.  Mary 
was  a  tall,  stately,  beautiful,  and  intellectual  woman, 
and  was  greatly  admired  at  Washington.  She  married 
one  of  the  Polks,  but  died  long  ago.  Soon  after  Gen- 
eral Jackson  became  President,  his  adopted  son,  An- 
drew Jackson,  Jr.,  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Yorke, 
of  Philadelphia.  This  young  woman  now  also  became 
an  inmate  of  the  White  House,  and  that  there  should 
be  no  question  about  the  first  person  there,  the  Gen- 
eral told  her  that  Emily  was  mistress  of  the  White 
House,  and  she  was  mistress  of  the  Hermitage.  When 
General  Jackson  went  to  Tennessee  in  the  spring  of 
1837,  she  was  accordingly  duly  installed  at  the  head 
of  his  family.  He  was  deeply  attached  to  her,  and  in 
his  last  days  she  was  his  greatest  comfort.  With  him 
she  joined  the  church,  and  as  the  end  came,  no  one 
did  so  much  to  make  it  painless  to  the  old  hero.  The 
change  from  the  Hermitage  to  the  White  House  made 
no  change  in  the  General's  backwoods  or  inelegant 
habits.  He  chewed  tobacco  and  smoked  his  pipe  in 
the  same  stolid  way.  Mr.  Parton  tells  that  some  ridic- 
ulous women  wanted  to  have  n  picture  painted  of  an 
imaginary  or  every-day  scene  at  the  White  House. 
The  President  was  to  sit  in  the  chimney-corner  smoking 
an  old  pipe,  while  courtly  Edward  Livingston  was 
whispering  in  his  ear,  and  Mrs.  Donelson  and  her  happy 
children  were  to  finish  the  domestic  scene.  The  intel- 
lectual Livingston  and  the  good  Mrs.  Donelson  and  her 
children  taken  from  this  picture,  and  the  remainder 
would  have  been  a   bar-room   caricature.     It   requires 


860  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

little  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  place  General  Jack- 
son in  enough  high,  manly,  dignified  attitudes,  and  such 
rude  specimens  of  art  and  life  a  refined  age  can  well 
dispense  with. 

General  Jackson  always  had  his  "  artist "  with  him 
in  the  person  of  the  painter.  Earl,  Earl  married  a 
niece  of  Mrs.  Jackson's,  and  besides  the  General  was 
greatly  attached  to  him ;  a  friendship  which  Earl  re- 
turned with  warmth.  At  the  Hermitage  they  were 
constant  companions,  and  when  Mrs.  Jackson  died  Earl 
gathered  into  a  scrap-book  all  the  sermons  and  eulo- 
giums  of  every  description,  in  prose  and  verse,  printed 
and  manuscript,  that  had  been  made  on  her,  which  he 
could  find.  The  portrait  of  her  in  the  gay  gown  in 
which  she  appeared  on  the  8th  of  January,  1828,  at 
New  Orleans,  was  painted  by  Earl.  At  the  Hermitage 
he  executed  all  orders  for  pictures  of  the  General ;  and 
when  they  removed  to  the  White  House,  he  became, 
by  right,  the  "  Court  Artist."  But  Earl  was  not  a 
member  of  the  ''  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  and  perhaps,  took 
little  interest  in  politics. 

The  General  did  not  give  up  his  taste  for  horse- 
racing  after  becoming  President.  He  even  had  some 
of  his  own  fine  stock  taken  to  Washington,  and  often 
rode  out  to  see  the  races. 

General  Jackson  was  well  disposed  towards  plans 
for  improving  the  Capital,  and  in  this  respect  his  Ad- 
ministration was  beneficial  to  Washington.  But  that 
his  "  reign,"  as  the  opposition  frequently  called  it,  added 
much  to  the  moral  advancement  of  the  Capital  or  the 
Nation  at  large,  may  well  be  a  matter  of  doubt.  An- 
drew Jackson,  the  adopted  son  of  General  Jackson, 
died  April  17,  1865,  in  his  57th  year,  and  was  buried 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  861 

at  the  Hermitage,  where  his  widow  still  lives  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  State  of  Tennessee.  R.  E.  W.  Earl, 
the  artist  friend  and  companion  of  General  Jackson, 
died  at  the  Hermitage,  September  16,  1837,  and  was 
also  buried  there. 

Mrs.  Maria  (Yorke)  Adams,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  An- 
drew Jackson,  Jr.,  spent  her  last  years  at  the  Hermitage, 
and  died  there  in  1877. 

Andrew  Jackson  Donelson  was  born  in  Sumner 
County,  Tennessee,  August  25,  1799,  and  was  the  son 
of  Samuel  Donelson.  He  graduated  at  West  Point. 
His  wife,  who  was  "  Mistress  of  the  White  House," 
died  in  1836  ;  and  in  1841  Donelson  married  Mrs.  E. 
A.  Randolph.  In  the  fall  of  1844,  under* Tyler,  he 
was  sent  to  Texas.  Under  Polk  he  was  sent  as  Min- 
ister to  Russia,  and  was  subsequently  Minister  to  Ger- 
many. He  became  editor  of  the  "  Washington  Union" 
in  1851.  In  1856,  he  was  on  the  ticket  with  Fillmore 
for  the  Vice-Presidency.  In  the  Rebellion  he  would 
not  fight  against  the  old  flag.  He  died  at  Memphis, 
June  26,  1871. 

In  1855,  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act 
authorizing  the  Governor  to  purchase  five  hundred 
acres  of  the  old  farm  of  General  Jackson,  including  the 
house  and  the  tomb.  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  had  been 
unfortunate  in  his  business  adventures,  and  to  prevent 
his  creditors  getting  possession  of  the  Hermitage,  the 
Legislature  came  to  the  rescue,  and  made  the  purchase 
for  $48,000 ;  and  although  it  has  been  reduced  by  sell- 
ing oflr  parts  of  it  at  diff'erent  times,  the  Hermitage, 
the  tomb,  and  the  little  brick  church,  and  a  small  tract 
of  fifty  acres  surrounding  them  belong  to  the  State  of 
Tennessee. 


862  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF 

Although  General  Jackson  was  a  stiff  Presbyterian 
he  actually  had  to  go  to  another  fountain  for  his  spiritual 
light,  stealthily  to  slake  his  thirst  at  an  inexhaustible 
well,  which  in  common  theology  has  never  been  con- 
sidered very  orthodox.  The  strange  Henry  A.  Wise, 
who  went  down  to  Nashville  in  1828,  to  be  married  to  the 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  0.  Jennings,  the  Presbyterian 
pastor  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  spent  a  day  with  his  bride  at 
the  Hermitage  by  invitation  of  the  General,  and  he  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  following  interesting  passage  on  this 
point.  He  says  that  while  he  was  trying  to  occupy 
the  attention  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  the  General,  the  Rev. 
0.  Jennings,  Judge  Overton,  and  others  in  conversation 
in  another  part  of  the  room,  Mrs.  Jackson  becoming 
apparently  tired  of  him  and  Old  Virginia,  suddenly 
turned  to  Jennings  saying  : — 

"Doctor,  a  short  time  ago  I  came  near  sending  for 
you  on  a  very  important  concern  to  me." 

"  Indeed,  madam  !"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  should  have 
been  pleased  to  obey  your  call,  and  duty  permitting, 
would  have  come  with  pleasure  to  serve  you  in  any 
way  I  could.  Pray,  what  was  the  occasion?  Perhaps, 
if  permitted,  I  may  still  render  you  a  service." 

"  Oh,  Doctor !  at  a  time  lately,  but  for  a  moment, 
I  feared  the  General  was  giving  way  to  the  Sweden- 
borgian  doctrines.  I  wished  you  to  talk  to  him  on 
the  subject,  and  to  counsel  me." 

This  brought  up  the  old  hero,  who  never  declined 
a  combat  in  any  field,  who  at  once  threw  this  bomb 
into  the  face  of  the  startled  preacher : — 

"  Pooh,  pooh,  madam  !  your  anxiety  was  vain.  I 
was  in  no  danger  of  giving  way  to  the  Swedenborgian 
doctrines ;  all    I  said  was  that  some  of  Swedenborg's 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  863 

conceptions  of  Deity  were  the  most  sublime  (the  Gen- 
eral's schooling  taught  him  to  pronounce  this  elegant 
word  soo-blime)  that  tapped  the  drum  ecclesiastic." 

At  this  the  good  preacher  exclaimed  : — 

"  What !  do  you  pretend  to  compare  the  crudities 
of  Swedenborg  with  the  Divine  conceptions  of  David, 
or,  Job,  or  Isaiah  ?" 

"  Yes,"  snapped  the  General,  "  yes,  sir ;  Sweden- 
borg's  conceptions,  by  being  among  the  most  sublime, 
only  prove  that  the  Almighty  Creator  has  at  all  times, 
among  all  nations,  inspired  the  souls  of  men  with  im- 
ages of  Himself,  and  the  original  inspirations  are  in 
some  instances  as  sublime  as  are  the  revelations  of 
Divinity  ;  both  come  from  God." 

This  was,  indeed,  too  much.  The  spirit  of  New 
Orleans  was  up.  The  courageous  parson  stood  forward 
to  the  conflict.  Mr.  Wise  says  that  "  the  discussion 
which  ensued  was  rich  and  rare.  It  was  the  scim- 
itar of  Saladin  against  the  battle-axe  of  Coeur  de 
Lion !  The  doctor  exact,  a  fencer  poised,  quick, 
steady,  skilled,  with  weapons  keen  enough  to  cut 
eiderdown ;  he  would  seem  to  run  in  the  Damascus 
blade  and  turn  the  point  coolly  to  feel  for  the  vital 
point,  but  Richard  did  not  fall  nor  faint,  but  thrashed 
about  him  with  his  massive  axe  as  a  harvest-man 
would  wield  the  flail.  It  was  sharp  science  against  a 
strong  arm  which  wanted  not  natural  '  cunning.'  "  The 
combat  deepened.  Jackson  was  on  his  mettle.  Among 
all  the  spectators  toothless  old  Judge  Overton  was  the 
most  interested.  He  believed  in  Jackson.  He  thought 
hi§  theology  was  as  good  as  his  politics.  His  glory  was 
to  see  his  champion  enter  the  lists.  He  knew  before-, 
hand  what  the  result  would  be.     In  his  vain  attempt 


864  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

to  throw  in  an  occasional  argument  he  could  do  no 
more  than  to  sanction  the  General  in  an  undertone 
with  "  By  G— d  "  and  "  By  G—  Jupiter."  But  the 
strange,  doubtful  conflict  was  brought  to  a  ludicrous 
end,  Mr.  Wise  says,  by  Mrs.  Jackson  (who  could  not 
remove  religion  so  far  from  common  and  creature  com- 
forts as  did  Swedenborg)  exclaiming:  "Mr.  Baldwin, 
dear,  you  are  sleepy."  Had  the  great  Swedish  philos- 
opher and  seer,  who  has  been  a  thousand-fold  less 
understood  and  more  misrepresented  than  has  any 
mere  politician,  statesman,  or  reformer,  looked  upon 
this  scene  it  would  have  startled  in  him  strange  re- 
flections. From  the  schools  and  colleges,  he  thought, 
should  come  his  expounders  and  defenders.  But  here 
was  a  man,  commonly  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  most 
worldly  minded,  with  the  same  vigor  and  success  that 
distinguished  him  on  other  fields,  not  only  defending 
his  teachings,  but  also  placing  them  on  the  high  foun- 
dation which  he  quietly  claimed  for  them  himself. 


INDKX. 


Acts,  Alien  and  Sedition — their 
origin,  character,  and  wisdom, 
614 — character  of  opposition  to, 
615 — compared  with  Nullification 
and  the  Resolutions  of  1798,  614, 
615. 

Adair,  General  John — takes  com- 
mand of  the  Kentuckians,  his 
advice  taken  by  Jackson,  256 — 
the  service  allotted  him  and  his 
unarmed  Kentuckians,  256, 257^ 
his  defense  of  his  men,  difficulty 
with  General  Jackson,  307. 

Adams,  J.  Q.  —  influence  of  his 
Diary  on  General  Jackson,  61 — 
becomes  the  champion  of  Jack- 
son, his  success,  340 — the  Gen- 
eral's opinion  of  his  success,  362, 
363 — his  part  in  making  Jackson 
President,  367 — candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  376— vote  for  in  1828, 
393 — his  course  toward  political 
and  personal  enemies,  401,  402 — 
his  view  of  General  Jackson,  404, 
835 — enters  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 522— put  on  the  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  541  —  his 
course  as  to  dueling,  548 — pre- 
sents abolition  petitions,  549 — 
his  course  as  to  General  Jack- 
son's LL.  D.,  625  — his  Bank 
charges,  631,  632— his  opinion  of 
the  pulling  of  General  Jackson's 
nose,  720  —  his  declaration  as 
to  the  bargain  and  corruption 
charge,  827. 

55- 


Adams,  Mrs.— her  famous  ball,  her 
part  in  introducing  General  Jack- 
son to  fortune,  3()7. 

Adams,  John  —  his  part  in  the 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  614. 

Address — Jackson's,  to  his  soldiers, 
86,  112,  130,  133,  136,  173,  222, 
287 — General  Jackson's  first  in- 
augural, 397  — Jackson's  second 
inaugural,  619— Jackson's  Fare- 
well, 800. 

Administration — takes  Amelia  Isl- 
and, 311  —  at  last  disposed  to 
put  a  value  upon  Jackson,  gives 
him  a  major-generalship,  185 — 
greatly  disturbed  by  Jackson's 
conduct  in  Florida,  339,  340, 341— 
the  Jacksonian  begins,  401,  402, 
403,  405,  407  — a  President  first 
charges  fraud  against,  in  his 
message,  446  —  charges  against 
General  Jackson's,  616,  617. 

Ambrister,  Robert  C.^falls  into  the 
hands  of  General  Jackson,  .328 — 
his  trial,  findings  against,  336, 
.337,  338— shot  to  death,  339. 

Amelia  Island  —  taken  possession 
of  by  the  United  States,  311. 

Anti-Masons  —  hold  the  first  na- 
tional Presidential  convention, 
nominate  candidates,  551 — their 
votes,  carry  one  State,  618, 
619. 
Arbuthnot,  Alexander  —  arrested 
by  General  Jackson,  .327  —  his 
trial,  .3.36,  337,  338— hanged,  339. 
Avery,  Waightstill  —  fights  M'itb 
General  Jackson,  47. 

-G 


866 


INDEX. 


B 

Bancroft,  George — specimens  of 
his  Jacksonian  eloquence,  280, 
281. 

Bank  of  the  United  States — first 
assailed  by  General  Jackson, 
447. — its  standing  and  beneficial 
character  in  1830,  460— the  be- 
ginning of  Jackson's  opposition 
to,  460,  461 — applies  for  a  new 
charter,  540,  541 — the  bill  for  it 
vetoed,  541 — the  good  and  bad 
of  its  fall,  542,  630,  631— in  the 
election  of  1832,  557  —  charges 
against,  627,  628— efforts  to  break, 
628,  629 — its  standing  and  worth, 
630,  632,  633— in  the  Cabinet  and 
the  Senate,  634  to  652,  674,  675, 
676,  677,  678,  679. 

Barrancas,  Fort — spies  sent^against, 
196  —  destroyed  by  the  British, 
its  location,  211. 

Barataria,  "  The  Pirate's  Retreat " — 
its  location,  201  —  expedition 
against,  205. 

Baratarians — join  the  main  army 
below  New  Orleans,  their  brav- 
ery and  patriotism,  their  crimes, 
246. 

Barry,  AVilliam  T. — becomes  Post- 
master-General, 405  —  continued 
in  the  new  Cabinet,  517 — stands 
on  the  President's  side  in  the 
Bank  fight,  634 — resigns,  is  sent 
to  Spain,  721— his  death,  762. 

Bargain  and  Corruption — the  storv 
of,  382,  383,  384,  385  —  again 
brought  forward  in  1832,  554, 
516. 

Battles — of  Talluschatches,  117— of 
Talladega,  123— of  Autossee,  140, 
1 43  —  of  Eccanachaca,  143  —  of 
Emuckfau  and  Enotachopco,  154, 
162,  163  — of  Callibee,  164  — of 
Tohopeka,  171, 173— of  FortBow- 
yer,  192,  193— of  Lake  Borgne, 
218— of  the  Night  of  the  23d,  234, 
235,  236,  239,  240— of  the  28th  of 


December,  246,  247—  of  New 
Year's,  250,  251,  252— of  the  8th 
of  January,  258,  259,  260,  261, 
262,  263,  264,  265,  266,  267,  290. 

Beasley,  INIajor  Daniel  —  sent  to 
Fort  Mims,  108  —  the  slaughter 
of  himself  and  all  the  garrison, 
109,  110. 

Bell,  John — defeated  for  Speaker 
of  the  House  by  Mr.  Polk,  723. 

Benton,  Thomas  Hart — his  services 
to  Jackson,  76,  104  —  his  fight 
with  Jackson,  77,  78,  79,  80 — be- 
comes a  defender  of  Jackson,  80, 
797 — becomes  reconciled  to  Jack- 
son, 379 — his  views  of  removals 
from  office,  414 — opinion  of, 
concerning  General  Jackson, 
547 — his  opinion  of  the  nullifica- 
tion compromise  tariff,  612 — 
presides  on  the  8th  of  Januarj'-, 
719 — succeeds  with  his  expung- 
ing act,  797,  798. 

Benton,  Jesse — fights  Carroll,  fights 
Jackson,  76,  77 — remains  a  bit- 
ter enemy  to  Jackson,  SO — as- 
sails Jackson  as  a  Presidential 
candidate,  377. 

Berrien,  John  McPherson  —  be- 
comes Attorney-General,  405 — • 
supports  Calhoun,  515 — resigns, 
his  qualities,  516  —  becomes  a 
Whig,  518. 

Biddle,  Nicholas — writes  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  461, 
462— his  character,  463,  628— his 
skill  and  integrity,  628,  629. 

Binns,  John  — editor  of  "Demo- 
cratic Press,"  his  "  coffin  hand- 
bills," 555 — explains  his  course 
and  its  consequences,  555,  556. 

Blackburn,  Pev.  Gideon —  his  pa- 
triotic efforts,  143— receives  a  let- 
ter from  General  Jackson,  144 — 
his  character,  145. 

Blair,  Francis  P.— invited  to  AVash- 
ington  City,  becomes  the  editor 
of  the  President's  organ,  475 — 


INDEX. 


867 


member  of  the  "Kitchen  Cabi- 
net,"  519  —  on   the  President's 
side  in  the  Bank  contest,  634. 
Blount,   (Tovernor  Wilhe  —  orders 
General  Jackson  to  call  out  the 
militia,    112  —  becomes   discour- 
aged, 145 — his  letter  to  Jackson, 
14() — rebuked  by  General  Jack- 
son,   149 — his   character,    orders 
out  a  new  militia  force,  151. 
Booty  and  Beauty — fictitious  Brit- 
ish battle-cry  at  New    Orleans, 
222  —  groundlessness      of      the 
charge,  282,  283 — again  made,  719. 
Borgne,  Lake— its  location  and  im- 
portance, 216. 
Bowyer,   Fort  (Morgan) — its  loca- 
tion,   assailed    by    the    British, 
191^battle  of,  192,  193. 
Brackenridge,    Henry  M. — meets 
General    Jackson,   becomes    his 
secretary    and     Alcalde,     357  — 
translates  badly,  358. 
Branch,  John — becomes  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  405 — supports  Cal- 
houn, 515 — resigns,  516. 
Burr,    Aaron — his    character    and 
early    friendship     for     General 
Jackson,  57,  58 — visits  Nashville, 
82 — his  course  with  Jackson,  83, 
84,   85  —  wanted  to  make  Jack- 
son President,  366. 
Butler,  Benj.   F. — becomes  Attor- 
ney-General, 653. 


Cabinet — General  Jackson's  Unit, 
405— difficulties  in,  466,  467,  468, 
469,  471  —  few  meetings  of, 
patched  for  a  day,  471 — begin- 
ning and  causes  of  its  dissolution, 
515,  516,  517 — its  character,  517, 
518 — members  of  the  new,  517, 
520 — character  of  new,  518,  519 — 
other  changes  in,  623,  633,  634, 
653,  721,  761,  762— its  opinion  of 
no  moment,  646,  647,  648. 

Cabinet,  Kitchen — organized,  471, 


519  —  its   foundation,   character, 
members,  519,  551 — manages  the 
election,     551,     552  —  was     not 
united  on  the  Bank  figlit,  632— 
publishes  the  diplomatic  letters, 
717. 
Calhoun,  J.  C. — Minister  of  War 
under    Mr.     Monroe,     appeases 
Creneral   Jackson,   297— believed 
that   Jackson    should    bear    the 
consequences    of    his    conduct, 
341  —  nominated   for   the   Vice- 
Presidency,   375  —  elected   Vice- 
President,  380 — re-elected  Vice- 
President,  393 — prepares  to  send 
off  the  new  dogma,  457 — his  an- 
nouncement   met    by    General 
Jackson,    458 — his    chances    for 
the  Presidency  depart,  466 — the 
man  in  the  Cabinet  of  IVIr.  Mon- 
roe who  would  hold  Jackson  re- 
sponsible  for   his    conduct,    his 
manly  reply  to  Jackson's  letter, 
472 — a    friend   to   Jackson,    473, 
474 — publishes  his  quarrel  with 
Jackson,  515 — nominated  for  the 
Presidency,   550 — dropped    from 
the    race,  552 — becomes    United 
States  Senator,  558— his  fall,  613— 
his  view  of  General  Jackson  and 
the  Bank  fight,  676— revives  his 
new  dogma,   761 — his  contempt 
for  General  Jackson,  797. 
Callava,    Don    Jose — last    Spanish 
Governor  of  Florida,  his  conduct, 
357,    358  —  arrested,    sues   for   a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  358 — lays 
his    case  before  the  authorities 
at  AVashington,  360,  361. 
Carroll,  W.  W.— General  Jackson 
stands  up  for  him,    76— appears 
at  the  head  of  the  Tennesseeans 
at  New  Orleans,  230— ordered  to 
the  Bienvenu,  230,  231— his  char- 
acter and  militarj^  qualities,  283, 
284 — chairman  of  the  Democratic 
convention,  552. 
Carolina,  The— be\ow  New  Orleans, 


868 


INDEX. 


under  Captain  Patterson,  217 — 
begins  the  battle  of  the  night  of 
the  23d,  234  — burned  by  the 
British,  244. 

Caucus — the  last,  its  candidates, 
374,  375. 

Cass,  General  Lewis — becomes  Sec- 
retary of  War,  517 — falls  into  the 
President's  ^^ews  as  to  the  Bank, 
634 — resigns  to  become  Minister 
to  France,  761. 

City,  Washington — a  reign  of  ter- 
ror in,  410 — source  of  its  business 
permanence,  scenes  in,  411,  412. 

Cholera — in  1832,  its  freaks  and 
ravages  in  the  United  States,  549. 

Claiborne,  General  F.  L.  — sends 
soldiers  to  Fort  Mims,  108  — 
makes  steps  against  the  Indians, 
140 — attacks  the  Indians,  143, 
178. 

Claiborne,  Governor  Wm.  C.  C. — 
receives  a  revelation  from  Lafitte, 
203 — believes  Lafitte  and  lays  his 
case  before  General  Jackson, 
205  —  receives  Jackson  in  a 
speech,  213  —  his  character  and 
conduct,  first  Governor  of  Louis- 
iana, 214,  215 — works  in  harmony 
with  Jackson,  220 — marches  at 
the  head  of  the  militia,  231 — takes 
charge  of  the  State  House,  248. 

Clay,  Henry — condemns  General 
Jackson's  Florida  campaign, 
starts  the  enmity  of  Jackson, 
345,  .346  —  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  376 — dropped  from 
the  House  election,  380— his  in- 
fluence in  the  final  result,  381, 
383,  385  —  nominated  for  the 
Presidency,  551— votes  for,  618, 
619 — his  improper  resolution,- 
674 — his  plan  for  distributing  the 
surplus  funds,  762— his  defense 
against  the  charge  of  corruption, 
827. 

Cocke,  General  John  —  orders 
White  to  join  him,  122 — orders 


the  destruction  of  the  Hillibee 
towns,  127  —  his  conduct  and 
dealings  with  Jackson,  127, 128 — 
arrives  at  Fort  Strother,  137. 

Coffee,  John — a  partner  of  General 
Jackson,  62  —  his  part  in  the 
Burr  case,  84,  90,  92 — goes  to  the 
wars,  101 — at  Huntsville,  113 — 
attacks  and  destroys  the  Indians, 
117, 118, 119 — his  men  in  mutiny, 
138  —  his  brave  conduct,  163  — 
leads  an  army  to  Mobile,  208 — 
marches  to  New  Orleans,  217 — 
marches  down  the  Mississippi, 
230— his  military  standing,  283— 
summoned  to  Washington  to  pre- 
pare for  a  brush  with  South 
Carolina,  284. 

Coleman,  Dr.  L.  H. — writes  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson  on  the  tariff,  370. 

Congress — declines  to  recognize  the 
Indian  gifts  to  Jackson  and  Haw- 
kins, 189  —  pays  General  Jack- 
son's New  Orleans  fine,  279 — acts 
of  as  to  time  of  calling  out  the 
militia,  287,  288,  289  — acquits 
General  Jackson  of  blame  in  the 
seizure  of  Pensacola  and  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  Englishmen,  341 — 
assembles  in  1829,  419 — its  acts, 
45P — assembles  in  1830,  its  new 
members,  476  —  its  acts,  514  — 
assembles  in  1831,  its  neM'  and 
distinguished  members,  521, 
522 — bad  conduct  of  one  of  its 
branches,  540 — its  acts,  543,  544, 
545, 546— assembles  in  1832,  558— 
its  acts,  606,  607,  608— its  com- 
promise with  South  Carolina,  608, 
609,  610,  611,  612,  613,  614— con- 
venes in  1833,  654 — censures  the 
President,  674,  675— investigates 
the  Bank  again,  678— acts,  680. 
681 — convenes  in  1835,  organizes, 
723  —  disposes  foolishly  of  the 
surplus  revenue,  762,  763 — con- 
venes in  1836,  765 — rescinds  the 
specie  circular,  798. 


INDEX. 


869 


Convention,  Presidential — in  1824, 
374,  375— in  1828,  388— in  1832, 
550,  551,  552— in  1835,  721,  722. 

Crawford,  W.  H. — his  relations 
with  General  Jackson,  342 — nom- 
inated for  the  Presidency,  375 — 
his  votes,  380— defeated  in  the 
House,  382 — reveals  a  secret,  471. 

Crockett,  David — appears  in  the 
Creek  War,  114. 


Davis,  Colonel — in  the  battle  of 
the  8th  of  January,  263, 

Dinsmore,  Silas  —  Indian  agent 
crosses  the  path  of  General  Jack=- 
son,  98,  99. 

Donelson,  A.  J. — becomes  private 
secretary,  407  —  his  temporary 
suspension,  417 — his  efforts  with 
Mr.  Duane,  650,  651 — becomes  a 
member  of  General  Jackson's 
family,  848 — his  marriage,  857 — 
his  public  services,  runs  for  the 
Yice-Presidency,  remained  true 
to  the  Union,  861  —  his  death, 
861. 

Donelson,  Emily — becomes  "  Lady 
of  the  White  House,"  407  — re- 
I'ects  Mrs.  Eaton,  416— is  sent 
home,  taken  back  to  her  place 
in  the  General's  esteem,  417 — 
marries  her  cousin,  A.  J.  Don- 
elson, 857 — become  "  Lady  of  the 
White  House,"  857— her  troubles 
on  account  of  the  Eaton  scandal, 
her  family,  her  character,  her 
death,  858',  861. 

Donelson,  John  —  his  character, 
family,  death,  845. 

Duane,  William  J.— becomes  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  623,  633— 
declines  to  remove  the  deposits, 
his  removal,  633— story  of  his 
quarrel  and  contest  with  Presi- 
dent Jackson,  634  to  652  — his 
admirable  character,  650,  651, 
652. 


Earl,  R.   E.  W.— his  grave,  830— 
Court   Artist,    his    paintings    of 
Jackson  and  his  wife,  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the   "  Kitchen  Cabinet," 
860— his  death,  861. 
Eaton,   John  H.— becomes   Secre- 
tary of  War,  405 — marries  Mrs. 
Eaton,    415— the    President   es- 
pouses his  cause,  416 — his  deser- 
tion of  Jackson  Democracy,  his 
death,  418 — resigns  his  i)lace  in 
the  Cabinet,  515— chullengt'.s  tlie 
Reverend  Mr.  Campbell  to  figlit, 
517  —  ajipointed     Governor     of 
Florida,  518 — was  a  member  of 
the    "Kitchen    Cabinet,"    519  — 
sent  to  Spain,  762, 
Eaton,    Mrs.    jNIargaret  —  becomes 
the    wife  of    Major   Eaton,    her 
qualities,  415 — her  social   ostra- 
cism, 415,  416,  417 — her  misfor- 
tunes and  end,  418. 
Election,    Presidential  —  in    1824, 
380 — thrown   into    the   House, 
380  — the   House,   381,    382  — in 
1828,   391,   392,   393,   394,   .396  — 
in  1832,  552,  553,   554,  555,   556, 
557,  616,  617,  618,  619— in  1836, 
764. 
Elliott,  J.  D. — asks  General  Jack- 
son to  accept  the  coffin  of  Alex- 
ander Severus,  830,  831. 
England — her  troops  gather  in  Ne- 
gril     Bay     for    the     expedition 
against  New  Orleans,  her  grand 
and     costly     preparations,     217, 
218- — lessons   and    fears   of   her 
troops,  226,  227 — her  army  landed 
at  the   mouth   of   Bayou   Bien- 
venu,    227  —  her    army    on    the 
Mississippi,  228,    231,    232  — her 
troops  engaged  on  the  night  of 
the  23d  of  December,  2.34,  235— 
her   force   and    officers    on    the 
Mississippi,  242,  243,  244 — causes 
of  her  failure,  243,  244,  282— the 
failure  of  her  army  on  the  28th 


870 


INDEX. 


of  December,  1814,  247,  248— her 
generals  prepare  for  a  final  ef- 
fort, 249  —  their  attack  of  the 
Americans  on  New  Year's  day, 
250,  251,  252,  253 — her  force  on 
the  battle  of  the  8th,  257,  258— 
defeat  of  her  great  army,  259, 
260,  261,  262,  263,  264,  265,  266, 
267 — her  officers  at  New  Orleans, 
243, 258, 260, 261,  262, 264,  265,  267, 
282,  283 — two  of  her  citizens  ex- 
ecuted by  General  Jackson,  339 — 
on  the  point  of  declaring  war 
with  the  United  States,  340,  343— 
mediates  between  France  and 
the  United  States,  717 — foolish 
crj'  of  "  booty  and  beauty " 
against,  719. 
Enquirer,  The  Cincinnati — quota- 
tion from,  826. 


Florida  —  becomes  a  British  and 
Indian  nest,  195 — her  Spanish 
Governors,  196, 197, 198, 199, 311— 
her  wretched  condition,  309,  310, 
311 — invaded  by  General  Jack- 
son, 325,  328 — transferred  to  the 
United  States,  her  first  governor, 
350. 

Floyd,  General  John — meets  the 
Indians,  his  report,  140  —  his 
doubtful  victory,  143  —  again 
fights  the  Indians,  164. 

Fort,  Negro — its  location,  origin, 
character,  destiny,  310,  311. 

France  —  claims  of  the  United 
States  against,  715  —  her  in- 
justice, the  President  acts  on 
the  suggestions  of  her  king, 
716  —  prepares  for  war  with 
this  country,  England  mediates, 
717. 

Fromentin,  Elijius — becomes  the 
first  Florida  judicial  officer,  357— 
issues  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
358 — summoned  to  appear  before 


Governor  Jackson,  tells  his  story, 
359,  360. 
Frost  J. — his  opinion  of  Andrew 
Jackson's  mother,  21 — tells  how 
Jackson  began  his  law  practice 
at  Nashville,  43,  44 — his  opinion 
of  the  night  battle  below  New 
Orleans,  240. 


Gaines,  General  E.  P. — in  Florida, 
312 — joins  Jackson,  313 — his  es- 
timate of  the  Seminole  force, 
322  —  at  the  head  of  the  Ar- 
buthnot  Court,  338,  339. 

Georgia — her  fight  with  the  In- 
dians, resists  the  authority  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  452  —  sets 
up  the  doctrine  of  nullification, 
453. 

Gibbs,  General  Samuel — second  in 
command  of  the  British  army  on 
the  INIississippi,  242 — his  com- 
mand in  the  great  battle,  258 — 
his  conduct,  his  death,  259,  260. 

"  Globe,  The  " — established  to  be 
the  mouth-ijiece  of  the  Presi- 
dent, 475 — assails  the  character 
of  Mr.  Duane,  649,  650 — ceases 
to  be  the  Administration  organ, 
821. 

Goodwin,  Mr. — a  biographer  of 
General  Jackson,  defends  a  new 
doctrine  of  the  General's,  314. 

Government,  The — set  at  naught 
by  Georgia,  452 — the  President 
stands  aside  for  its  disgrace,  452, 
453 — advocates  for  its  dissolution 
in  1832,  550. 

Green,  Duff— reports  his  plain  con- 
versation wdth  President  Jackson, 
448  —  chooses  between  General 
Jackson  and  INFr.  Calhoun,  474 — 
member  of  the  "  Kitchen  Cabi- 
net," 519. 

Grundy,  Felix — addresses  General 
Jackson,  280. 


INDEX. 


871 


Habeas   Corpus— Legislature  de- 
clines to  suspend  the,  220,  221 — 
set  aside  by   General    Jackson, 
277 — history  of,  at  New  Orleans, 
27(),  277,  278 — history  of,  in  Flor- 
ida, 358,  359. 
Hamilton,  James  A. — acts  as  Sec- 
retary of  State,  413. 
Hall,   Judge    Dominick — his  diffi- 
culty    with    General     Jackson, 
276  —  his    arrest,    277  —  arrests 
and  fines  General  Jackson,  277, 
278. 
Harrison,    General    William    H. — 
resigns  his  position  in  the  army, 
185 — gets  the  ill-will  of  General 
Jackson,  345 — turned  out  of  of- 
fice, 410,  411. 
Hawkins,  Benjamin— Indian  agent, 
treats  at  Fort  Jackson,  186 — ac- 
cepts a  land  gift,  188. 
Hayne,    Colonel    Arthur    P.  —  ex- 
amines the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi,    215  —  reconnoiters     the 
British  position,  234. 
Hayne,  Robert  Y. — advances  the 
dogma  of  State  supremacy  and 
nullification,  456,  457. 
Hermitage  —  name    given    to    the 
home  of  General  Jackson,   62 — 
its   last   mistress,   858,    859  —  its 
present  ownership,  861. 
Hickory,  Old — origin  and  applica- 
tion of  the  term,  103,  104. 
Hillis    Hajo  —  Seminole    prophet, 
goes   to   England,  310  —  returns 
full    of  mischief,    311 — deceived 
and   captured,  324 — hanged,  his 
character,  326. 
Hill,    Isaac— editor   of  ""  The    Pa- 
triot,"   rejected  by  the   Senate, 
449 — causes  the  Bank  war,  461 — 
member  of  the  "  Kitchen  Cabi- 
net," 519. 
Himollemico — captured  by  a  trick, 
324 — hanged,  his  character  and 
crimes,  326. 


Houston,  Sam— appears  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Tohopeka,  173— his  shame- 
ful conduct  in  "Washington, 
approved  by  President  Jackson, 
547,  548. 

Huntsville— in  Alabama,  a  station 
on  General  Jackson's  line  to  the 
Creek  War,  113— Jackson's  In- 
dian boy  sent  to,  119— more  re- 
cruits gather  at,  153. 


Indians  —  outwitted    by    Lawyer 
Jackson,    their   great  enemy  in 
Tennessee,  45— their  destruction 
at  Nickajack,  46- the  Creeks,  led 
by   Tecumseh,  the   British,  and 
Spaniards  to  war  with  the  TTnited 
States,  106  —  their   soothsayers, 
107— aided  by  the  Spaniards  and 
British,  begin  the  Creek  War  at 
Fort  Mims,  108,  109,  110— Shaw- 
nee,      Cherokee,       Chickasaw, 
Creek,   110,    111  — gathering   on. 
the    Coosa,    115,   116— character 
of  their  women,  119— defeated  at 
Talluschatches,  117— defeated  at 
Talladega,    123  —  some    sue    for 
peace,  127 — bad  treatment  of  the 
Hillibee,  127,  128— defeated,  140, 
143— defeated  may  be,  by  Gen- 
eral   Jackson,    154,    162,    163  — 
claimed  a  victory,  163  — claimed 
a    victory    at     Callibee,    165  — 
they    make    the    last    stand    at 
Tohopeka,   169,   170,    171,    173^ 
their  surrender,    175  —  treat   at 
Fort   Jackson,    187  — their   gen- 
erosity, 188— with  tlie  British  at 
Fort    Bowyer,     191,    192  — seek 
refuge  in  Florida,  195— treat  with 
General  Jackson,  293— in  Florida, 
309,  310,  311— the  Chehaws  mur- 
dered, 313— their  war  with  Gen- 
eral Jackson  in   Florida,  324  to 
347  —  negotiate    with     Jackson, 
348— one  of,  executed  in  Georgia, 
their    fight    for    their     homes, 


872 


INDEX. 


receive  no  help  from  the  Admin- 
istration, 452,  453 — their  Black 
Hawk  War,  557. 

Ingham,  Samuel  D.  —  becomes 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  405 — 
corresponds  with  N.  Biddle, 
461— his  view  of  the  Bank,  462, 
630 — his  account  of  the  trouble 
in  the  Cabinet,  467  —  supports 
Mr.  Calhoun,  gets  a  hint  from 
the  President,  515 — the  Presi- 
dent clears  up  his  mystery,  re- 
signs his  place  in  the  Cabinet, 
his  qualities,  516 — manner  of  his 
leaving  Washington,  517 — disap- 
pears from  public,  518. 

Internal  Improvements — strangled 
by  General  Jackson,  455 — dis- 
posed of,  579. 


Jackson,  General  —  his  origin, 
family,  parentage,  15,  16,  17,  18, 
19,  20,  21,  22— his  birth,  birth- 
place, 22,  23— what  he  was  as  a 
boy,  23 — his  mother's  designs  for 
him,  24— his  education,  24,  25,  26, 
27,  28,  29,  30— the  origin  of  his 
beautiful  letters,  and  addre^es, 
27 — his  experience  in  the  Kev- 
olutionary  War,  marked  by  a 
British  officer,  33,  34,  35— has 
the  small-pox,  34 — his  early  oc- 
cupations and  character,  35,  36, 
37 — was  he  a  school  teacher? 
37 — would  not  be  a  Presbyterian 
preacher,  begins  the  study  of 
the  law,  38,  39— begins  life,  39,  40, 
41— appointed  attorney  for  Ten- 
nessee, 41 — crosses  the  mount- 
ains into  the  Western  District, 
42  —  his  services  on  the  way 
to  Nashville,  43  —  a  business 
ready  for  him,  44  —  his  early 
popularity,  his  Indian  fighting, 
his  early  dueling,  45,  46,  47— his 
marriage,  45,  57— his  first  duel, 
47 — leaves  the  Bench  to  arrest  a 


criminal,  48  —  memlier  of  the 
State  constitutional  convention, 
49 — appointed  the  first  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  from  Ten- 
nessee, takes  his  seat,  49^  his 
services  and  acquaintances  in 
Congress  at  this  early  day,  50, 
51,  52, 55, 56, 57^ — votes  against  the 
friendly  response  to  Washing- 
ton's last  speech  to  Congress, 
50 — elected  Senator,  resigns,  52, 
53 — his  standing  as  a  lawyer, 
54 — his  character,  37,  47,  48,  54, 
57,  61,  63,  64,  68,  76,  80,  93,  94, 
95,  98,  103,  126,  129,  132,  168,  175, 
184,  185,  208,  209,  248,  274,  275, 
•  276,  277,  278,  279,  291,  292,  308, 
339,  341,  344,  345,  346,  349,  362, 
363,  378,  383,  384,  386,  400,  401, 
413,  446,  472,  473,  474,  548,  624, 
626,  681,  682,  717,  797,  799,  819, 
820,  821,  822,  825,  826,  836,  837, 
838,  839,  840,  843,  844,  849,  857, 
863,  864  —  appointed  Judge, 
elected  commander  of  the  mili- 
tia, 58  —  challenges  Governor 
Sevier,  59 — quarrels  with  John 
McNairy,  resigns  his  judgeship, 
60,  61  —  his  occupations,  mer- 
chant, etc.,  62,  63,  64— his  fights 
with  Sevier,  66 — his  duel  with 
Dickerson,  67,  69,  71,  72,  73,  74, 
75 — whips  Thomas  Swann,  69, 
70 — his  fight  with  the  Bentons, 
76,  77,  78,  79,  80 — always  carries 
a  cane,  80,  81 — his  dealings  with 
Aaron  Burr,  82,  83,  84,  85,  86— 
goes  to  Richmond  as  a  Burr  wit- 
ness, condemns  the  Adminis- 
tion,  87  —  charged  with  con- 
spiracy with  Burr,  88,  90,  91, 
92 — reviews  his  part  in  the  mat- 
ter, 88,  89 — offers  his  services  to 
the  Government  in  the  war 
against  England,  quarrels  with 
Silas  Dinsmore,  98,  99 — marshals 
his  volunteers,  addresses  tlie 
Governor,  99 — his  expedition  to 


INDEX. 


873 


Natchez,  101,  102, 103— his  desire 
to  go  to  Canada,  102,  104 — ac- 
quires an  appropriate  nickname, 
10-1 — calls  the  militia  to  meet  at 
Fayetteville,  112 — addresses  the 
soldiers,  113  —  calls  for  whisky 
rations,  114 — his  attachment  to 
his  military  title,  115,  116  — 
moves  into  the  Indian  country, 
116 — adopts  an  Indian  boy  and 
calls  him  Lincoyer,  his  good 
deed,  119,  120,  121— builds  Fort 
Strother,  moves  against  the  In- 
dians at  Talladega,  122 — makes 
a  faux  pas,  125 — the  first  twig  in 
his  croAvn,  the  General  and  the 
acorns,  126,  127 — his  difficulty 
with  General  Cocke,  offers  pro- 
tection to  the  Hillibees,  127,  128, 
167 — his  contests  with  the  mili- 
tia, 129,  130,  131,  132,  133,  134, 
135,  136,  138,  139,  152,  168  — 
writes  a  noble  letter  to  Governor 
Blount,  148,  151— fights  the  In- 
dians at  Emuckfau  and  Enota- 
chopco,  154 — makes  a  great  ef- 
fort   to    close    the    Creek    War, 

167  —  executes     John     "Woods, 

168  —  marches  against  the  In- 
dians, 169 — arrives  at  Tohopeka, 
170 — fights  and  defeats  the  In- 
dians, 171,  173 — adopts  another 
Creek,  173 — a  slip  in  his  theol- 
ogy, 175 — builds  Fort  Jackson, 
175 — meets  Weathersford,  179 — 
celebrates  the  ending  of  the 
Creek  War,  181 — his  reception 
at  Xashville,  182 — how  benefited 
by  the  Creek  War,  184,  185— ap- 
pointed a  major-general  in  the 
regular  army,  185 — at  the  head 
of  the  "  Southern  Department," 
treats  with  the  Indians,  186, 
187 — accepts  a  gift  of  land  from 
the  Indians,  188  —  makes  his 
head-quarters  at  Mobile,  190 — 
repairs  and  garrisons  Fort 
Bowyer,  proceeds  to  gather  an 


array,  191 — meditates  on  a  raid 
into  Florida,  writes  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  for  a  hint,  195, 
196,  197 — his  sharp  correspon- 
dence with  the  Governor  of 
Florida,  197,  198^ — appeals  to  the 
Louisianians,  207 — gathers  a  con- 
siderable force  at  Mobile,  deter- 
mines to  enter  Florida,  208 — ap- 
pears at  Pensacola  with  his 
army,  209,  210,  211— drives  the 
British  out  of  Florida,  212 — goes 
to  New  Orleans,  213 — his  great 
exertions,  215 — goes  down  the 
river  to  Fort  St.  Philip,  visits 
Lake  Pontchartrain  and  other 
avenues  of  approach,  21() — his 
activity  and  power,  takes  abso- 
lute control  of  New  Orleans, 
219,  220,  221— suspends  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  sends  the  judge 
out  of  the  city,  221 — addresses 
the  people  and  soldiers,  222 — his 
negro  soldiers,  224 — his  appear- 
ance and  force  as  a  soldier,  225 — 
declares  by  his  great  oath  that 
the  British  should  not  sleep  on 
our  soil,  marshals  his  motley 
army,  230,  231 — his  army  compar- 
ed with  that  of  England,  231 ,  232— 
fights  the  British  on  the  night  of 
the  23d  of  December,  234,  235, 
336 — continues  to  fortify,  aban- 
dons the  cotton  bales,  240,  241 — 
loses  the  benefit  of  a  good  story, 
241 — strengthens  his  position, 
245 — whips  the  British  on  the 
28th  of  December,  1814,  247— 
his  course  with  the  peojjle  of 
New  Orleans,  248  —  shuts  out 
the  Legislature,  248  —  prepares 
to  have  a  holiday  review, 
which  never  takes  place,  re- 
pels the  British  on  New  Year's, 
249,  250,  251,  252— waits,  and 
watches,  254 — prepares  for  the 
final  conflict,  255,  256,  257 — 
grants    an    armistice,     264 — his 


874 


INDEX. 


losses,  265 — attempts  to  harass 
the  British,  267  —  enters  New 
Orleans  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  268 — 
269,  278 — receives  the  news  of 
peace,  270  —  thanked  by  the 
States,  by  Congress,  271  —  his 
farewell  to  the  army,  272 — his 
troubles  in  closing  affairs  in 
New  Orleans,  "muzzles  the 
press,"  274,  275,  276,  277— diffi- 
culty with  Judge  Hall,  276,  277, 
278,  279 — his  reception  at  Nash- 
ville, 280 — delayed  by  Blenner- 
hassett, 279 — becomes  the  "Hero 
of  New  Orleans,"  280 — his  army 
and  officers  at  New  Orleans, 
283,  284 — his  connection  with 
the  mutiny  and  execution  of  the 
Tennessee  militia,  284,  285,  286, 
287,  288,  289— influence  of  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans  on  his  ad- 
vancement, 290,  291— at  Nash- 
ville, admires  Bonaparte,  takes 
a  triumph,  291,  292,  293— becomes 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
293, 294— treats  with  the  Indians, 
293  —  his  Monroe  letters  and 
their  use  in  making  him  Presi- 
dent, 294— does  not  put  in  prac- 
tice his  ad\ace  to  Monroe,  295 — 
he  sets  aside  the  War  Depart- 
ment, his  famous  military  order, 
296,  297— his  best  letters,  296— 
his  correspondence  with  Gen- 
eral Scott,  wants  to  fight,  298— 
his  difficulty  with  Governor 
Adair,  307 — his  impolitic  course, 
308  —  ordered  to  Florida,  calls 
for  volunteers,  312 — sets  out  on 
his  famous  Seminole  campaign, 
313— announces  a  new  doctrine, 
314  —  his  correspondence  with 
the  Governor  of  Georgia,  314, 
315,  316,  317  — rebuilds  Negro 
Fort,  his  order  to  McKeever, 
322,  323 — appears  with  his  army 
at  St.  Marks,  325— takes  the  post, 
hangs  two  Indian  chiefs,  326 — 


destroys  Suwanee,  327 — captures 
Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  327, 
328 — marches  to  Pensacola,  his 
report,  328 — returns  to  Tennes- 
see, 335 — his  wonderful  course 
in  Florida,  drives  the  Nation  to 
the  verge  of  war,  his  defense, 
336,  337,  338,  339,  340,  341,  342, 
343,  344,  345,  346,  347  — visits 
New  York,  344 — his  praises  and 
flatteries,  344,  345 — begins  his 
quarrel  with  Clay  and  Calhoun, 
345,  346  —  negotiates  with  the 
Indians,  resigns  his  commission 
in  the  army,  348 — his  military 
ser^■ices,  349 — appointed  Gover- 
nor of  Florida,  349,  350  —  his 
authority,  how  he  used  it,  355, 
356  —  falls  in  with  Henry  M. 
Brackenridge,  his  quarrel  with 
Callava  and  Judge  Fromentin, 
357,  358,  359— his  defense,  360— 
his  disappointments  in  Florida 
and  their  causes,  362 — his  opinion 
of  Mr.  Adams's  defense  of  his 
course  in  Florida,  362,  363 — re- 
signs and  returns  to  Nash^alle, 
363 — builds  the  new  Hermitage, 
entertains  La  Fayette,  364 — of- 
fered the  mission  to  Mexico,  364, 
565 — writes  to  Mr.  Livingston 
about  the  Presidency,  365 — be- 
comes a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, how  it  was  done,  366, 
367,  368  —  becomes  a  United 
States  Senator,  368  —  his  sen^- 
ices,  his  votes,  his  tariff  Anews, 
his  Coleman  letter,  370,  371, 
373 — publishes  his  early  patriotic 
Monroe  letters,  374 — nominated 
for  the  Presidency,  375 — his  con- 
duct during  the  campaign.  376, 
377 — makes  friends  with  General 
Scott  and  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
378,  379— his  electoral  vote,  380— 
fails  in  the  House,  381,  382 — his 
disai)pointment,  starts  the  story 
of  "fraud  and  corruption,"  382, 


INDEX. 


875 


383,  3R4,  585,  386— his  part  in  this 
story,  387,  554 — again  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency,  who  led 
in  the  movement,  388 — his  resig- 
nation as  Senator,  388 — declines 
to  visit  Kentucky,  389 — goes  to 
celebrate  the  8th  of  January  at 
New  Orleans,  390 — his  honors, 
391 — in  the  campaign  of  1828, 
392,  393  —  his  election  to  the 
Presidency,  393 — his  journey  to 
Washington,  393,  394 — his  reply 
to  the  election  committee,  394^ 
the  public  misconception  of, 
396,  397 — his  Inaugural  Address 
in  1829,  397,  400— he  begins  the 
work  of  partisan  "reform"  or 
corruption,  400,  401,  409,  410— 
he  strikes  the  previous  Admin- 
istration, 400 — organizes  his  Cab- 
inet, 405 — authors  of  his  Inaugu- 
ral, his  friends,  406  —  takes 
possession  of  the  White  House, 
starts  his  Administration,  407, 
408  —  introduces  the  new  doc- 
trine, "  To  the  victor  belongs  the 
spoils,"  409 — what  his  "  reform," 
meant,  410 — appoints  members 
of  Congress,  410 — recalls  Gen- 
eral Harrison,  411 — his  course, 
413,  414 — his  appointments  re- 
jected, number  of  his  remoA'als, 
414 — his  Eaton  scandal,  415,  416, 
417,  418 — his  first  annual  mes- 
sage, 419,  445,  446,  447— defends 
himself  beforehand,  445 — strikes 
at  his  enemies,  446 — makes  his 
first  thrust  at  the  P>ank,  447 — 
enraged  at  the  course  of  the  Sen- 
ate, talks  about  it,  448 — his  views 
of  the  duties  of  Congress,  449 — de- 
clines to  interfere  in  support  of 
the  dignity  of  the  Government, 
453 — vetoes  the  Maysville  bill, 
454 — ends  the  dream  of  internal 
improvements,  455 — his  opposi- 
tion to  nullification,  457,  458, 
459,    580,    581,    582,  613,    614  — 


utters  his  most  memorable  patri- 
otic sentiment,  458 — begins  his 
quarrel  with  Calhoun,  458 — his 
most  statesman-like  utterance, 
his  greatest  deed,  459 — beginning 
of  his  quarrel  with  the  Bank, 
460,  461 — movement  to  jjrepare 
for  his  second  term,  464,  465, 
466 — his  personal  foundation  for 
his  quarrel  with  Mr.  Calhoun, 
his  bad  conduct,  471,  472,  473, 
474 — establishes  a  new  organ, 
474,  475 — his  second  annual  mes- 
sage, 477,  513 — his  part  in  schem- 
ing for  the  Presidency,  514 — his 
Unit  Cabinet,  dissolved,  515, 
516,  517,  518,  519 — appoints  a 
new  Cabinet,  517 — his  "  Kitchen 
Cabinet,"  519,  521— his  tight  for 
Isaac  Hill,  521 — his  third  annual 
message,  522,  539 — his  great  feat 
of   kiUing  the   Bank,    542,    578, 

626,  631,  681,  682— authorship  of 
his  Bank  veto  message,  542, 
543  —  protects  the  uncivilized 
conduct  of  Sam  Houston,  548 — 
his  fourth  annual  message,  559, 
578,  579 — his  nullification  pro- 
clamation, 582 — wanted  to  hang 
Mr.  Calhoun,  580 — sends  troops 
to  South  Carolina,  605 — makes 
the  whole  country  feel  the  effect 
of  his  temper  and  quarrels, 
613 — charges  against  in  the  race 
of  1832,  616,  617  — re-elected 
President,  his  vote,  618,  619 — his 
second  inaugural,  619,  622 — his 
address  at  the  grave  of  IMary 
AVashington,  623 — his  nose  pulled 
at  Alexandria,  623 — changes  in 
his  Cabinet,  623 — makes  a  tour 
to  the  North,  becomes  an  LL.  D., 
tries  some  Latin,  624,  625 — his 
monetary  system,  627  —  founda- 
tion of  his  cry  against  the  Bank, 

627,  628,  631,  632,  his  contest 
with  his  Cabinet,  Mr.  Duane, 
and  the   Senate   on  the   Bank, 


876 


INDEX. 


634  to  652,  674,  675,  676,  677,  678, 
679,  681,  682— his  fifth  annual 
message,  654,  673,  674  —  his 
pocket  veto,  674 — yields  to  the 
Senate,  674 — enraged  at  Clay  and 
Calhoun,  677 — petitioned  to  re- 
store the  deposits,  677,  678 — 
protests  against  the  acts  of  the 
Senate,  rejected,  679— his  star 
declines  and  rises,  effects  of  his 
policy,  681,  682  — his  sixth  an- 
nual message,  683,  715,  716  — 
threatens  France,  716,  717 — set- 
tles the  old  claims  against 
France,  717,  718 — liquidates  the 
public  debt,  718,  719,  720— at- 
tempt upon  his  life,  720 — his 
seventh  annual  message,  723, 
761 — his  course  wdth  the  Aboli- 
tionist mails  in  the  South,  761 — 
appoints  Mr.  Taney  to  the  Su- 
preme Bench,  his  efforts  to  pay 
the  public  debts,  begins  the 
Seminole  War,  762,  763 — his  part 
in  the  Presidential  race  of  1836, 
764 — his  last  annual  message, 
765,  795 — defends  his  course  in 
oflBce,  796,  797 — renews  his  quar- 
rel with  ]\Ir.  Calhoun,  797 — tri- 
umphs finally  over  the  Senate 
in  the  expunging  act,  797,  798 — 
his  last  "  pocket  veto,"  798 — at- 
tends Mr.  Van  Buren's  inaugu- 
ration, 799— his  Administration, 
795,  796,  797,  799,  834,  836,  837, 
838,  839,  840,  841,  843,  844— his 
Farewell  Address,  800 — his  life 
at  the  Hermitage,  819,  820— ex- 
erts himself  in  belialf  of  his 
friends,  821— he  joins  Church, 
his  good  reasons  for  a  hell,  his 
religion,  his  will,  his  reverence, 
822,  823,  824,  825,  826,  862— his 
greatest  achievement.  826 — his 
views  of  slavery,  holds  to  the  old 
story  of  bargain  and  corru])tion, 
helps  Mr.  Kendall  on  his  biogra- 
phy, 827 — would  have  hanged  Mr. 


Calhoun,  827,  828 — his  disease, 
his  death,  828,  829,  831,  832— his 
tomb  described,  829,  830— his 
posthumous  standing,  833 — his 
way  of  conquering  enemies, 
836 — meets  Mrs.  Robards,  his 
conduct  towards  her  and  her 
husband,  845,  846 — his  marriage, 
second  marriage  to  his  wife,  846, 

847,  848 — his  adopted   children, 

848,  849— his  dispute  with  the 
Rev.  O.  Jennings  on  the  teach- 
ings of  Swedenborg,  believes  in 
and  defends  the  great  philoso- 
pher and  seer,  862,  863,  864. 

Jackson,  General — letters  of,  to 
Mr.  Kendall,  .30  —  to  Thomas 
Swann,  69 — to  Governor  Blount, 
115,  117,  123,  125,  147,  181,  210— 
to  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn, 
144 — to  Carroll,  153 — to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  St.  Marks,  325 — to  Mr. 
Livingston,  365,  604  —  to  Dr. 
Coleman,  371— to  G.  W.  Camp- 
bell,  88— to  General  Scott,  298, 
301 — to  Governor  Rabun,  316, 
319— to  William  J.  Duane,  639, 
649 — to  Commodore  Elliott,  831. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  Jr. — becomes  an 
occiipant  of  the  White  House, 
407 — become  the  son  of  General 
Jackson  by  adoption,  848 — his 
treatment  of  the  slaves  at  the 
Hermitage,  856  —  his  marriage, 
residence  at  the  White  House, 
859— his  death,  860. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  Jr. — prays 
with  the  General,  825 — becomes 
mistress  of  the  Hermitage,  her 
residence  at  the  White  House, 
859— joins  the  Church  with  the 
General,  859. 

Jackson,  Rachel  —  was  Mrs.  Ro- 
bards, marries  General  Jackson, 
45,  846  —  her  friendship  for 
"dear  parson  Blackburn,"  145 — 
goes  to  New  Orleans,  279 — letter 
from,   350,    354  —  her  character, 


INDEX. 


877 


355  — her  life  in  Florida,  362, 
363 — goes  to  AVashington  City, 
380 — visits  New  Orieans,  390 — 
assaults  upon  her  character,  de- 
fended by  William  B.  Lewis, 
392— her  death,  393,  852,  853— 
her  appearance  in  Tennessee, 
her  marriage  to  Robards,  845 — 
her  innocence,  840,  847,  848 — 
she  had  no  children,  848 — her 
character,  habits,  849,  850 — visits 
Washington  City,  honors  paid 
her,  851 — her  broken  heart,  852 — 
honors  to  her  memory,  853, 
854 — her  needless  concern  about 
the  General's  religious  views, 
862— its  result,  863,  864. 

Jackson,  Fort — its  name  and  loca- 
tion, 175  —  in  command  of 
General  Pinekney,  180 — treaty  of, 
187,  188. 

January,  8th  of  —  a  memorable 
day,  becomes  a  partisan  anni- 
versary, 290,  718 — called  next  in 
importance  to  the  4th  of  July, 
719. 

Jefferson,  Thomas  ^ — his  view  of 
Jackson  and  his  conduct  in  Con- 
gress, 52,  56 — gives  a  doubtful 
"toast"  in  honor  of  General 
Jackson,  292 — gives  Kentucky 
the  dogmas  of  State  Rights  and 
Nullication,  456  —  his  birthday 
turned  to  the  pyrposes  of  the 
dangerous  doctrine,  457  —  the 
difficulty  of  making  him  respon- 
sible for  the  doctrine  of  nullifi- 
cation and  secession,  581. 

Jennings,  The  Rev.  O. — discusses 
the  doctrines  and  character  of 
Swedenborg  ineffectually  with 
General  Jackson,  862,  863. 

Johnson,  Colonel  Richard  M. — 
member  of  Congress,  a  go-be- 
tween, tries  to  patch  the  Presi- 
dent's Cabinet,  466,  467 — goes  to 
investigate  the  Bank  of  the 
United   States,   541  —  candidate 


for  the  Vice-Presidency,  652 — 
gives  a  sentiment,  719. 
Jones,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Ap- 
Catsby — in  command  on  Lake 
Borgne,  216  —  his  little  fleet 
pressed,  218 — defeated  in  battle, 
218,  219. 

K 

Keane,  General  Edward — in  com- 
mand of  the  British  expedition, 
217 — reaches  the  Mississippi,  and 
outgenerals  Jackson,  228,  229 — 
his  temporary  success,  232 — his 
losses  in  the  battle  of  the  23d, 
his  mistake,  239,  242,  24.3— his 
command  in  the  battle  of  the 
8th,  258— wounded,  261. 

Kendall,  Amos — his  opinion  about 
the  wealth  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
Sen.,  17 — his  belief  about  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  birthplace,  23  — 
his  story  of  the  duel,  65,  66 — dis- 
covers an  editor  for  General 
Jackson,  475 — becomes  head  of 
the  "Kitchen  Cabinet,"  519— 
supports  the  President  in  the 
Bank  fight,  634,  638— sent  to  con- 
sult with  the  banks,  645  —  be- 
comes Postmaster-General,  721, 
761 — writes  a  biography  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  827 — his  views  of 
Jackson,  836,  840 — reasons  for 
his  failure  to  complete  his 
"  Life  of  Jackson,"  his  views  of 
historic  justice  and  accuracy, 
855. 

Kentuckians— their  condition  on 
arriving  at  New  Orleans,  what 
was  done  for  them,  254 — some 
of  them  sent  to  the  east  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  255— constitute 
a  reserve  force,  256,  257— charge 
of  cowardice  against,  307. 


La    Fayette,    General — becomes 
the  guest  of  General  Jackson,  364. 


878 


INDEX. 


Lafitte,  Jean—"  The  Pirate  of  the 
Gulf,"  his  character  and  opera- 
tions, 200,  201,  246— visited  by  a 
British  officer,  offered  a  commis- 
sion, 202 — lays  the  case  before 
Governor  Claiborne,  his  defense, 
203,  204 — his  treatment,  his  good 
services,  his  evils,  his  end,  205, 
206 — offers  his  service?  to  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  222 — looks  after 
the  British  at  the  entrance  to 
Barataria  Bay,  245. 

Lambert,  General  John  —  arrives 
with  an  additional  force,  258 — 
takes  command  of  the  British 
army,  asks  a  truce,  264 — escapes 
with  his  defeated  Britons,  267 — 

'  goes  into  camp  with  the  remain- 
der of  the  army,  269 — captures 
Fort  Bowyer,  270 — receives  news 
of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  270 — his 
character  and  good  fortune,  282. 

Lawrence,  Major  William — in  com- 
mand at  Fort  Bowyer,  jirepares 
to  hold  the  place,  191 — whips 
the  British,  192,  193. 

Lee,  Henry — the  writer  of  some 
of  General  Jackson's  letters,  27 — 
writes  the  General's  Seminole 
AVar  defense,  347 — writes  a  part 
of  the  Inaugural,  dies  without 
his  reward,  406. 

Lewis,  William  B.— the  writer  of 
many  of  General  Jackson's  fine 
letters  and  addresses,  27 — accom- 
panies the  expedition  to  Natchez, 
102 — has  General  Jackson  elected 
Senator  in  Congress,  367 — writes 
General  Jackson's  famous  Mon- 
roe letters  of  1816  and  1817,  374— 
defends  Mrs.  Jackson,  392 — ac- 
companies Jackson  to  Washing- 
ton, accepts  an  office,  his  char- 
acter and  friendship,  406,  407 — 
induces  General  Jackson  to  pro- 
vide for  a  successor,  devises  a 
plan  for  the  second  term,  465, 
466  —  opposes     the    President's 


Bank  views,  634 — defends  ^Irs. 
Jackson,  852. 

Lincoyer — a  baby  captured  at  Tal- 
luschatches,  119 — cared  for  by 
General  Jackson,  119, 120 — his  life 
at  the  Hermitage,  his  death,  120. 

Livingston,  Edward — attorney  for 
Lafitte,  203 — has  confidence  in 
Lafitte,  205^translates  General 
Jackson's  sjieech,  213  —  calls  a 
meeting  for  defense,  214 — gives 
his  opinion  against  suspending 
the  writ  of  habeas  coi-pus,  220 — 
reads  addresses  to  the  citizens 
and  soldiers,  222 — makes  a  good 
suggestion  to  a  cotton-planter, 
242— goes  to  the  British  to  ar- 
range an  exchange  of  prisoners, 
270  —  draws  up  Jackson's  de- 
fense, 279 — discovers  a  President, 
366— becomes  Secretary  of  State, 
517  —  did  not  write  the  Bank 
veto  message,  542 — real  author 
of  the  Nullification  Proclama- 
tion, 003,  604 — becomes  Minister 
to  France,  623 — his  course,  716, 
717. 

Lockyer,  Captain — visits  Barataria 
in  his  vessel,  makes  an  offer  to 
Lafitte,  202 — his  papers  go  to  the 
Governor  of  Louisiana,  203 — 
whips  the  Americans  on  Lake 
Borgne,  218,  219. 

Louisiana — course  of  her  Legisla- 
ture, its  composition,  214 — course 
of  her  first  governor,  214 — char- 
acter of  her  Legislature,  219, 
220,  254— its  acts,  221,  254— her 
State  House  closed,  254 — her 
Legislature  does  no  honor  to 
General  Jackson,  217 — her  hon- 
ors to  him,  390,  391 . 

Louisiana,  The — in  the  river  below 
New  Orleans,  271 — completes  her 
armament  and  takes  a  position, 
244 — tries  her  guns  on  the  Red 
Coats,  249 — escapes  the  enemy 
in  the  battle  of  the  8th,  263. 


INDEX. 


879 


M 

Madison,  President — recommends 
Congress  to  confirm  the  gift  of 
land  made  by  the  Indians  to 
General  Jackson,  189  —  speaks 
in  defense  of  himself  and  Mr. 
Jefferson,  581. 

Man,  Savage  and  Civilized  —  a 
comparison,  107,  108  —  revenge 
with,  110— habits  of,  181. 

Manxique,  Gonzales — Governor  of 
Florida,  in  league  with  the  In- 
dians, 196. 

ISIarcy,  William  L. — pnts  forward 
a  new  doctrine,  the  spoils,  617. 

Maurequez  —  new  Governor  of 
Florida,  his  correspondence  and 
dealings  with  General  Jackson, 
197,  198 — declines  to  surrender 
Pensacola,  209 — sues  for  mercy, 
210. 

jSIayo,  Robert  his  charges  against 
General  Jackson,  834,  885. 

McAfee,  R.  B. — an  error  in  his  his- 
tory assailed  by  General  Jack- 
son, .307. 

Mcintosh,  General  William  —  a 
Creek  chief,  joins  General  Jack- 
son in  Florida,  313 — his  origin, 
character,  services  to  the  United 
States,  321  —  his  murder,  321, 
322 — whips  McQueen,  327 — was 
the  hero  of  Jackson's  Seminole 
campaign,  343. 

McKeever,  Captain  —  brings  sup- 
plies to  Jackson,  goes  to  St. 
Marks,  322,  323 — sails  under  the 
British  flag,  captures  Hillis  Hajo, 
324. 

McLean,  John — under  ^Ir.  Adams, 
his  reprehensible  conduct,  401, 
402  —  becomes  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, declines  to  serve  General 
Jackson.  402 — appointed  to  the 
Supreme  Bench,  403,  410 — de- 
•  clines  the  Anti-ilasonic  nomina- 
tion for  the  Presidency,  550. 

McLane,       Louis  —  Minister      to 


England,  516 — becomes  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  517 — becomes 
Secretary  of  State,  023 — investi- 
gates the  Bank,  and  finds  no  flaw, 
633^ — would  not  order  the  re- 
moval of  the  deposits,  changed 
to  the  State  Department  therefor, 
633. 

McNairy,  John — appointed  Judge 
of  the  Western  District  of  North 
Carolina,  41  —  member  of  the 
first  Tennessee  constitutional 
convention,  49. 

Message — President  Jackson's  first 
annual,  419 — his  second  annual, 
477,  513 — his  third  annual,  522, 
5.39— his  fourth  annual,  559— his 
fifth  annual,  654 — his  sixth  an- 
nual, 683 — his  seventh  annual, 
723 — his  eighth  annual  message, 
765. 

Militia — their  conduct  and  conflict 
with  General  Jackson,  129  to 
168 — causes  of  their  course,  129, 
133,  138,  139,  140,  152,  168— ex- 
ecution of  the  Tennessee,  284, 
285,  286,  287,  289. 

Mims,  Fort — location  and  name  of, 
108 — massacre  of  the  whites  in, 
109,  110. 

Mobile — its  location  and  condition, 
Jackson  makes  it  his  head-quar- 
ters, 307. 

Monroe,  President — gets  advice  of 
General  Jackson  as  to  the  Cab- 
inet appointments,  294 — Jack- 
son's fictitious  influence  over 
him,  296 — denied  giving  Jackson 
authority  for  his  Florida  cam- 
paign, 341— his  reasons  for  ap- 
pointing General  Jackson  first 
Governor  of  Florida,  349,  350. 

Morgan,  General  —  commands  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Mississipi)i, 
255 — sends  to  Jackson  for  aid, 
256 — his  force,  257 — whipped  by 
the  British,  262,  263. 

Mutiny — cause    of,    in    Jackson's 


880 


INDEX. 


army,  first  conflict  in,  129,  130 — 
temporary  settlement  of,  131 — 
its  movers  conquered,  132,  133, 
134— of  Tennessee  militia,  284, 
285,  286,  287,  288,  289. 

N 

Nichols,  Colonel  Edward  —  ap- 
pears at  Fort  Bow  yer  with  a 
body  of  English  and  Indians, 
191 — publishes  his  purposes  in 
Florida,  his  proclamation  to  the 
people  of  Louisiana  and  Ken- 
tucky, 199 — addresses  his  insig- 
nificant army,  200 — driven  out 
of  Florida,  212 — establishes  the 
Indians  and  negroes  on  the  Ap- 
palachicola,  takes  Francis  to 
England,  310. 

Nickajack  —  expedition  against, 
who  composed  it,  46. 

Negroes — made  soldiers  by  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  224 — their  conduct 
at  New  Orleans,  225. 

Nullification — practically  exempli- 
fied in  Georgia,  452,  453 — an- 
nounced and  defended,  456,  457 — 
throttled  by  two  giants,  456,  457, 
458— becomes  a  party  and  sec- 
tional issue,  550 — General  Jack- 
son's fight  against,  580,  581,  582— 
proclamation  against,  582 — com- 
promise with,  611,  612,  its  tri- 
umph, 614,  615. 


Orleans,  New— receives  the  bene- 
fits of  Lafitte's  "  piracy,"  201, 
246— saved  by  the  night  battle 
of  the  23d  of  December,  240— 
intense  excitement  in,  248 — her 
citizens  visit  the  camp  of  Jack- 
son on  New  Year's  day,  251 — 
her  women  aid  the  meanly  clad 
Kentuckians,  254— rejoices,  2()8, 
269— her  honors  to  General  Jack- 
son, ?/.n. 

Overton,     Thomas  —  becomes     a 


figure  in  the  political  schemes  at 
Washington,  465 — designated  for 
chairman  of  the  Jackson  con- 
vention, 552 — believed  in  Jack- 
son's religion,  glories  in  his 
vanquishing  the  anti-Sweden- 
borgian,  preacher,  863,  864. 


Packenham,  Sir  Edward — the  re- 
sponsible commander  of  the 
British  army,  232 — takes  com- 
mand on  the  Mississippi,  242 — 
his  efi'orts  to  destroy  the  Ameri- 
can gunboats,  244 — his  conduct 
in  the  battle  of  the  8th  of  Jan- 
uary, 260— his  death,  260— his 
remains,  265. 

Parton,  James — describes  the  fu- 
neral of  General  Jackson's 
father,  20 — describes  the  birth- 
place of  General  Jackson,  22 — 
says  the  General  had  the  itch 
when  he  was  a  boy,  23 — gives  an 
account  of  the  Dickinson  duel, 
72,  75 — letter  quoted  from,  350, 
351— credited,  466 — gives  a  strik- 
ing example  of  General  Jack- 
son's posthumous  fame,  833 — 
his  view  of  historic  justice  and 
truth,  855 — his  story  of  a  pro- 
posed picture   of  Jackson,  859. 

Patterson,  Captain  Daniel  T.  — 
breaks  up  "  The  Pirates'  Re- 
treat," 205^— puts  a  force  on 
Lake  Borgne,  216 — his  two  war 
vessels  on  the  Mississippi,  217 — 
unable  to  man  his  vessels,  220 — 
sends  a  flag  of  truce  to  the 
British  fleet,  226  —  begins  the 
battle  of  the  night  of  the  23d, 
234,  235 — erects  a  battery  on  the 
right  side  of  the  river,  245 — joins 
in  the  aflfair  of  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, 251 — his  jiart  in  the  battle 
of  the  8th  of  January,  263,  265.. 

Pierce,  Franklin — appears  in  Con- 
gress, 654. 


INDEX. 


881 


Pierre,  ]Major  —  bears  General 
Jackson's  flag  and  message  to 
the  (Toveruor  of  Florida,  20H. 

Pinckney,  General  Thomas — takes 
charge  of  the  forces  at  Fort 
Jackson,  180  —  celebrates  the 
close  of  the  Creek  War,  181. 

Pipkin,  Colonel  P. — gives  an  ac- 
count of  General  Jackson's  part 
in  the  execution  of  the  Tennes- 
see militia,  284,  285. 

Pensacola — a  British  and  Indian 
rendezvous,  191,  195 — taken  by 
General  Jackson,  209— virtually 
under  the  British,  310  —  again 
visited  by  General  Jackson,  328. 

Percy,  Captain,  W.  H.  —  attacks 
Fort  BoM'yer,  defeated,  192 — of- 
fers Lafitte  a  commission,  202— 
carries  the  British  garrison  away 
from  Fort  Barrancas,  211  —  his 
small  force  unites  with  the  main 
fleet,  217. 

Philip,  Fort  St. — its  location,  its 
defensive  state,  216. 

Polk,  James  K. — elected  Speaker, 
723 — favors  annexation,  821. 

Pontchartrain,  Lake — location  and 
importance  of,  216. 


Eeports— Coffee's,  of  the  battle  of 
Talluschatches,  117  —  Jackson's, 
of  Talladega,  123— Floyd's,  of  the 
battle  of  Autossee,  140  —  Jack- 
son's, of  the  battles  of  Emuckfau 
and  Enotachopco,  154 — Floyd's, 
of  the  battle  of  Callibee  Swamps, 
164 — Jackson's,  of  the  battle  of 
Tohopeka,  171^Lawrence's,  of 
Fort  Bowyer,  193 — Jackson's,  of 
his  raid  into  Florida  and  capture 
of  Pensacola,  210 — Jackson's,  of 
the  battle  of  the  night  of  the 
23d,  236,  237— Jackson's,  of  his 
Seminole  expedition,  328,  329, 
330,  331,  332. 

Bipley,  General  E.  W. — disobeys 

56- 


the  War  Department,  pleases 
General  Jackson,  297. 

Kobards,  Lewis  —  marries  Rachel 
Donelson,  845 — his  flight  from 
Nashville,  applies  for  a  divorce, 
846,  847 — obtains  a  divorce,  848. 

Rush,  Richard — his  part  in  the  de- 
fense of  Jackson,  and  preventing 
war  with  England,  344. 


Sargent,  Nathan  ("Oliver  Old- 
school") — his  views  of  Jackson 
and  his  Administration,  835,  836. 

Seminoles — their  origin,  character, 
and  leaders,  309,  310,  311— their 
strength,  322— General  Jackson 
visits*  them,  their  people  killed, 
country  laid  waste,  324 — two  of 
their  chiefs  hanged,  324,  326 — 
defeated  by  Mcintosh,  their  sub- 
stance and  homes  destroyed, 
327. 

Sergeant,  John — nominated  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  551 — votes  for, 
618,  619. 

Sevier,  General  John — appoints 
General  Jackson  to  the  Superior 
Bench,  defeated  as  general  of 
militia,  58  —  accused  of  fraud, 
fights  General  Jackson,  59,  60. 

Scandal,  The  Eaton — its  causes,  its 
character,  its  influence,  415,  416, 
417— results  of,  515,  517. 

Schools — in  the  early  days,  now 
and  then,  a  picture,  36,  37. 

Scott,  General  Winfield — criticises 
General  Jackson  and  is  taken 
up  for  it,  298  —  his  letters  to 
Jackson,  298,  304,  306— his  own 
bad  conduct,  306— his  brief,  omi- 
nous letter  to  .Jackson,  378. 

Spain  —  her  bad  government  in 
Florida,  309  —  her  governor  at 
Pensacola  gets  a  letter  from  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  311 — invasion  of 
her  territory  by  the  United 
States,  325,  326. 

-G 


882 


INDEX. 


State  Eights— illustrated,  452, 453— 
dogma  of,  announced  and  de- 
fended, assailed  and  stabbed, 
456,  457,  458— receives  the  first 
blow  from  General  Jackson,  837. 

St.  Marks— captured  by  General 
Jackson,  325,  326. 

Stevenson,  Andrew  —  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  419— re- 
elected, 522,  654— resigns  to  be- 
come Minister  to  England,  re- 
jected and  confirmed,  680. 

Strother,  Fort— built  on  the  Coosa, 
122 — condition  of  the  army  at, 
127— mutiny  at,  129,  132— new 
recruits  reach,  154,  166. 

Suwanee — Indian^town,  destroyed 
by  General  Jackson,  327. 

Swartwout,  Samuel — gets  a  letter 
from  General  Jackson  on  the 
bargain  and  corruption,  pub- 
lishes the  letter,  384 — w^rites  a 
letter,  gets  an  office,  412,  413. 

Swedenborg,  Emanuel— his  teach- 
ings attract  the  attention  of 
General  Jackson,  862 — his  teach- 
ings claimed  by  the  General  to 
be  Divine,  863  —  strongly  de- 
fended by  Jackson,  the  way  he 
predicted  mainly  for  the  spread 
of  his  teachings,  864. 


Talladega — location  of,  122,  123 — 
battle  of,  123,  126,  127. 

Talluschatches — location  of,  battle 
of,  116,  117,  118,  119,  120. 

Taney,  Roger  B. — becomes  Attor- 
ney-General, 517 — becomes  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  rejected 
in  the  Senate,  634. 

Tariff— question  of,  new  turn  in, 
579 — new  nullification  compro- 
mise of,  606  to  612— in  1828,  a 
just  cause  of  complaint  at  the 
South,  612,  613. 

Tazewell,  L.  W. — his  address  to 
General  Jackson,  394. 


Tecumseh — his  family,  character, 
visits  the  South,  his  work,  105, 
106,  107 — his  scheme  wants  the 
mark  of  greatness,  106. 

Tennessee — is  the  Western  Dis- 
trict of  North  Carolina,  41 — 
forms  a  constitution,  becomes  the 
sixteenth  State,  49 — extreme  re- 
publicanism in,  at  the  outset,  51 — 
becomes  the  devoted  patron  of 
Jackson,  103 — prepares  to  avenge 
Fort  Mims,  and  carry  on  the 
war  against  the  Creeks,  111, 
112  —  starts  the  movement  to 
make  Jackson  President,  367, 
368  —  her  Legislature  renomi- 
nates him,  388 — her  Legislature 
buys  the  Hermitage,  861. 

Thomas,  General  James — arrives 
at  Jackson's  camp  with  an  army 
of  unarmed  Kentuckians,  254 — 
taken  ill,  256. 

Thornton,  Colonel  W. — British  of- 
ficer commanding  on  east  side 
of  the  river,  258 — whips  Mor- 
gan and  Patterson,  263,  264. 

Titles — General  Jackson's  attach- 
ment to,  115 — party  principles 
involved  in,  116. 

Townsend,  George  A. — describes 
the  Hermitage  and  the  tomb  of 
General  Jackson,  829,  830. 


Van  Buren,  Martin  —  becomes 
Secretary  of  State,  405— becomes 
Jackson's  model,  selected  for  the 
succession,  471,  519 — resigns  his 
place  in  the  Cabinet,  515 — sent 
as  Minister  to  England,  516, 
518  —  rejected  by  the  Senate, 
540 — nominated  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  552 — elected,  618 — 
enters  upon  his  office,  619 — nom- 
inated for  the  Presidency,  722 — 
his  inauguration,  799. 
Villere,  Major  Gabriel — performs 
■   a    daring    feat,    and    bears    the 


INDEX. 


883 


tidings  of  the  presence  of  the 
British  to  General  Jackson,  229, 
230  —  acts  as  a  guide  to  the 
army,  231. 

W 

Wak,  Ckeek  —  causes  of,  105,  106, 
107,  108  — beginning  of,  109  — 
events  in,  and  character  of,  108 
to  189. 

War  of  1812 — operations  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  Fort  Boyer,  191, 
192,  193. 

War,  Black  Hawk — in  the  summer 
of  1832,  557  —  some  account  of, 
557,  558. 

Weathersford,  William— The  In- 
dian chief  commanding  in  the 
Fort  Mims  battle,  109,  110— com- 
mands the  Indians  at  Callibee, 
and  claims  a  victory,  165 — sketch 
of,  176  to  180— his  surrender, 
178— his  death,  180. 

Webster,  Daniel — declares  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Government  and 
assails  nullification,  456,  457. 

Whigs — arise  in  1832,  party  foun- 
dations, 550,  554 — their  course 
in  the  campaign  of  1832,  554, 
556,  557. 

White,  Hugh  L. — sends  his  Nick- 
ajack  claim  to  Congress,  50 — se- 
cures the  39th  regular  regiment, 
166 — elected  president  of  the 
Senate,  558.  I 


AMiite,  General— proposes  to  join 
Jackson,  fails,  122,  123— destroys 
the  Ilillibee  towns,  127,  128. 

White  House — how  General  Jack- 
son took  charge  of,  407 — scandal 
in,  517  —  its  occupants  under 
General  Jackson,  857,  859,  860, 
861 — children  born  in,  858. 

Wilkinson,  General  James— stops 
Jackson  at  Natchez,  detested  by 
Jackson,  101. 

Williams,  Edwin  —  quoted,  605, 
606 — his  account  of  the  conven- 
tions of  1835,  721,  722. 

Wirt,  William — defends  the  In- 
dians against  the  injustice  of 
Georgia,  452 — nominated  for  the 
Presidency  by  the  xVnti-Masons, 
550— votes  for,  618,  619. 

Wise,  Henry  A. — describes  a  won- 
derful religious  discussion  be- 
tween General  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Jennings,  862,  863,  864. 

Woodbine,  Captain  —  commands 
the  Indians  against  Fort  Bowyer, 
192 — tries  to  make  soldiers  of 
Indians,  202. 

Woodbury,  Levi — becomes  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  517 — becomes 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  633. 

Woods,  John — his  case,  167,  168 — 
his  trial  and  execution,  168, 
169. 


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